Talent Acquisition – The Key for Business Success

What Is Talent Acquisition?

It is the process of identifying and acquiring the right talent to fulfill the organizational requirement.

An organization’s talent acquisition team is responsible for identifying, assessing, acquiring, hiring, onboarding and training the right kind of talent (candidates) to fill employment vacancies in the organization. To hire remote developers, one need not depend upon such elaborate teams, but simply use smart hiring mechanisms.

69% of companies have reported talent shortages in 2021. This is a 15 year high, making talent acquisition all the more significant.

Hiring is a daunting task, particularly, identifying the right coders for hire is a mammoth task. Which is why Synergent brings you this blog to help you gain a deeper understanding of the talent acquisition process.

In order to succeed on a long-term basis, an organization must hire and retain the best talent.

 

Effective Talent Acquisition

In some organizations, the talent acquisition team is an integral part of the Human Resources department, while in some others, it is a separate team of professionals acquiring the right talent for the organization.

To hire the right talent, companies must align their planning and talent acquisition strategy across departments. Only by doing so, the team can identify, target and attract the best talent for vacancies.

The key functions in talent acquisition are employer branding, resource planning, diversification of the human workforce and also the development of a robust talent pipeline across all departments.

Talent acquisition teams are also responsible for communication of the brand to the candidates being considered perfect for the roles. Only when the candidates clearly understand the company culture, the goodwill, its competitors, products and services, will they be able to align their efforts to match with the goals of the company.

A talent acquisition team also manages the life cycle of a candidate – starting from the application process till the release of the final job offer. So, any member of the team should be empowered with effective collaboration, strong communication abilities and goal alignment skills.

Apart from hiring, it is also a talent acquisition team’s responsibility to retain employees who are an active part of the organizational workforce and assist them in maintaining morale and developing their capabilities.

Talent Acquisition Process

The entire process that takes several months usually involves 6 steps. They are:

i) Lead Generation:

The process starts by writing a compelling job description that attracts the industry’s top-notch talent. To make the talent need known far and wide, the TA team must start identifying social networks, industry events and conferences, online communities and forums where special talents of the industry gather. News about the vacancy can be disseminated fast by networking and building relationships through such means. As a result, the organization looking to hire candidates will be able to generate a large pool of promising candidates and also a robust talent pipeline consisting of potential right fits.

ii) Recruiting:

The right way to attract and retain the most wanted candidates of the industry is to build a powerful company brand, promote the organization’s work culture and design an envious compensation package. The process of recruiting also involves the creation and sustenance of a positive candidate experience, guiding the leads through the process and not losing track of candidates who are not required at the moment but would be of help in the future.

iii) Interviewing With Assessments:

The TA team must list down a minimum of 5 most crucial tasks that the job requirement mandates along with the Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Interview questions must be drafted based on such key requisite behaviors. Questions must facilitate the employer to understand a candidate’s abilities in problem-solving, his resourcefulness and also the capacity to think out of the box. The team can also use a skills test (written or programming) or a personality evaluation to know the candidate’s cognitive abilities better.

iv) Double Checking Using References:

Although many hiring personnel skip this step, it is essential to determine a candidate’s abilities by double checking with references. Whether the candidate would be a perfect fit for the role can be understood better by talking to references. You can validate your choice and also get an idea about certain final concerns or impressions that you might have missed all the way. When the reference agrees to the fact that the candidate possesses the characteristics and qualifications required for the job, the offers can be made.

v) Final Selections:

Every organization must have a system for selecting the best candidate from a list containing the strongest candidates. Hiring personnel can use people tracking, evaluative software or other internal grading systems. The final selection process must be made as simple, straightforward and hassle-free as possible.

vi) Hiring and Onboarding:

Although this is not a responsibility of the talent acquisition team, it certainly is the last and final step of hiring top-notch talent. Making or breaking a new employee relationship completely depends on the onboarding process. So, streamline the process much before the new employee takes charge.

Tips for Flawless Talent Acquisition

Here are a few tips that can guide you in the long and details-oriented process of talent acquisition:

i) Forecast : 

Simply projecting the empty roles that need to be filled does not complete the process. Talent acquisition involves comprehending past experiences that organization had while recruiting candidates for the same role. There could be certain roles that the organization had great difficulty in filling due to the requirement of highly qualified people for the position. Such recruitments will take a longer time. Your forecasts should precisely predict such timeline delays and make necessary arrangements for the same.

ii) Generate High-quality Candidates:

Organizations must have processes and mechanisms in place to identify and recruit highly qualified professionals, resulting in a high-quality talent pipeline. Every organization has its own unique way of sourcing talent. But, ensure that the recruiting process is consistent so that only desirable candidates become a part of the organization’s workforce. Candidate tracking mechanisms may vary based on the organization’s size and nature of search. A modest Excel Sheet would be sufficient for a small company. But, bigger companies need larger data sets to streamline the process and sort out the most preferred candidates.

iii) Collaboration:

The talent acquisition team must work in collaboration with the HR department and other related teams through the entire process. The goals of talent acquisition must align with the organizational goals so that you recruit the right people with appropriate talent who fit into your corporate culture and stay productive in the long-run.

iv) Never Hurry:

Strategic talent acquisition takes ample time. So make sure to not rush through the process. Saving time by rushing the interviews or identifying candidates in haste will cost the company a big deal. By investing time during the acquisition process, you save yourself a lot of time and resources in the long run.

Difference Between Talent Acquisition & Recruitment

It is natural for people to get confused between the two as both share the same objective – hiring people to fill open positions.

Although talent acquisition and recruitment share many similarities, there are also significant differences between the two. Recruiters simply fill open positions while talent acquisition personnel execute a strategy of identifying specialists, leaders and the future pillars of the organization.

The talent acquisition team focuses on long-term workforce development and human resources planning instead of accomplishing short-term manpower demands.

All About a Talent Acquisition Specialist

A specialist in talent acquisition is more than a HR professional. He focuses on sourcing the right talent towards the company, identifying and hiring the right fit for the organization.

Talent acquisition specialists are most sought after in industries that are driven by growth and change. Example: tech, finance and healthcare.

The responsibilities of a talent acquisition specialist are:

• Building a diverse team of qualified employees.
• Organizing and taking part in events, conferences and job fairs that focus on recruiting and networking.
• Forecasting hiring requirements of every department on a quarterly and annual basis.
• Working in unison with hiring managers and the HR department as a whole to estimate staffing requirements.
• Drafting job descriptions and creating unique interview questions that addresses specific needs of the job vacancy.
• Understanding the selection criteria for vacant positions
• Screening resumes and applications.
• Giving feedback to managers based on resumes and applications submitted.
• Using online channels like LinkedIn, Facebook or other professional networking sites to find suitable candidates.
• Designing the entire selection procedure or mechanism – right from initial screening interview to the job offer.
• Building new relationships with potential candidates and maintaining a rapport with previous job applicants.
• Working in collaboration with the senior management to ensure fair hiring procedures that do not break the ethics.
• Interviewing candidates in a manner that provides insights into their personality, interests, capabilities and salary expectations.
• Always making the onboarding process successful and helping the new employee complete the paperwork involved.

Conclusion

If you had been looking for a comprehensive guide about talent acquisition, this blog from Synergent would have well served the purpose.