Building a talent pool is a proactive way to help organisations fill future positions – some of these roles may not even exist yet, but often are crucially important for future operations. A talent pool is much more than just a database of relevant candidate profiles: in my opinion, it is the best tool that we have for proactive recruiting.
What is a Talent Pool?
A talent pool is a database that recruiters maintain for specific companies. It is a collection of candidates who may have expressed an interest in working for your organization, or who have a specialised set of skills that are a good fit for your business.
The database often includes candidates who applied in the past and interviewed well, but who didn’t make the final cut. It may include individuals working in the region who have demonstrated a high degree of scientific or engineering mastery. It could also be comprised of individuals with a general profile and character who a recruiter knows will be a match for your company’s workplace culture.
A talent pool may include individuals who work in similar roles for competing organisations, but have signalled to a headhunter that they would consider making a career move. Workers who may have previously worked for your organization and left amicably might also be included.
In short, a talent pool is a group of qualified professionals who an experienced recruiter has identified as potentially ideal candidates to work for your company. The more experienced and sophisticated your recruiter, the more effective and powerful your talent pool will be.
For example, I often use talent pools compiled specifically to find highly skilled candidates for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries in Southeast Asia, my area of specialisation. Some of these roles include a senior hire in Regulatory Affairs for a well-known pharma company in Thailand; a Country Manager for a medical device manufacturer in Vietnam; the National Sales Director for a hospital group in Thailand; a Senior Manager OTC for a pharmaceutical company in Malaysia; and the Vice-President for a global healthcare group in Singapore.
How to Start Building Your Talent Pool
The first step is to identify future hiring needs. Given the trajectory of your business, your organisation's strategy, and market dynamics, ask yourself where skills gaps are most likely to appear.
Your recruiter should act as a trusted partner in this process. It’s important to discuss the development of your organization, so the recruiter can understand and weigh variables such as employee turnover, upcoming promotions, business growth, market headwinds, and other factors that will affect your hiring needs.
Once I am familiar with my clients’ business, I can provide better analysis, and ask more pertinent questions to ensure we are putting in place the best management team possible to navigate future market conditions.
For example, I can recall asking clients the following questions: Does the Sales Manager you are promoting have any demonstrable SFE experience? Does your Regulatory Affairs Manager have any submission experience in your new target countries? Does your HR Director have management experience to lead a larger team? Is your IT Function upskilling in line with new technologies that are coming to market?
Depending on the answers, I can adjust my search accordingly, and fine-tune the customised talent pools that we maintain for each client.
Talent Pools in Action
There has been a sharp uptick in demand for talented leaders in the life science field within Southeast Asia. Proactively identifying client needs and setting up talent pools will give your organisation an edge over the competition. Recently my team at JacksonGrant has been working on market mapping key senior leadership positions within the ASEAN healthcare space.
An up-to-date talent pool enables us to make vital hires over a prolonged period. Plus, we can execute the hire as soon as the vacant position goes live. Our strategy recognises that to place the most suitable candidate for a particular opportunity, we require a large talent pool of applicants to choose from.
Candidates who are included in the pool are routinely contacted by JacksonGrant consultants. This way, when a client has an urgent need for talent, we don’t need to concern ourselves with building new relationships or ‘selling’ the position to random candidates. By the time the need for a new position arises, the groundwork has already been done.
As specialist recruiters, JacksonGrant is constantly engaged with and cultivating the talent pools our clients require: whether that is sourcing for current vacancies, attending industry networking events, or continually engaging new talent through referrals, we are in constant communication with the people your business will need.
When you have the legwork and hustle required to develop effective talent pools, and blend it together with the global network of life science professionals I have built up over a decade in the industry, it is a recipe for recruiting success. With a combination of market-mapping analysis, maintenance of talent pools, and years of developing personal relationships at the highest levels of the healthcare industry, I am uniquely well-equipped to identify and engage key leaders in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries for my clients.
If your business needs to execute critical hires almost immediately, whilst saving time and money on ad hoc recruitment fees, then reach out to me today to learn how JacksonGrant Life Sciences can build and manage your customised Talent Pool.