The success or failure of a company heavily depends on the people within it; what skills and talents they bring to the table, their background, their energy and their innovation.
In fact, human resources-related costs are usually some of the highest for a company and one of the largest concerns of any CEO is whether or not the right people are being brought in who can help the company reach its goals and targets. This is why more companies are investing in improving their talent acquisition strategies.
Talent Acquisition vs Recruitment
When we speak of talent acquisition we are moving beyond recruitment. The recruitment process involves the publishing of a vacancy in the job marketplace signalling the intent to hire new talent to fulfil a specific role. Essentially, recruitment involves sourcing, screening, interviewing, selecting and eventually hiring.
In talent acquisition, recruitment becomes just one part of a much larger strategy to ensure that the right talent is brought into the company. Talent acquisition is more than filling an opening or a position based on a current need. It is a continuous process that analyses the company’s present and future human resources requirements to help identify what sort of talent the company needs (or will need) to be attracting. This is particularly important for filling leadership roles and any positions that require highly specialised talent.
Talent acquisition is strategy-focused and involves a constant striving towards aligning the onboarding process with the company’s five-year plan. Similarly to how a company identifies its target audiences for its sales, it needs to identify potential candidate audiences to which it will direct its recruitment and outreach focus.
Improving your company’s talent acquisition strategy
1. Focus on your business goals
Business goals are vital for your company’s growth regardless of whether or not you’re trying to improve your talent acquisition processes. Sitting down to outline your goals as an organisation for the next five years will help you understand how you can design your talent acquisition strategy in order to meet the objectives you’ve set out. This reinforces the importance of talent acquisition as a process that looks to the future and visualises the talent needed to help the company grow by ensuring that the right talent is brought into the team at the right moment.
2. Data is key
The use of data in your talent acquisition strategy is important to ensure your processes are efficient and ultimately effective. An empirical, data-based approach is the cornerstone of any successful company’s marketing or sales strategy and the same can be said for the acquisition of the right talent.
“An empirical, data-based approach is the cornerstone for the acquisition of the right talent”
Gathering data and carrying out the necessary research can offer a range of benefits. It helps you better understand where your successful talent has come from, identify the best pools of talent for future acquisition and it also guides you on the most powerful ways to reach and communicate with that talent.
Data should be your human resources team’s best friend. It is important for them to understand the vast range of tools and platforms out there for talent acquisition along with their different strengths and weaknesses. They should keep up-to-date with the latest, tried-and-tested recruitment techniques, language and processes and ultimately help them keep their exercises fresh and appropriate to the time and space in which your company is operating in.
3. Re-think your outreach
It’s time to go beyond LinkedIn. Your talent acquisition team need to be on the constant lookout for new spaces in which to find your future talent. Professionals with different talents, skillsets, and professional profiles can be found on more specific profiles and job boards but also at industry-specific groups, events or conferences. Your team need to be there and be a part of the conversation.
There are a number of great software solutions to help your HR team identify and automatically reach out to various job boards and channels efficiently and effectively. The wider your outreach, the more likely you will find the talent you’re looking for.
Engel & Völkers Malta – Sara Grech
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4. Employer branding
A strong employer brand is as important to talent acquisition as branding is important to the success of the sales process. It refers to how potential candidates view your company as an employer in terms of your work culture, values and, ultimately, how you treat your employees. Talent leaders agree that a strong employer brand can have a huge impact on the sort of talent you can attract.
When a candidate is faced with a choice between multiple companies, the deciding factor usually boils down to the company which has the most attractive work culture and atmosphere. This is communicated via your employer branding.
Check out more information about employer branding here.
Ultimately, developing a strong talent acquisition strategy takes up a lot more resources than the traditional recruitment process but the long-term results practically guarantee that you will have the best talent on your team to help you achieve your goals and increase profitability.
