Jump into the Talent Pool with Us
Average job tenure has almost halved in the past decade. In 2013, people stayed in jobs for an average of seven years.
By 2023, average tenure was down to just three years and four months.
Turnover has “stabilised” — but stabilised doesn’t mean people are sticking around.
It means they’re consistently on the move.
Higher job mobility = you’re always recruiting (even when you’re not hiring).
The smartest businesses are thinking differently about recruitment — not just filling jobs reactively, but building talent pools.
Step 1: Define Your Mission Critical Roles (MCRs)
Not every unique role in a business carries equal weight.
The smart way to prioritise is by plotting your roles on a simple 9‑grid.
Mission Critical Roles (MCRs) are roles that require specialised skills or knowledge and are critical to driving long‑term competitive advantage — i.e. without this role, your business would be unlikely to deliver on its strategy.
It’s important to remember that this relates to a specific role, not the individual performing it.
The two axes are:
- Replaceability — How hard is it to find someone with the right skillset? (Easy / Medium / Difficult)
- Criticality — How important is this role operationally? (Low / Moderate / High)
Your Mission Critical Roles sit in the top‑right corner: difficult to replace + high criticality.
Sometimes medium‑criticality roles sneak in too, depending on your business profile and which roles fit into each section of the grid.
Step 2: Build and Tend to Your Pool
Once you’ve identified your MCRs, the next step is to build intentional talent pools for each one.
A healthy benchmark is at least two warm candidates per MCR, depending on your business.
There’s no single way to build a talent pool — but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
Use the systems and tools you already have:
- Platforms like Employment Hero to tag and track MCR candidates, or even how you use Seek, Indeed, or a careers@ email inbox.
- LinkedIn to grow your network for those roles and genuinely connect with experienced, qualified professionals.
- Old‑school networking — coffee catchups, industry events, referrals.
The only rule is: do something, not nothing.
What matters most is documenting the pool in a way the business owns (names, contacts, notes), so it doesn’t just live in one manager’s head, notebook, or phone.
Talent Pools Need Tending
Talent pools are like gardens — you can’t just throw names into a spreadsheet and hope they’ll say “yes” when you call.
You need to check in, share news, and stay connected.
It’s work — but less work (especially when you’re time‑poor and don’t have a vacancy) than a full recruitment process under pressure.
The Payoffs
A talent pool strategy pays back in spades:
- Speed: Faster recruitment if a MCR suddenly leaves.
- Cost: Save on “post and pray” ads and expensive headhunters.
- Quality: Better‑aligned candidates because you’ve engaged with them early and often.
- Extra Upsides: Broader industry networks, potential secondments, and connections that benefit both ways.
At Zest, we maintain ready‑made pools for Exec and Head Chefs, GMs, Venue Managers, Px professionals, and C‑suite roles.
Recently, we even connected a client doing an international project with a candidate who had just relocated to that exact country — a perfect fit at exactly the right time.
That’s what we mean when we call ourselves “human APIs.”
We’re connectors — and all good leaders should be.
Talent Is Everyone’s Responsibility
The best leaders don’t just bring skills — they bring networks.
A manager who arrives with their own ready‑made talent pool is a huge green flag.
This advice isn’t just for executives — everyone in your business should always be recruiting.
Talent attraction should be part of the culture.
Kate once recruited an Uber driver into a dishie role — because when you see capability and character, you act on it (she also loves a chat).
Businesses don’t run without people, yet so many still run recruitment like it’s an emergency service.
With tenure shrinking and mobility rising, your talent pool is your safety net, your insurance policy, and your growth lever.
Tend it well and it will pay you back many times over.