Every business stays ahead of the competition because of the workforce. Excellent products and services matter, but they will fail to satisfy a market consistently without the right employees behind them. So talent acquisition is a critical element of your business plan. But is this process merely about filling vacant positions? How does it differ to talent sourcing? And will you need a specialist to implement it?
What is Talent Acquisition?
Talent acquisition is a long-term, strategic approach to filling essential roles in a company. It identifies, evaluates, acquires, and hires the right people for your organizational needs. The talent acquisition process may be carried out by one person in your company, an internal team, or sourced out to a human resources (HR) services.
The initial goal for this HR process is to attract the right talent. But acquisition must be aligned with your company’s people strategy to be effective. Both must then align with your company’s broader strategy in business. So the process will also cover the following activities:
- Employer branding
- Diversifying the workforce
- Future resource planning
Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment
Acquisition activities may overlap with recruitment activities because they share human resources objectives: to hire people. But some differences do exist between them. When your company needs to fill immediate vacancies, you turn to recruitment. When your company needs to anticipate future staffing requirements for hard-to-fill roles, you turn to talent acquisition strategies. The latter is intended to meet business needs and require more time and further planning than the former.
In short: recruitment address short-term labor demands whereas acquisition answers long-term workforce needs.
Is Talent Acquisition Part of HR?
Acquisition is a part of human resources. A company may choose to undertake this critical process in recruitment and staffing or outsource it to a third-party that may specialize in it. In the same way that some organizations choose to outsource their payroll or training and employee development, talent acquisition may be done by an external team.
Whether your business decides to hire a consultant, acquisition is an integral aspect of human resources management.
It’s important for the following reasons:
- Build productive teams in your company with talented individuals who have the skills, knowledge, and experience that drives results
- Improve employee retention by hiring the right people who will be a cultural fit, preventing high attrition rates
- Reduce costs when you attract top talent and retain them, saving unnecessary costs in hiring and recruitment
- Drive long-term growth built on key talents that ensure your business’s competitive edge
- Improve creativity by ensuring diversity and inclusivity through strategic talent acquisition
Tips for Talent Acquisition and Recruitment Strategies
The success of your talent acquisition relies on the strength of your strategy. How do you begin?
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Create a strong company brand
Talent attraction is the first step to acquisition. But you could face some challenges if your business does not have strong brand yet. Are you a retail business that’s also a social enterprise? Are you on the cutting edge of B2B services with a multi-cultural background? Is your business a legacy organization with a deep history in technology?
A company’s brand appeals to certain talents. So before you set about attracting candidates for essential roles in your organization, make sure you’ve developed a strong brand for the company.
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Conduct a skills gap analysis
What skills are necessary but lacking in your organization? An internal skills gap analysis will determine if you need to hire new talent or develop a training program to upskill existing employees. It’s ideal to build competencies in-house rather than have to deploy a recruitment and hiring plan because internal capability development improves employee loyalty. When your employees have access to skills and career development, they will value the organization more. To onboard a new recruit may also cost more money than an internal promotion.
For startups though, attracting top talents from an external market may be a better strategy. Building talent internally may not be a sufficient approach to growing your company. With already skilled and experienced people filling key positions, you’ll give your startup an edge over the competition.
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Build a strong pipeline
Your talent acquisition process must consistently identify and generate high-quality candidates to fill essential roles. To do so would require the use of tools to track potential candidates and evaluate their fitness for your company. With the development of artificial intelligence for recruitment, this part of the talent acquisition process may be easier now.
You’ll be able to compile a list of prospects, collect massive amounts of data, and screen through resumes without taking up too much time.
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Forecast future roles in the organization
Workforce planning is critical to meeting your business needs. When certain technical roles have been challenging to fill in the past, your forecast projections must adjust for longer timelines. You may also need to broaden your search for talent. With effective forecasting, you’ll be able to put the right talents in the right roles at the right time.
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Don’t rush the process
Time is a valuable commodity, particularly now that advanced technology has made nearly every aspect of business faster, much easier. Your organization may be doing what it can to fast track projects and move goods into the market in half the time as the competition. But rushing your talent acquisition isn’t going to save you time and expense; it may even have the opposite effect.
You must take adequate time in identifying, evaluating, and “acquiring” the right people for your business. It’s the best way to ensure this human resources activity meets your long-term goal for the business.
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Reach out to experts
A collaboration to acquire talent may be a sound idea, especially if the roles in your organization are critical to its expansion and profitability. For example, a chief finance officer role has opened up and your HR team needs a consultant to broaden its search. An external team or consultant may have resources and expertise your business needs to fill a crucial role efficiently.
A Strategic Approach to Acquiring Talent
Your company’s success will be built on the skills, knowledge, and experience of your employees. It’s critical to get your talent acquisition and recruitment strategies right from the outset. Start right, and your company will be set on the path to long-term growth.
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John Clements Consultants, Inc. is in the business of helping businesses with staffing needs. Learn more about our Client Solutions today.
