WORKFORCE PARTNERSHIPS

Build Talent Pipelines Before You Need Them

Strong hiring does not always begin with a job posting. Employers can build relationships with organizations that are already preparing, training, and connecting people to employment opportunities.

Workforce organizations, schools, training programs, community partners, apprenticeship programs, and other talent-development organizations can become valuable extensions of your recruiting strategy.

The best time to build a talent pipeline is before you have an urgent position to fill.

FIND THE RIGHT WORKFORCE PARTNERS

Look for organizations that serve the talent you need.
Different workforce programs specialize in different populations, industries, occupations, and skill levels. Find partners whose participants align with the positions you regularly hire for.

Understand what the program actually provides.
Ask about training, certifications, career coaching, job-readiness preparation, assessments, supportive services, and how participants are prepared before being referred to employers.

Explain your hiring needs clearly.
Help workforce partners understand your positions, qualifications, schedules, compensation, work environment, hiring process, and what successful employees typically look like.

Share more than job openings.
Information about upcoming hiring needs, career paths, required credentials, and changes in your industry can help workforce organizations better prepare candidates.

Identify a consistent point of contact.
Relationships work better when both organizations know who to contact about candidates, hiring events, job opportunities, site visits, or other collaboration.

Start with the relationship—not the transaction.
Do not wait until you urgently need ten employees to introduce yourself. Learn about the organization, its participants, and how the two organizations might work together.

A strong workforce partnership connects employer needs with people who are being prepared for opportunity.

MAKE THE PARTNERSHIP WORK FOR BOTH SIDES

Give partners useful feedback.
If referred candidates are consistently missing a particular skill, credential, or understanding of the position, tell the workforce partner. That information can help strengthen future preparation.

Make the referral process clear.
Partners should understand how candidates should apply, who receives referrals, what happens after an application is submitted, and when they can expect an update.

Respond to referrals.
Workforce organizations cannot effectively support participants if candidates disappear into the hiring process without any information about what happened.

Create opportunities beyond job postings.
Consider employer presentations, hiring events, mock interviews, workplace tours, career panels, informational sessions, or other ways candidates can learn about your organization and industry.

Share upcoming workforce needs.
When possible, give partners advance notice about positions you expect to fill. This gives them time to identify and prepare potential candidates.

Stay connected even when you are not hiring.
A partnership becomes much more valuable when the relationship continues between hiring needs.

Measure what is working.
Pay attention to referrals, interviews, hires, retention, and candidate quality. Use that information with your partner to strengthen the relationship over time.

The strongest workforce partnerships are not simply referral pipelines. They are ongoing relationships built around preparing people for real opportunities and helping employers find the talent they need.

BUILD A LONG-TERM TALENT PIPELINE

Think beyond today’s vacancies.
Look at the positions your organization hires repeatedly and the skills that will be needed in the future. Share those needs with workforce partners early.

Help partners understand career pathways.
Show how someone can enter your organization, develop skills, gain experience, and move into higher-level opportunities.

Participate in talent development when possible.
Employer input can help training programs understand what skills, behaviors, credentials, and workplace expectations actually matter on the job.

Create opportunities for exposure.
Site visits, job shadowing, informational sessions, internships, apprenticeships, and employer presentations can help people understand careers before they apply.

Treat workforce partners as strategic relationships.
The strongest partnerships develop when employers and workforce organizations communicate regularly, solve problems together, and understand what each side needs to be successful.

A talent pipeline becomes stronger when employers help shape it—not simply wait at the end of it.

REMEMBER

Workforce partnerships work best when they are built before there is an urgent hiring need.

Find organizations that understand your industry and the people you want to reach. Communicate your hiring needs clearly. Provide feedback, stay engaged, and create opportunities for candidates to learn about your organization.

A strong partnership should create value for the employer, the workforce organization, and most importantly, the people preparing for employment.

Better workforce partnerships create stronger talent pipelines—and stronger connections between opportunity and the people ready for it.