Talent Acquisition means a view of not only filling positions, but also utilization of the candidates and their skills that come out of a rigorous recruiting process as a means to fill similar positions in the future also.
These future positions can be identified today by looking at the succession management plan, or by analyzing the history of attrition for certain positions. This makes it easy to predict that specific openings will occur at a predetermined period in time.
In few cases of Strategic Talent Acquisition, clients will recruit today for positions that do not even exist today but are expected to become available in the future.
Taking the long term strategic approach to talent acquisition has a huge impact on how an approach is made to a candidate.
Recruitment – In this résumés are invited for a vacancy
Selection - Screening of only relevant or best matching candidates.
Hiring process - Time frame from the period of requisition of man power being made till the person actually joining.
Talent Acquisition - Acquiring of “talent”
Here we focus on talent that the person possess and not just the educational background or the experience / working years one has.
To be simple, it is about attracting, recruiting, inducting and making use of right talent.
Such as if one have a talent for content writing but do not possess any certification or degree in this field. A person who is recruiting might not be interested in my profile. But a talent Acquisition person who is looking for talent might want to try my skills. Recruitment invite the eligible candidates for the existing vacancies available in the organization.
Talent acquisition is an ongoing cycle of process related to attracting, sourcing, recruiting and hiring employees within an organization.
This includes elements of employment branding, outreach, networking and relationship building with potential candidate communities to continually build and enhance the talent pool for an organization.
Talent Acquisition professionals understand that each talent has something of value to offer. They also build relationships with the best of the talent that lead to more successful networking, more referrals, more business and an amazing give and take of expertise, knowledge and information.
Recruiting takes tremendous effort. Talent acquisition takes efficient and productive processes that are easy to use and candidate centric.
The identification, relationship building and selection of people who possess special, creative/technical skills and who can influence, contribute to and/or drive revenue to our business by exerting extraordinary effort, exercising strong relationship management in present or in future could be considered as TA.
Recruitment is a linear process, where employers source candidates for the existing vacancies currently available. This approach is reactive in its nature, thus leads to increased time-to-hire and cost-to-hire. At times organizations compromise even on quality in order to manage cost and time.
As specified above Talent Acquisition is ongoing cycle of process that start by building Employer Brand, communication of Employee Value Proposition and ongoing relationship with targeted Talent segments. This approach leads to the development of talent pools and talent pipelines eventually creating sustainable talent supply chain. This leads to more strategic nature of the approach and significant improvements across all Recruitment KPIs.
The term Talent Acquisition (TA) is often used synonymously with Recruiting. However, these are two very different things. Recruiting is a subset of TA, and includes the activities of sourcing, screening, interviewing, assessing, selecting and hiring. In some organizations this extends to the early stages of onboarding, which then becomes a shared responsibility between HR and the hiring manager, with support from the learning organization.
Talent acquisition includes recruiting, but it is inclusive of other strategic elements as follows.
Talent Acquisition Planning & Strategy – This ensures business alignment, examines workforce plans, requires an understanding of the labor markets, and looks at global considerations.
Workforce Segmentation – It requires an understanding of the different workforce segments and positions within these segments, as well as the skills, competencies, and experiences necessary for success.
Employment Branding – This includes activities that help to uncover, articulate and define a company’s image, organizational culture, key differentiators, reputation, and products and services. Employment branding can help advance the market position of organizations, attract quality candidates and depict what it is truly like to work for that organization.
Candidate Relationship Management – This includes building a positive candidate experience, managing candidate communities, and maintaining relationships for those candidates who are not selected at present against a particular skill set, but have few more skills.
Metrics & Analytics – It is the continuous tracking and use of key metrics to drive continuous improvement and to make better recruitment decisions, to ultimately improve the quality of hire.
Within each of these core elements of TA there are many other sub-activities and best practices. And, of course, the selection of tools, technology and outsourcing partners is a key element of a company’s talent acquisition strategy.
In other words, a leadership program is to leadership development what recruiting is to talent acquisition. Alone, neither will drive their highest value to the business.
Note: A suggestion for the readers who are not HRs. Kindly understand the efforts made by recruiters, technical panel(s) and senior executive(s) in order to close the position. Don’t make fake commitments, backouts, not picking the calls, switching off the cell phones and other lame excuses. If being a candidate you have genuine problem, share it with the recruiters by dropping a professional mail or by texting, giving a call.
