In today’s candidate-driven market, organizations are implementing unique talent acquisition strategies to optimize their labor pool and identify business-critical talent that is the perfect fit for available positions. Used in all segments of recruitment as a means to find, attract, hire, grow, and retain top talent, the ultimate aim of this proven strategy is to get the right teams in place in order to meet business goals and be equipped to overcome whatever challenges lie ahead.
In this blog, we delve deep into what talent acquisition is, how it differs from recruitment models, and how this strategy can set your business up for future success.
What is the difference between recruitment and talent acquisition?
To understand talent acquisition it’s important to understand how this differs from recruitment. Recruitment encompasses the whole process from screening and interviewing, to placement. Where talent acquisition varies is due to the time scale as this is a longer-term strategy used to locate a very selective pool of high-profile professionals, leaders, and executives across the c-suite level.
While both models are nuanced and can vary depending on the types of roles, firms that are looking to secure top-tier talent with a niche skillset will need to have an effective talent acquisition process in place.
Talent acquisition: step by step
The process of finding, interviewing, and hiring talent often involves many intricate steps and touchpoints that could span over a couple of months. What’s more, it’s not always plane sailing, especially in today’s competitive landscape with professionals typically having multiple offers on the table at any given time. Overall, talent acquisition can involve the following steps:
Sourcing and Lead Generation
The process begins by creating an eye-catching job description that is clear, concise, and inspiring. Once you have created this, you can then start to identify suitable social networks, online forums, events, and conferences where you can connect and engage with potential talent and spark some interest.
This is a great opportunity to forge strong relationships with individuals that can help to accelerate your business and identify specialist professionals that might complement and enhance the growth of your company.
Recruitment metrics
The key to recruiting is being able to attract high-caliber professionals that meet the needs of your business. You can do this by having a strong brand identity or creating an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that will attract potential jobseekers and make them want to work for you. To discover how to write an EVP that truly sells, read our blog.
Throughout the recruitment process, you should also focus on creating a positive experience and building relationships with those that could be a good fit from the offset. Remember, if you find a prospective professional that isn’t a good fit now, you should maintain a relationship and stay in touch as they could help your business in the future.
To interview or not to interview
The interview process is your opportunity to establish whether a prospective individual has the skills needed to excel in the job and if they’d be a good cultural fit. To do this, you should identify the key performance indicators that will help define success in the role on offer.
From this, we’d advise building out interview questions based on behaviors and performance, such as:
•Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision?
•Describe a time you had to deal with an uncomfortable situation?
•Describe a mistake you made and how you rectified it?
•Tell me about a time when you had to present complex information?
Deciding factors
One of the best ways to identify and secure the strongest professionals is to use people tracking, evaluative software, or an internal grading system. This makes the final selection process as clear and hassle-free as possible. Once you’ve reached a decision, make sure it’s an offer they can’t refuse – check out our latest blog, How to make the perfect job offer, for more exclusive insights.
As a global talent partner, we make sure that the talent acquisition process is in expert hands. If you’re an employer looking to make a business-critical hire, contact us today.
