How to Build a Talent Pipeline (and why)
Two weeks ago, I sat down with the MD of an SME engineering firm in Stockport. A few months earlier, they’d secured a significant contract and urgently needed to expand their team. Despite offering competitive salaries and a positive work environment, they struggled to fill the roles quickly enough. The challenge wasn’t the lack of appeal, but the fact that few candidates with those skill-sets were actively looking for work and therefore the distinct absence of a ready talent pipeline.
They’re not alone in this. Many SMEs find themselves hiring ‘reactively’, scrambling to fill positions as the need arises, reliant on job adverts that don’t yield quality candidates – too little, too late. However, in the current candidate market, this approach can lead to missed opportunities, increased costs and failure to deliver on customer requirements.
So what can you do about it?
The Strategic Advantage of Proactive Talent Pipelining
Building a talent pipeline isn’t just a luxury for large corporations; it’s a strategic necessity for SMEs. Whilst that’s an obvious thing to say, it’s important to really understand the potential impact on your business so you recognise the importance of investing your time to do something about it. Here’s why it matters:
- Anticipating Future Needs: By identifying potential skill gaps and future hiring needs, SMEs can prepare in advance, reducing time-to-hire when it really matters and ensuring business continuity.
- Engaging Passive Candidates: Not all potential hires are actively seeking new roles. By nurturing relationships with passive candidates, businesses can tap into a broader talent pool when opportunities arise – often improving the quality of the hire, rather than scrabbling around for whoever is available.
- Enhancing Employer Brand: A proactive approach to recruitment signals a company’s commitment to growth and employee development, making it more attractive to top talent for the long-term (especially important for roles you’re likely to recruit again in the future).
Building Your Talent Pipeline: Practical Steps for SMEs
So, what’s the answer? Here’s some of the key steps we recommend to tackle talent shortages and build a pipeline of candidates with the skills, qualifications and sector expertise you’re likely to need to support your upcoming growth:
- Identify Future Skill Requirements: Assess your business goals (and order book) now and determine the skills needed to deliver them over the next 3, 6 or 12 months. This foresight allows for targeted talent sourcing and development.
- Strengthen Employer Branding: Showcase your company culture, values, and employee success stories through various channels. A strong employer brand attracts quality candidates and fosters trust (and shows what you have to offer compared to your competitors).
- Leverage Technology: Utilise recruitment platforms and social media to reach potential candidates. Tools like AI-driven recruitment software can help identify and engage suitable candidates efficiently – making the process simpler and quicker to deliver consistently and in a proactive, sustained way.
- Invest in Internal Development: Encourage current employees to upskill and take on new challenges. This not only fills potential gaps but also boosts employee morale and retention. It also means you’re more able to hire junior applicants and train them up by drawing on the expertise of your experienced team, as well as showing the clear routes for progression you have to offer.
- Establish Relationships with Educational Institutions: Partner with local schools, colleges, and universities to create internship and apprenticeship programs, ensuring a steady influx of emerging talent.
Don’t have time for all that? That’s the response I hear from a lot of SME owners and time-pushed HR Managers too! But the time you’ll save when it really matters and you need that urgent hire to fulfil orders and deliver against SLAs will make all the difference.
The Bottom Line
For SMEs, the cost of reactive hiring isn’t just financial; it impacts productivity, team morale, and business growth. By proactively building a talent pipeline, you can position yourself to seize opportunities swiftly and maintain a competitive edge.
The feedback from our of clients who we recently helped to revamp their recruitment strategy was:
“Investing time in building our talent pipeline has transformed our hiring process. We’re no longer playing catch-up; we’re ahead of the curve.”
If you’re pressed for time, unsure of where to start and need help ensuring hiring delays aren’t hampering your business outcomes, get in touch. As your recruitment partner, we can help you develop a workforce planning strategy to understand what you need and when, then work with you to start building a talent pipeline to ensure you always have access to great people when you need them.
