The challenge of attracting top candidates and building a high-performing workforce has never been greater. Today more than ever, it’s essential for companies to develop and nurture talent pipelines. This requires a more comprehensive and engaged approach to recruiting than has been typical in the past. Rather than simply being reactive and searching to fill open positions, Toronto recruiters need to become proactive, always thinking ahead to future hires. It takes time and effort to build a talent pipeline, but the benefits are worth the investment.

Here are 5 top reasons that you should build a talent pipeline for your organization:

1. Enjoy More Success in Recruiting

Talent pipelines give you time to attract talent and to build a positive relationship with the top candidates in each round of hiring. You will have a much easier time replacing a highly-skilled employee with a top-prospect than without such a resource. Reference checks and vetting processes combined with the candidate pipeline will drastically reduce your chances of hiring low-performers.

2. Shorter Job Vacancies

It’s inevitable that a portion of your workforce will always be thinking about moving on to new opportunities. Departures create disruption and need to be filled in a timely manner. A talent pipeline can quickly and efficiently provide your organization with a selection of highly-skilled candidates. This ensures that vacancies are refilled quickly, and business can return to normal sooner.

3. Better Cultural Fit

To be successful in the long term, a candidate needs to click with your company’s culture and values. A candidate pipeline allows you to get to know potential hires in advance. Before making an offer, you have more opportunity to gain insight into their personalities and assess how well they will fit culturally with your team.

4. Improved Offer Acceptance Rates

Talent pipelines give you more opportunities to match your requirements with top performers in your industry. Similarly, candidates have more time to learn about your company and the benefits you have to offer. In essence, talent pipelines are about relationship-building, and proactive recruiting through talent pipelines can dramatically increase offer acceptance rates.

5. Building Your Employer Brand

With a candidate pipeline, you will can take advantage of your relationships with past, present and prospective candidates and put a spotlight on the benefits that your company offers to new talent. This way your talent pipeline itself can become a source of trusted introductions and referrals, while cold calls become a thing of the past.

Recruiting Firms

As an employer, in addition to developing your own talent pipeline, you should consider partnering with a recruiting firm that has already built and maintains a talent pipeline in your particular business specialty.