Attracting and securing top talent continues to be a top challenge for 73% of HR executives, according to the latest Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends report. Amidst a competitive job economy, volatile global economic conditions and a rapidly changing technical landscape, organisations have little choice but to build a balanced and firm talent pipeline to secure their future. Accessing the right people, creating a stellar candidate experience, using artificial intelligence and formulating a strong employer brand are all parts of this process. Follow these steps to build or redesign your talent pipeline and align your business needs with your hiring strategy: 

Step 1: Conduct a comprehensive talent audit

The first step is to perform a comprehensive talent audit to understand existing skill requirements, identify relevant sources of talent and design a succession plan. This step will help the hiring team understand vital positions critical to organisational success, forecast potential gaps and distinguish internal or external sources which procure top talent. Deciphering the current talent requirements and listing the available resources for recruitment can also be critical for budget planning, goal setting, and talent pool building.

Next, knowing the effectiveness of different sources, such as referrals, campus recruitment, social media, staffing agencies or significant employment websites, can help you build a leaner and efficient hiring strategy. A talent audit can highlight whether additional people or leaders are required in the hiring team to manage larger pools of talent and what skills the HR team needs to learn for better talent management. 

Step 2: Cultivate a strong employer brand and candidate experience

75% of active job seekers are likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand, according to Glassdoor. Focused employer branding that relays authenticity, company values and the workplace culture can help you attract the right talent. Developing a positive employer perception enhances visibility in a competitive job market and can boost your pipeline significantly. It’s important to note that there are many aspects to an employer brand, such as a strong digital presence, transparent communication, real employee stories, and a clear proposition. Becoming a coveted place to work is essential to building a sustainable pipeline, as desirability leads to more candidates and options. Showcasing authentic success stories, having a clear voice, and engaging with candidates through different channels are some ways to communicate your vision and mission effectively. 

Another critical aspect of building the talent pipeline is to foster a positive and engaging candidate experience. Personalising the communication, providing timely updates and implementing pre-joining engagement tactics are ways to enhance the candidate experience. Using smart hiring tools such as Akrivia HCM’s Talent Suite, you can streamline, automate, and centralise all stages of recruitment, which can help you find the right candidates for the right position at the right time. Automating many time-consuming parts of the hiring process ensures that the recruitment team provides each candidate unmatched attention. 

Step 3: Leverage data analytics to bolster hiring decisions

People analytics to improve your hiring can ensure you efficiently select and onboard top talent. People and recruitment analytics can make benchmarking candidates easier, improving candidate sourcing, setting KPIs and building a cost-effective hiring process. Using data from sourcing channels, engagement surveys, candidate progression rates and other recruitment metrics, you can also increase objectivity and diversity in your hiring process.

Furthermore, leveraging data can make it easier to forecast future talent needs based on existing skill gaps and workforce trends. Accurate and reliable candidate data can streamline the hiring process and make it easier to engage potential candidates. This can also improve your quality of hire and help you develop a comprehensive talent database for future purposes. Using performance management data can also help you identify high-performance and high-potential talent, making it easier to increase internal mobility and select the right people for leadership roles. For example, Akrivia HCM’s Performance Suite offers a 360-degree feedback system, ready-to-use people, and performance analytics report that helps monitor performance, set KPIs, and align initiatives with organisational goals and hiring requirements.

Step 4: Design a robust learning and mentoring programme

A comprehensive learning and mentoring programme that accounts for continuous skilling, regular feedback, personalised coaching, and access to high-quality resources is essential to nurture existing talent and align personal aspirations with organisational goals. Establish channels that allow younger employees to learn from the experience of senior leaders, provide career development support and help employees build their professional network. This strategy is excellent for retaining talent and shouldn’t be a surprise, as 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if there is investment in their learning and development, as per LinkedIn.

Furthermore, focus on building a conducive environment for innovation, experimentation and a growth mindset. Generate platforms that facilitate cross-functional collaboration, exposure and internal mobility to identify inner talent potential. Additionally, provides resources and tools to help employees upskill and reskill without disrupting their regular workflows. Don’t forget to focus adequately on improving soft skills, such as communication and leadership, to increase retention and loyalty. Akrivia HCM’s Learning and Development Suite can be helpful as it offers strategic tools that help organisations build, publish and manage training programs. Using tools of this Suite, you can establish a direct connection between employee development plans and learning initiatives. 

Step 5: Measure the pipeline’s effectiveness

The final step is to monitor and measure the impact of your talent pipeline management for continuous improvement. Keep an eye on metrics such as the cost per hire, time to hire and markers such as candidate experience and engagement scores. Furthermore, analysing the quality of hire, retention rate, and employee satisfaction levels can be helpful. You can also conduct focus group discussions and surveys to gather subjective feedback from candidates and employees, which can be beneficial in assessing what is working and what needs improvement. Optimising the talent management approach can also help make strategic hiring decisions and ensure that the talent pipelines remain in sync with the organisational requirements.

Building talent for the future: The final word 

Securing future talent needs that support business goals requires urgent action encompassing a wide range of measures. Besides subject matter expertise and vision, having the right technical support and digital architecture is necessary to make data-driven decisions and improve talent acquisition and management objectivity. Contact Akrivia HCM to learn how to turbocharge your hiring and people management processes to build a strong talent pipeline.