Demand for Salesforce talent is greater than ever. In an environment where companies compete on excellent customer service, professionals who can understand and manipulate the customer relationship with Salesforce technology aren’t easy to come by.
Currently, the digital skills gap impacting the Salesforce environment is set to cost countries up to $11.5 trillion in missed economic opportunities. In the UK, 91% of companies say they struggle to find candidates with the right skills when they need them most.
Fortunately, there is a way to handle the skills gap – by building a talent pipeline.
Your talent pipeline ensures you always have people waiting in the wings to fill gaps in your business. The key is figuring out how to build your pipeline successfully.
What is a Salesforce Talent Pipeline?
A Salesforce talent pipeline is a large pool of potential candidates, pre-vetted and ready to jump into roles that may open up in your company in the months or years to come. The idea is you don’t just hire to fill gaps in your ecosystem as they arise but develop a pipeline where you build relationships with a wide range of candidates.
Talent pipelines build on the belief that around 73% of the potential candidates in the world today are “passive”, which means they’re not actively looking to change careers right now but maybe available to take a position with your company later.
You take a proactive approach to hiring through a talent pipeline, which ensures you’re never left dealing with the headache of a talent shortage.
How to Build Your Salesforce Talent Pipeline
Developing a Salesforce talent pipeline isn’t just about holding onto all the resumes you receive from interested candidates. Instead, it would be best if you had a simple strategy for collecting as many pre-approved candidates for your positions as possible.
1. Assess your Company’s Needs
Before you start sourcing candidates, think about the kind of talent necessary for your business in the future. Right now, you might just be investing in the basics of Salesforce. Still, in the years to come, you may need to access skilled professionals with specific talents using things like Salesforce Einstein for AI insights or Salesforce Customer 360.
A comprehensive “talent audit” will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the talent you already have access to. This should also help you determine which of your employees you should be training and developing to prepare for future promotions.
After your skill-gap analysis, you’ll be ready to start building target candidate personas for the people you want to bring into your team.
2. Know the Kind of People You Want to Attract
A strong Salesforce talent pipeline will address the skills gaps you might have in your current team, but it’s important to think beyond basic Salesforce accreditation and certifications too. Consider the kind of people you want to attract to your team.
What kind of values do you need your candidates to have for them to fit in with the company culture you’re trying to build? What sort of working strategies are you looking for – do you need people who work well in a team, or employees who can take the initiative and work independently? Are your people going to be working in-office or remotely?
Defining the kind of people you want to attract should help you to protect your company culture when you’re searching for quick and effective ways to fill talent gaps. A comprehensive target candidate persona should also help you and your recruitment agency filter through any of the resumes you receive from would-be candidates.
Remember, having a good idea of the personality you want to attract is useful, but don’t fall into the trap of hiring too narrowly, or you could be missing out on a diverse team.
3. Develop Your Employer Value Proposition
Once you have a good idea of the people you want to attract into your talent pipeline, the next step is figuring out why they’d like to work with you. In other words, what specific benefits can you offer that makes your role so appealing?
Do your research to determine the kind of benefits and advantages Salesforce professionals in your region might be looking for. A common bonus most employees want today is the option to work in a hybrid or remote structure, where they don’t have to always be physically in the office.
It’s also worth assessing your full candidate experience to see how easy you make the job application and onboarding process for potential candidates. Ask yourself, do you have a detailed job description, a clear interview process, and a strategy for communicating regularly with candidates?
Collecting feedback from your candidates and existing employees should provide you with some valuable information about what makes your business attractive.
4. Get the Right Help
Finally, the complexity of the Salesforce hiring landscape and the chaos of the skills shortage in the technical space can make it difficult for any company to attract talent. You’re going to need a little extra support if you’re going to grab the attention of both active and passive candidates for your pipeline.
You can start by attending industry events, posting on forums and job boards, and hosting open days where people can come and check out your business. However, the easiest way to fill your talent pipeline will be to work with a retained recruitment agency.
A dedicated Salesforce recruitment agency working with your business on a retained basis can constantly search for the right talent to fill your pipeline. This means you have an informed, experienced team seeking out the skillsets you need at all times. With a retained recruitment agency, you can significantly reduce the amount of time and effort you spend looking for candidates.
Your recruiter can focus on finding the people you need while you concentrate on growing your business.