On The Radar

Talent pipeline can be an important tool for knowledge management in an organisation.

- Zarin Bhathena

Can knowledge be ‘managed’ as though it were a commodity? If yes, how can its usability be measured? These are questions frequently raised during discussions on knowledge management—the creation, utilisation, sharing, and management of information within a company and its employees. It works on the principle that everyone should have access to the right kind of information at the right time. Organisational knowledge is not just about details recorded on paper. It is also about what is contained within people, and to harvest that is not easy. So knowledge management is not simple—to understand or implement.

As organisational knowledge is a function of the people who make up the company it is important to know how to harness talent and information to make it useful to others. The quality of knowledge is a factor of the quality of talent present in an organisation. Hence it is important to choose the right people through efficient hiring procedures, one of them being the talent pipeline.

A pipeline is created when the approach to recruitment changes from reactive to proactive hiring. It is essential to curate the prospects in the available talent pool to identify those that suit the company’s requirements. Having a handy set of prospects who might fit potential positions in the company whenever there are openings helps in effective and quick hiring.

Creating a talent pipeline is not a one-off activity but requires considerable investments in terms of time, effort, and money. HR needs to thoroughly understand the business that the company operates in and the kind of requirements that could crop up. This will help HR plan the talent needs as per company goals and aspirations.