An organization is only as strong as its people; the more talented your workforce, the more prosperous the business will be. With that in mind, strategically filling every position with top talent is the key to promoting peak performance.
Effective talent acquisition is how you get top talent in the door.
With a complete talent acquisition program, organizations gain deeper insight into the kind of skills they’re looking for and the kind of organization they want to be. By choosing the best, you become the best.
Learn how to find the talent that aligns with your organization’s goals with our ultimate guide for an effective talent acquisition strategy.
What is talent acquisition?
Talent acquisition is the strategies, processes, and tactics used to identify and recruit your organization’s workforce. While HR manages and supports an existing workforce, talent acquisition’s main goal is identifying and hiring the right talent for open positions. While talent acquisition sometimes falls under your HR department’s purview, it is a distinct skill with numerous benefits for your organization.
The labor market is tight for recruiters. With a smaller pool of new hires to choose from, now more than ever, organizations need effective talent acquisition strategies to ensure they’re bringing in the right people with the right set of skills. Hiring a candidate who is the wrong fit has cascading consequences for human resources and the business asoff-boarding employees is a timely, costly process, plus you’re right back to square one with a weaker budget than when you started.
Your talent acquisition team saves you time and money, all while adding value to the organization. Unlike trial-and-error hiring, talent acquisition optimizes your recruitment, optimizing your employee retention and your organization’s processes. They provide a detailed framework to assess the leading applicants and even go so far as to seek out the most competitive candidates for open positions in the organization.
Talent acquisition vs. recruitment
You may wonder how talent acquisition differs from your standard recruitment processes. People often use these two terms interchangeably, but they are fundamentally different. While talent acquisition functions similarly to recruitment, higher levels of scrutiny and proactivity in the hiring process distinguish it from its counterpart.
Recruiters serve a crucial role: They are the ones carrying out tactical day-to-day hiring procedures, filling vacancies, conducting preliminary interviews, and facilitating the process. Recruiters function to interface with applicants and onboard candidates to fill an open position.
Where recruitment is more reactive in the hiring process, talent acquisition is more proactive and strategic. A comprehensive talent acquisition team will preemptively build a portfolio of qualified job seekers, actively sourcing candidates, and even shape company culture to promote a more appealing work environment to top candidates.
Recruiters rely on top talent finding their way to the organization; talent acquisition goes out and proactively finds them.
6 steps in the talent acquisition process
Effective talent acquisition depends on the strength of the process. The more comprehensive the program, the better field of candidates it will generate. Consider these five critical steps to an effective talent acquisition process.
1. Lead generation
Good talent acquisition begins before potential candidates have sent an application. Lead generation establishes quality outreach that informs the hiring process: Expectations for the role, the kind of candidates best fit for the role, and where they should look for them. From networking at job fairs or industry events to compelling job postings on job boards or social media, anything that creates better leads creates a better talent pool.
2. Recruiting and attracting top candidates
A talented candidate is a hot commodity; clinching top talent for your organization means meeting them more than halfway—or at least outperforming your competitors. Appeal to what the most qualified candidates want from a competitive position: a compelling compensation plan, a strong culture, and the chance to work for a prestigious brand or industry leader. To find the best fit for your position, prove you’re the best fit for them.
3. Interview and assessment
Interviews allow talent acquisition managers to get to know candidates; better questions uncover the depth of candidate experience. Knowing the ins and outs of the position helps recruitment ask the right questions. A comprehensive understanding of the role helps talent managers assess candidates well.
In turn, the more comprehensive the interview, the more information recruitment has to cross-check a candidate’s fitness for the position: questionnaires on experience and even personality tests give crucial dimensions to potential new hires that promote discerning assessments beyond resumes.
4. Evaluating references
Even a comprehensive interview doesn’t give the full picture of a candidate. To gain a full understanding of your job seekers, it’s essential to follow up on their references. References verify a candidate’s qualifications, character, and other pertinent qualities. Candidates will present the best picture of themselves to win the role; references help talent acquisition managers see the complete picture.
5. Selecting the best candidate(s)
Compiling a pool of top candidates for a position isn’t the end of the hiring process. A compelling talent pool complicates matters: Who should be the final pick? One candidate might excel in one area where another doesn’t, and vice versa. A talent acquisition specialist helps crunch the disparate attributes of different candidates into quantifiable data that makes management’s final selection the absolute right one.
6. Hiring and onboarding
Hiring the best candidate isn’t simple; talent acquisition doesn’t stop when the final candidate is selected. A skilled talent acquisition manager helps draft compelling compensation packages encouraging candidates to accept the position. Furthermore, talent acquisition managers help new employees get situated. By helping new hires hit the ground running, they achieve peak productivity quickly and feel more confident about their decision to join your organization.
Why is talent acquisition important?
Competition is the driving force behind any enterprise. To outcompete your peers, you need to outcompete by way of your talent acquisition program. Having the right people in the right roles is crucial for businesses, as it helps improve their productivity and remain competitive.
Top talent is an essential component of workforce productivity. Staffing your organization with the best people is a surefire means to be the best in your field. Your organization is primed for success with the right people in the right roles.
How to build an effective talent acquisition strategy
Acquiring top talent requires a multi-pronged recruitment strategy. A clear, coherent talent acquisition strategy ensures the program works, orienting the organization to attract talent and empowering recruitment with the resources they need to find the best fit.
Let’s examine some key components of an effective talent acquisition strategy:
Assessing organizational strategies
Talent acquisition needs a clear-eyed view of how organizational strategies have succeeded in the past. With a strong grasp on past performance, managers equip themselves with the information they need to course-correct, improve, and implement better hiring practices that bring on better candidates.
Gathering feedback
There are a lot of moving parts in an effective talent acquisition strategy. To ensure that strategies are working as intended, seek feedback from all parties involved in the hiring process: your HR department, senior management, new hires, and even the applicant pool.
Tailoring your strategy to constructive feedback builds a watertight process that prevents talent from slipping through your grasp.
Defining the employer brand
An organization’s brand image has a strong influence on access to talent. A good reputation, a leading position in your field, and a positive public perception all contribute to the success of a talent acquisition strategy. Talented folks want to work at a place worthy of their talent; cultivating a reputation for top talent sets the bar for your program.
7 tips and best practices for talent acquisition
If you’re new to strategic talent acquisition or looking for ways to improve an existing program, let the below best practices help you along your journey:
1. Take full advantage of forecasting
The state of the job market profoundly impacts the effectiveness of your talent acquisition. Consult reliable forecasts on relevant trends that impact how your recruitment goes.
2. Build a pipeline
Don’t waste time looking for talent where it can’t be found. Use job fairs, college campus outreach, or internship programs to build a sturdy talent pipeline that delivers top talent straight to your organization.
3. Get everyone on board
Talent acquisition requires an organization-wide strategy. Ensure everyone is on the same page: promote positive culture, open communication channels between HR and recruitment, and make the hiring process collaborative.
4. Don’t rush the process
Hiring top talent is a drawn-out process—don’t rush it. When you finally find the right person, you’ll be glad you took your time; when you’re back to square one after hiring the wrong person, you’ll wish you’d taken more time.
5. Use talent acquisition software to post jobs and reply to applicants automatically
Use every possible advantage to connect the right person to the right position. Talent acquisition helps your teams crunch and share data with recruitment, facilitate open lines of communication with an applicant tracking system, and connect your organization with rich talent pools.
6. Be upfront about expectations
No one likes their time wasted; not you, your teams, or your applicants. Be clear about your expectations for new talent and open roles. Being upfront about both clears away the guesswork that wastes everyone’s time.
7. Incentivize employees with rewards for referring candidates
Who is better equipped to find the right person for the role than their future coworkers? An organization’s existing staff is a great resource for new talent; they have hands-on experience with the work environment. By incentivizing them to refer new candidates, you build relationships with a workforce who already knows the standard for your job openings.
Examples of successful talent acquisition strategies
A lot goes into an effective talent acquisition program; all these moving parts make organizing strategies for your organization overwhelming. Let’s take a quick look at some successful talent acquisition strategies so you have a better grasp on what to include in your program.
Build a strong brand
A recognizable name and good reputation does wonders for your talent acquisition. Establishing your organization’s stature in your field helps you stand out. An organization showcases its merits by making commitments that resonate with talent, like eco-friendly practices, corporate responsibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that demonstrate respect for the workforce.
Identify niche roles
Hybrid capabilities have added new access to talent pools2. A wider pool presents a fantastic opportunity for talent-hungry organizations; with a wider field, you are able to set more specific parameters for roles, ensuring you find the right candidate. By identifying niche talent needs within an organizational structure, your human resource management team has the blueprint for the position, empowering them to find the best fit.
Identifying peak performers within your company
Frequently, top talent hides in plain sight—who is more qualified to fill qualified roles than the folks who already know the ropes? Talent acquisition programs look inward just as much as they search outward. By cultivating talent within the organization, managers empower employees.
The future of talent acquisition
Recruitment has transformed over the past few years. The rise of hybrid work schedules, increasing demands for a healthier work-life balance, and a renewed emphasis on fulfilling careers, diversity in company cultures, and socially responsible inclusivity means there’s a lot to consider in your talent acquisition program.
These trends indicate how top talent chooses careers; these are the trends your organizational peers have oriented themselves to. Explore how to win talent and build a better organization using these trends with Payscale today, and visit this article to learn more!
