The war for talent is going through a massive evolution, the result of technology and easier access to information.  For corporate recruiting departments, this means adjusting strategies to take advantage of technology in support of hiring goals.  The idea of creating talent pipelines to meet future hiring needs has been around a long time.  The problem is companies don’t execute this strategy very well.  In a recent blog post, I shared common mistakes made when developing pipelines (see Want to Build Talent Pipelines? Avoid These 5 Mistakes ).  Today the focus is on how to build pipelines and make them key resources to fill jobs.   In this issue we talk about:

• Main Article: The 4 stages of pipeline development
• Quick Insights – Pipeline Segmentation Strategies
• Tool Spotlight – Affordable ATS/CRM Systems
• Customer Success Stories – Pipelines in Action

🔵   The 4-Stage Pipeline Development Process

Companies have had the goal of creating productive pipelines for years.  Almost every career site of larger companies invites applicants to “Join our Talent Community”.  But what they create is a big list of people, not a true pipeline.  Effective pipeline development isn’t magic, it’s a process. Try this proven framework to create pipelines that actually work.

▶   Stage 1: Strategic Foundation (Weeks 1-2)

Start with the end in mind. Partner with hiring managers and business leaders to identify roles you’ll need to fill in the next 12-18 months. Don’t just focus on current openings—look at business plans, growth projections, and anticipated turnover. Which roles are hardest to fill? Which skills will become critical? This intelligence becomes your pipeline blueprint.

Next, develop detailed ideal candidate profiles that go beyond job descriptions. What specific experience, skills, and attributes define success? What career trajectories typically lead to these roles? Where do these people currently work, and what motivates them to make a move? This clarity prevents the quality problems that plague most pipelines.

▶   Stage 2: Strategic Sourcing (Weeks 3-6)

Now you can begin systematic identification of potential candidates. Use multiple sourcing channels—LinkedIn, GitHub, industry associations, conferences, employee referrals, and passive networking. The key word is strategic. You’re not collecting resumes; you’re identifying specific individuals who match your ideal profiles.

Implement a rigorous screening process before anyone enters your pipeline. Have a brief conversation to assess genuine fit, career interests, and timeline. Let prospects know what you’re up to  –  the visibility/openness/ is refreshing.  This initial qualification prevents pipeline pollution and ensures everyone in your pool is someone you’d actually present to a hiring manager.

Document comprehensive notes about each candidate’s background, interests, career goals, ideal next role, compensation expectations, and timeline for potential moves. Most applicant tracking systems now have a Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) component that can document this information.  These insights will be invaluable for personalization later.

▶   Stage 3: Engagement and Relationship Building (Ongoing)

This is where most pipelines die, yet it’s the most critical stage. People don’t stay interested in opportunities at companies they never hear from. Develop a multi-touch engagement strategy that keeps your organization visible without being pushy.

Monthly or quarterly touchpoints might include relevant industry content, invitations to webinars or events, insights about your company’s growth or new projects, and personalized messages about opportunities that match their interests. The goal isn’t to constantly recruit, it’s to stay top-of-mind and build genuine relationships.

Segment your engagement by candidate preferences and readiness. Some people want frequent communication; others prefer minimal contact. Some are actively looking; others are happy but open-minded. Tailor your approach accordingly and always provide value in every interaction.

▶   Stage 4: Activation and Conversion (When needs arise)

When a position opens, you should be able to quickly identify qualified candidates from your pipeline and reach out with personalized, compelling messages. Because you’ve maintained relationships, these aren’t cold outreach attempts—they’re warm conversations with people who already know your company and respect your brand.

Track what happens when you activate your pipeline. How many candidates respond? How many express interest? How many enter your process? How many receive offers? How many accept? These metrics tell you whether your pipeline actually works, and they create a feedback loop for continuous improvement.

This process isn’t novel.  It’s what external recruiters do every day.  This is why hiring managers want to turn directly to headhunters to fill their positions and this is how internal recruiters can gain credibility with hiring managers and become strategic talent advisors rather than “order takers”.

I understand this plan takes time, which is often in short supply with corporate recruiting teams.  Develop your plan with a segmentation strategy.  As mentioned above, identify the key positions that are best qualified for a pipeline strategy.  Start small and build up as the team can handle it.  With your new understanding of how pipelines work and a list of qualified top prospects, you’re ready to battle in the war for talent!

In next week’s blog post, I’ll continue the theme of pipelining by discussing maintenance strategies to prevent decay and gathering the right metrics to monitor pipeline health.

Building Pipelines That Actually Work

The real lesson here is that talent pools need to be treated as communities, not collections.  Remove the focus from filling databases to building relationships. Measure outcomes instead of activity.

The solution isn’t more sophisticated technology or larger sourcing teams. It’s a fundamental shift in how we approach pipeline development—from transactional to relational, from reactive to proactive, from quantity-focused to quality-obsessed.

Start small. Choose one critical role category and build a truly exceptional pipeline using the framework outlined here. Invest in relationships, maintain consistent engagement, and measure what matters (See my recent post “Pipeline Maintenance and Metrics that Matter” for metrics tips). When that pipeline starts delivering results—faster fills, better quality, higher acceptance rates—you’ll have proof of concept to expand the approach.

The best time to build a talent pipeline was two years ago. The second best time is today.

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ES Talent Solutions is proud of the work we do to assist clients in choosing and implementing the right applicant tracking systems. Our client-side project leadership ensure the right features are working and clients leverage vendor resources appropriately. Want to understand how these activities could improve recruitment at your company? Contact Eddie Stewart at estewart@ESTalentSolutions.com today! I always enjoy talking with fellow recruiting leaders about what’s working and what challenges you’re facing.

One of the best sources of candidates is referrals. Pipeline allow for cultivation of referred candidates until the time is right to enter into the interview process.

🔵 Quick Insights: Pipeline Segmentation Strategies

Pipelining becomes valuable when you have access to the exact talent you need to fill future roles.  That’s why it makes no sense to keep a bunch of resumes in a folder labeled “Marketing”.  This is where segmentation comes in.  By creating smaller groups of prospects aligned to specific criteria, there is a greater chance of filling future openings.

Here are three primary ways to segment your recruiting pipeline:

1️⃣  By Role Function/Type

This is the most common approach. Grouping candidates based on the type of role they are being considered for allows you to use function-specific evaluation criteria and specialized recruiters.

2️⃣  By Candidate Stage in the Pipeline

This is a way to identify prospects that are closer to saying “yes”.  This group contains categories like “Warm Leads” (passive candidates that are engaged/interested) or “Silver Medalists” (candidates who were runner ups on previous jobs and are interested in future opportunities).

3️⃣  By Candidate Source

The channel a candidate comes from often dictates their engagement level and follow-up cadence.  Examples would be Referrals, Career Site Applicants, or Career Fairs.

By using various segmentation labels, it’s possible to get very specific when cultivating talent.  For example, Warm Lead CPA’s who come from referrals would be a group to keep regular tabs on.

Most ATS and CRM systems have labeling capabilities so you may not have to invest any money at all in ramping up.  And, when you get your first placement in record time from your pipelining work, you will know your hard work was worth it.

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🔵 Tool Spotlight: Affordable ATS/CRM Systems

Looking for an organized way to pipeline candidates on a budget?  There are plenty of choices!  Here are a few examples of systems that can provide ATS and/or CRM capabilities at affordable (and sometimes free!) cost:

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🔵 Client Success Story: Pipelines in Action

The Challenge: I was in the midst of a six-month ATS implementation at a global manufacturing company when they approached me with a dilemma – they could not find mechanics for several plant locations.  In fact, while they were short employees in this area, they also knew that several more mechanics were planning to retire at the end of the year.  There were two problems to solve:  how to fill the current openings as soon as possible (the longer the positions were open, the more stress put on current employees covering shifts) and how to address the future openings we know were coming.

The Solution: The first step was to do an analysis of current openings.  Are any of the openings a higher priority to fill?  Are there any special skills/certifications needed for any of the roles or are they all the same?  Through this analysis, we created a segmented plan to fill the positions with a combination of inside/outside recruiters, career events, etc.

This work helped get the second step off the ground – creating a pipeline of talent for future openings.  The work was broken down using the 4-step pipeline development process mentioned above:

◼ Discovery – Using all the tools available to fill the current openings, we identified every prospect that could fill these roles but were not available/interested at this time.  We added these prospects to the ATS, creating labels for key attributes like geography, skills (electrical or HVAC certifications for example), and notes detailing everything learned from previous conversations, like their motivation for changing jobs or why they are not interested at the moment.

◼ Strategic Sourcing – The work above was augmented with LinkedIn searches, specific targeting of other companies, employee referrals, etc.  All prospects were contacted and qualified.  If they were not likely to fill a role, they were removed from the list.

◼ Engagement – Recruiters owned keeping in touch with prospects.  Recruiting management started a program to funnel company news and other information relevant to the audience,  Recruiters used this information to create regular touchpoints.

◼ Conversion– As retirement dates approached, recruiters interacted with prospects to create a short list of those ready to make a move.  This generated a small group of candidates, two of whom filled openings within 3 weeks of the positions being open.

The Results: Half the retirement roles were filled quickly.  While others took longer to fill, the pipeline process proved valuable to filling these roles and motivated the recruiting team to continually add new prospects and connect regularly.  The future was bright for these critical roles where talent was needed regularly.

This success story is based on a real implementation. Company and individual names have been anonymized to respect confidentiality.

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Let’s Connect

While pipelining takes time over and above a recruiter’s regular duties, when done right, it can actually reduce the overall time it takes to fill a position.  Even using these techniques on one critical role to start will provide benefits in the end.

If you need help developing or implementing these strategies, reach out to Eddie (estewart@ESTalentSolutions.com) to discuss.  Conversations are free.  Benefits can last a lifetime!

Feel free to schedule a consultation call – I always enjoy talking with fellow recruiting leaders about what’s working and what challenges you’re facing.

P.S. If this newsletter provided value, I’d appreciate you sharing it with other recruiting professionals who might benefit from these insights. Building a community of strategic-minded talent leaders benefits everyone.

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As Principal Consultant at ES Talent Solutions, Eddie Stewart is focused on developing talent acquisition strategies for dynamic, growth-oriented companies. With over 25 years of experience in recruiting, he enjoys helping companies optimize recruiting processes so they can efficiently attract the best talent.

Eddie’s experience includes Recruiting Assessments; ATS implementations and enhancements; Technology Assessment and Vendor Selection; Process Optimization; Staffing Strategy; University Strategy; Project Management; Employer Brand and Social Media Development; Recruiter Skills Development; Hiring Manager Interview Training; and Candidate Pipeline Development.

Prior to ES Talent Solutions, Eddie led the recruiting function at Radius Health, a biotech pharmaceutical company. He began his recruiting career at Spherion and worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers prior a recruiting role in IBM Business Consulting Services Division.  Eddie also spent eleven years in progressive leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, including leading recruiting efforts for J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Sector and overseeing all global early talent recruiting efforts.