🈁 Maintenance Strategies That Prevent Pipeline Decay

My past few posts have centered around creating pipelines to proactively identify talent  before openings exist which culminated with my November Newsletter (“The Talent Edge vol. 3 – Building Unstoppable Talent Pipelines”).  Before closing out on this topic, there are two more details I want to cover.  It’s valuable to understand if your pipeline activities are productive and for that, today I’ll talk about metrics.  And, even well-built pipelines decay without proper maintenance so I’ll share how to keep yours healthy.  Let’s jump right in!

6 Tips to Maintain Healthy Pipelines

🔹 Implement quarterly pipeline audits. Every three months, review your talent pools. Remove people who’ve clearly indicated they’re not interested, update information based on recent interactions, and identify gaps where you need to source additional candidates. This prevents the accumulation of dead weight that makes pipelines unusable.

🔹 Create a content calendar for pipeline engagement. Don’t let engagement happen randomly. Plan your touchpoints in advance—monthly newsletters, quarterly events, semi-annual check-ins for top candidates. Consistency builds relationships more effectively than sporadic outreach.

🔹 Assign clear ownership. Every pipeline needs a specific person responsible for its maintenance. Whether it’s a dedicated sourcer, a recruiter specializing in that function, or a rotating responsibility, someone must own the relationship-building and data hygiene. Shared responsibility becomes no one’s responsibility.

🔹 Integrate pipeline activities into recruiter metrics. I’ll address metrics that matter below but what gets measured gets done. Include pipeline development and maintenance activities in your recruiting team’s goals and performance reviews. Track the number of qualified candidates added, engagement rates, and successful placements from pipeline.

🔹 Leverage technology thoughtfully. Use your ATS and CRM tools to set reminders, automate certain touchpoints, and track engagement. But remember that automation should enhance human relationships, not replace them. The most effective pipeline maintenance blends technological efficiency with personal authenticity.

🔹 Create feedback loops with hiring managers. After pipeline candidates interview, gather detailed feedback. Were they actually qualified? What surprised you? What were the gaps? This intelligence refines your ideal candidate profiles and improves future sourcing quality.

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Metrics That Matter for Pipeline Health

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. These metrics tell you whether your pipeline is actually working.  While it’s not necessary to track all of these metrics, there should be some combination that works well for your company.

🔵 Pipeline-to-hire ratio. What percentage of your hires come from pre-existing pipeline versus reactive sourcing? If less than 30% of your hires come from pipeline, it’s not delivering value. Top-performing organizations see 50% or higher.

🔵 Time-to-engagement. When a position opens, how quickly can you identify and reach out to qualified pipeline candidates? If it takes more than a few days, your segmentation and documentation need improvement.

🔵 Response rate. When you contact pipeline candidates about opportunities, what percentage respond? Low response rates (below 40%) indicate relationship decay or poor initial qualification. Healthy pipelines see 60-80% response rates.

🔵 Conversion rate. Of the pipeline candidates who respond positively, what percentage actually enter your hiring process and move through to offers? If you’re getting responses but not conversions, there’s a disconnect between your pipeline profiles and actual hiring needs.

🔵 Pipeline coverage ratio. For each critical role type, how many qualified candidates do you have in your pipeline? Aim for 3-5 times your anticipated hiring needs over the next 12 months. This provides cushion for inevitable attrition and declining interest.

🔵 Engagement activity rate. What percentage of your pipeline receives at least one meaningful touchpoint per quarter? If large portions of your pipeline go untouched for extended periods, decay is inevitable.

🔵 Pipeline freshness. What percentage of your pipeline has been contacted, updated, or engaged with in the last 90 days? Healthy pipelines maintain freshness above 70%.

🔵 Segment-specific metrics. Track all of the above metrics for each major pipeline segment. This reveals which pools are thriving and which need attention.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when pipelining is lack of maintenance ( See my post, “ Want to Build Talent Pipelines?  Avoid These 5 Mistakes”).  And the clearest way to understand if you’re maintaining your pipelines properly is to measure with the appropriate metrics.  This brings the process full circle: setting them up properly, maintaining them, and measuring to make sure you’re getting it right.  The final reward of course is having top talent available to fill roles the moment they open up and earning the respect of hiring managers who see the recruiting function as true strategic talent partners.

If you find value in this information, subscribe to my newsletter, The Talent Edge , where like-minded recruiting leaders gather to discuss best practices.  Building a community of strategic-minded talent leaders benefits everyone.

Learn more about how ES Talent Solutions helps companies build strong pipelines.  Reach out to Eddie (estewart@ESTalentSolutions.com) to discuss.  Conversations are free.  Benefits can last a lifetime!

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