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Every company has some manner of talent acquisition. Everyone hires, seeks out talent, and tries to hold onto the employees they already have. This is just a part of doing business and staying competitive. Talent acquisition, however, focuses on trying to get the absolute best people for your positions.<\/p>\n
Key Takeaways<\/b><\/p>\n Talent acquisition is the process of recruiting and retaining the best talent for the position.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Talent acquisition is often done by an HR department, but some businesses will have a specialized team of talent acquirers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Unlike recruitment, talent acquisition is a long-term process. It involves continually searching for skilled personnel and making sure that there are policies in place to keep the skilled people already on the payroll.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Talent acquisition is the process of finding, recruiting, and maintaining workers. As implied in using the term \u201ctalent,\u201d the process is also focused on finding personnel who are going to be a long-term benefit to the organization. That means that talent acquisition is a long-term process and is continual, rather than just the filling of empty positions.<\/p>\n While hiring certainly isn\u2019t just sticking the first warm body you come across in the chair, it often isn\u2019t as selective as talent acquisition. That\u2019s because there isn\u2019t a timetable for talent acquisition, unlike when you hire to fill an empty post. It involves seeking out people with qualifications<\/a> that are very suited to your company and trying to convince them to work for you.<\/p>\n Talent acquisition is usually a part of HR and is sometimes conflated with HR. However, it very much isn\u2019t the same as an HR department \u2013 it\u2019s only one piece of it. While an HR department is in charge of employee benefits, salary<\/a>, and disputes, they aren\u2019t the ones who set those policies.<\/p>\n There is a process for talent acquisition and management. A lot of it has to do with being willing to take the time to do it properly. Talented and highly skilled people tend to have a lot of options open to them, which means that you need to make your offer especially attractive in order to get them to choose to work for you.<\/p>\n Talent acquisition is a process. It involves:<\/p>\n Figuring out where you think finding talent will be most effective.<\/b> Depending on your organization and how much time and money you have to spend on the process, you will need to streamline your talent acquisition. That means selecting the positions you most want to be filled by the best talent and focusing there.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Searching for leads.<\/b> There are many ways to scope out potential talent. These include job fairs, colleges, conferences, and other relevant gatherings. Some of the people at these events will be looking for a new job<\/a>, and they\u2019ll likely be an easier sell.<\/p>\n However, talent acquisition can also involve headhunting. If you run across someone at another company that has the qualifications and qualities that would work well for your company, you can try to recruit them as well. It\u2019s less of a sure bet, but it also assures they\u2019ll have some experience.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Attracting potential candidates.<\/b> This is a multipart process. It includes making sure that you offer a high enough salary, good benefits, and other perks employees will be interested in. For some candidates, that\u2019ll be working from home<\/a>. For others, it\u2019ll be an involved culture or flex time.<\/p>\n Depending on the company structure and how badly you want a particular candidate, what you offer can vary. Employees that are especially in demand sometimes end up with better perks than other members of the staff, but it\u2019s important to not be too obvious in your favoritism, or you may drop your employee retention elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Interviewing your candidates.<\/b> Once you have a good number of applicants, you need to start working through them. The interview helps you learn more about them and see if you think they\u2019d be a good fit with your company culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Making the final selection.<\/b> Your selection will be based on several metrics. Some of it will be their resume and general qualifications. Another part will be how they performed in the interview and whether you think they\u2019ll fit in well with the company culture. References are also a factor in this decision, as well as negotiations.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bringing your new talent onboard.<\/b> Once you\u2019ve made your final selection, you bring the new employee on board.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n It\u2019s important to remember that talent acquisition also covers keeping the talent that you have, especially if they\u2019re very skilled and an asset to the organization. There are various ways to do this as well. They include:<\/p>\n A competitive salary.<\/b> A salary is the main reason that an employee works for you. If your salary is below the average, you had better have some excellent other benefits or perks to make up for it, or you won\u2019t retain your best people.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Generous benefits.<\/b> These are varied, but the most important is good healthcare, retirement benefits, and paid leave. The last one is especially important if you want to retain your employees after they become parents, or recruit ones who are parents.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Flex time as needed.<\/b> Sometimes people have things they need to take care of. In a salaried position, there is the expectation that so long as the work is getting done, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend in the office, though that\u2019s rarely a reality.<\/p>\n Flex time is especially important to caretakers, whether they\u2019re parents, caring for an injured spouse, or taking care of their aging parents. Sometimes they won\u2019t be able to come to the office or will have to leave early. Giving them this ability can make a huge difference in their ability and willingness to stay with your organization.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Being responsive to employee problems.<\/b> Work is only part of life. Sometimes issues will arise that will need to be addressed. This may be a change in the employee\u2019s life, such as asking to work from home sometimes when they have young children. Other times there will be conflicts between employees.<\/p>\n If your HR system is able to handle these reasonably and fairly, that will make a big difference in how the employees view their workplace. Having a poorly settled dispute can ruin a workplace for someone and make them look elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Vacation and sick time.<\/b> While this is part of the benefits package<\/a>, having paid sick leave and vacation are important motivators for employees. It\u2019ll also encourage people not to come into the office sick and spread it around, leading to less productivity overall.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Talent acquisition is a complicated process that involves a lot of work and time. While the individual details may vary depending on the industry you work in and who you\u2019re trying to recruit, there are good practices to have. Here are some general tips to keep in mind.<\/p>\n Look ahead.<\/b> Be proactive. Don\u2019t start looking for talent when a new position opens or when someone\u2019s about to retire. Have potential candidates on your radar to recruit when you need a role filled. Also, be sure of good places to look for talent when you need it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Have a process in place.<\/b> This will allow you to easily identify and track potential candidates. It also means that everyone knows what to do when you need to hire a new person or have the chance to bring in someone who will be a great asset to the company.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Make sure you have buy-in.<\/b> There isn\u2019t much that can foul a process more than infighting. If your HR, recruitment, and management teams are at odds with one another, you won\u2019t be effective. Also, be sure that other employees are on board<\/b> with the process as well. You don\u2019t want to foster resentment or apathy.<\/p>\n It should also be noted that the more people involved in the talent search the more likely you are to find someone. Of course, you shouldn\u2019t necessarily believe everyone who suggests their cousin would make an excellent addition to the team, but you\u2019ll sometimes be pointed to a highly qualified candidate you would\u2019ve otherwise overlooked.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Don\u2019t be in a hurry.<\/b> Good talent acquisition takes time. Highly qualified candidates aren\u2019t everywhere, and they\u2019re often quickly hired by other companies. Keep track of the ones who you\u2019d really like to work for you, even if they turn you down the first time.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t rush to someone who\u2019s close enough \u2013 someone with the right qualifications will come along if you\u2019re patient.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n There is a definite overlap in talent acquisition and recruitment, but they aren’t the same. They actually differ in both their end goal and the scope of the work. Recruitment is just focused on filling empty positions in a workplace. Talent acquisition, on the other hand, is continual. It looks for the best candidates for working at the organization and seeks them out.<\/p>\n The other major difference is in how the hiring process<\/a> goes. In recruitment, you put out want ads and let the candidates come to you. Talent acquisition involves proactively looking for talent to bring into the organization. That isn\u2019t to say that recruitment never goes looking for candidates and talent acquisition never puts out want ads, but it isn\u2019t their primary form of searching.<\/p>\n\n
What Is Talent Acquisition?<\/h2>\n
Talent Management Strategy<\/h2>\n
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Talent Retention Strategy<\/h2>\n
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Tips for Effective Talent Acquisitions<\/h2>\n
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Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment<\/h2>\n