Talent acquisition is the process of finding and hiring specialized employees that directly contribute to your company’s business. It’s typically a joint effort between HR and business leaders.
One of the best ways to find new talent is through employee referrals. Another way is by using a variety of recruitment methods like interviews and assessments.
Strategic Human Resources
Your business is only as good as your people. That’s why the talent acquisition process is so critical to your organization’s growth. By building a strong talent acquisition strategy, you can set yourself up for success and reduce employee churn in the future.
The first step in this strategy is to identify your company’s workforce needs. This requires an in-depth understanding of what each department needs and how they work together as a team. It also involves a careful analysis of current talent to see where there may be gaps in skills.
HR teams should also consider expanding their outreach by using specialized job boards, networking events and academic programs to attract the best talent. This will help build up your employer brand and make it easier to hire in the future. They should also make sure that the onboarding process is efficient to set new employees up for success in their roles. This will ensure a positive experience and increase employee retention rates.
Employer Branding
Employer branding is one of the most important aspects of talent acquisition. Candidates are more aware of the culture and brand of companies than ever before, meaning that a strong employer brand can help you attract more qualified candidates.
Generally speaking, employer brands are made up of an employee value proposition (EVP) and recruitment marketing. An EVP is a set of values and promises that an organisation makes to its employees, while recruitment marketing is how you present this to the world.
Many HR professionals believe that employer branding should be the responsibility of their department, as they set company policies and are often the first point of contact for a new hire. However, it’s important to understand that employer branding is much more than just HR’s responsibility – it’s also the job of marketing.
Sourcing Talent
When it comes to talent acquisition, it’s important for HR to consider how the company plans to grow long term, and then find employees that can take the company to the next level. This is different than recruitment, where the focus is on filling vacancies as they occur.
Sourcing strategies can include instituting loyalty programs for existing employees (think referral bonuses), using internships, tapping freelancers and remote workers, working with educational institutions to recruit graduating students, etc. For smaller companies on a budget, they can also use strategies like this to help them build a pipeline of potential candidates that they can pull from when a position opens up.
It’s also important to understand that candidates are often studying multiple opportunities and will lose interest if they have to wait too long for a decision. Make sure that your hiring process is quick and efficient. This will help you keep candidates engaged and reduce the risk that they will leave your company for another.
Onboarding
Many companies have a dedicated team that works with senior professionals to fill leadership and management roles. Senior hires require a different approach to sourcing and onboarding, as they need more training and a longer “teething period” to settle in and start making an impact.
Talent acquisition teams use a variety of tools and strategies to find candidates, including specialized job boards, networking events and academic programs. They also conduct interviews and assessments to evaluate a candidate’s skills, experience and potential for the role.
Unlike recruitment, which is focused on filling vacancies as they arise, talent acquisition is a continuous process that finds candidates to help your company grow and thrive. It’s an ideal strategy for specialized positions, niche markets and highly technical or seasoned skill sets that might take months to fill through traditional recruiting methods. Talent acquisition can also uncover opportunities to grow your existing employees through employee referral programs, apprenticeships and internal succession planning.