Warming to pools

HR Monthly, October 2006

Despite some resistance, many large companies are testing the water with talent pools.

Candidate database systems or ��,��otalent pools��,��"� are on the rise, according to a study involving many of Australia��,��"�s largest private sector employers.

In the two-year study, by recruitment software developer PageUp, 43 per cent of the companies had database talent pools by the end of the second year. One-third of those without them were planning to introduce the technology for building a candidate database in the next 12 - 18 months.

PageUp, which studied 75 of the top 100 Australian companies by employee number, claims that a fully functional database can reduce the costs of outsourcing external candidates by 25 - 50 per cent when combined with a supporting recruitment process.

Talent pools are at an early stage of development in Australia. Many organisations are still using their database primarily as a filing cabinet instead of a dynamic candidate relationship system, says PageUp, which markets the online recruitment management system PageUp People. Resistance to implementing talent pool systems remains, largely due to the reactive nature of some professionals in the industry.

In the study, the most successful approach appeared to be phased implementation, with most companies starting with a recruitment management system. Financial justification was perceived as the highest hurdle to implementation.

The main reasons behind establishing talent pools were to save time, build a pool of rare skill types and minimise advertising costs.

The main reasons why some organisations were not planning candidate databases included difficulties in managing a talent pool in a decentralised model, the fact that hiring was outsourced to recruitment agencies, or they thought the candidate data would become out-of-date too quickly. The majority of organisations with talent pools have a centralised in-house recruitment team which ensures personal information is updated regularly.

Almost one-third said they did not search their pool prior to advertising, and the majority didn��,��"�t accurately measure the success of their pools.

Companies in the financial and consumer staples sectors were most likely to have candidate databases.