7 Talent Acquisition Strategies for You [2023]

Since the time people have learned to “create”, they have also learnt that they can get someone else to do the job. Basically, the ideation would be done by one person and the execution would be carried out by a team of workers or employees. 

However, it was said that it was after World War II, the concept of skill-matching for job roles came into the picture. It was termed labour mobilization. Job vacancies created by serving soldiers needed candidates with specific skills and thus was born the concept of organized hiring. 

The concept of hiring has evolved since then, taking the name of recruitment and today it is more of talent acquisition.

What is Talent Acquisition?

You may be mistaken if you think talent acquisition is just about getting an employee into an organization. It is a journey, more than a task or role. 

As it is said, “Your employees are your biggest brand advocates.” Skilled and satisfied employees help build the business, excellent customer experiences, and a good brand reputation.

Talent acquisition helps in hiring potential candidates who may fit the role and the company well.  

The process has several stages that require almost the entire organization to participate in onboarding an employee.

Here are the stages of talent acquisition:

Stages of Talent Acquisitions

#1 Be clear about the organizational culture

Glassdoor’s Mission & Culture Survey has shown that more than 79% of applicants look at the company’s vision and mission statements. According to a study referenced in Glassdoor, 84% will leave their current organization to work in a company with better brand value and reputation.

Hence, it is essential to decide on the organizational culture. This will help in choosing candidates with the right skills and attitude and, in turn, help develop the company’s brand name.  Successful companies recognize the importance and invest in the talent acquisition lifecycle right from conception.

#2 Create a hiring strategy

Times change, and so do people. When your talent acquisition strategy is diversified and adaptive to market changes, you will get the best talent for your organization.

A good strategy starts with a clear vision. Once you know the ‘what’ (kind of candidates) you are looking for, you can now focus on the ‘how’ (to set up a hiring system). This not only includes forecasting regular hiring numbers but also future/new roles. 

It is also the responsibility of operations and hiring managers to consistently review the talent and succession pipelines and internal transfers. 

#3 Define Job Descriptions (JD)

This may seem mundane, but creating specific and clear JDs can never be underrated.

Well-written JDs are how to reach suitable candidates by setting expectations and clarifying doubts about the job role.

Interviewers will also be able to ask the right questions through a precise JD. Even if it takes some time, hiring for a role must begin ONLY after a JD is drafted.

#4 Sourcing

Reaching out to the suitable talent pool through various channels has become simpler today using technology and social media.

Referral systems are also great for tapping into a reliable talent pool. Apart from company branding events, hiring campaigns, and job postings, Talent Acquisition software allows recruiters to consistently engage with candidates by posting on their website and building communities. 

#5 Recruiting

Although, as a more significant term, recruitment includes sourcing, interviewing, selection, and onboarding.

However, in the context of talent acquisition, it involves identifying a selected pool of skilled candidates and offering a lucrative offer for the roles in your organization.    

This also includes identifying potential future candidates, engaging with them consistently, and building a great brand image to attract highly skilled candidates.

#6 Interviewing and selection

The interviewing process involves evaluating the candidate for the critical skills needed for the job. Many organizations have adopted online pre-employment testing for the initial screening of candidates.  

Personal or video interviews are conducted to assess a candidate in various aspects, including technical skills, soft skills, and temperament. Of late, technology has made this process more streamlined and unbiased.

Talent Acquisition software and/or the interviewers assign scores to a candidate’s profile for selection. 

#7 Hiring and onboarding

The selected candidates are given an offer letter with agreeable terms and compensation.

The candidate can choose to accept, negotiate, or reject the offer. When a candidate accepts the request, he is given an appointment letter and inducted into the organization after the necessary documentation is completed.

Many companies have an elaborate onboarding process which is often completed with the help of software.

#8 Relationship management

Organizations with a hiring strategy often engage with potential candidates through communities or tech platforms. Understanding the dynamic needs of the candidates through social media and professional forums help organizations to plan their hiring strategy.  

So, all this seems just like recruitment, right? Why the difference in terms, then?

Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment

To understand the difference between these two processes, answer a simple question.

What is the difference between a job and a career?

• A job helps you earn money and fulfill your needs.
• A career gives you money and helps improve yourself, bringing purpose and satisfaction.

Although you will earn money through a job and a career, you will gain much more through trade.

People take up many jobs until they figure out their chosen careers. 

The end goal of recruitment and talent acquisition is to fill the organization’s vacancies. Recruitment has many tasks and is a significant part of talent acquisition. 

Talent acquisition, on the other hand, is beyond just hiring employees.  It is about creating a strong organization by identifying, attracting, engaging, and retaining the right (skills and attitude) people. 

7 Best Talent Acquisition Strategies

By now, it is known that talent acquisition takes a lot of organized planning and systematic implementation of processes.

Here are the critical steps involved in a solid talent acquisition strategy:

#1 Build a firm brand name for your organization

Most successful organizations have strong brand reputations due to the following:

• High-quality product or service offerings
• Customer service and experience
• Employee satisfaction
• Strong organizational culture
• Career sites, social media, and marketing Initiatives like corporate social responsibility  

Check – A Detailed Guide on Employer Branding

#2 Ensure that talent acquisition is directly linked to business goals and outcomes

If your hiring strategy is correct, the candidates that you onboard will add value at various levels:

• High-performing systems and processes
• The efficiency of the workforce
• Top-line of the company 
• Saving time and effort in hiring and reducing employee churn rate
• Good company culture

#3 Devote some time to workforce planning

Workforce planning is another activity that cannot be emphasized enough. This is an integral part of setting goals in an organization.

Whether the goal is higher targets, diversifying the business, or expansion, it needs a more skilled and committed workforce. Workforce planning includes:

• Reviewing current skill levels of every department
• Training and improving performance
• Anticipating employee turnover
• Replacing vacant positions
• Internal movements
• Succession planning
• Newer roles with specific skills or ‘rare’ skills

#4 Allow diversity in talent acquisition

As a recruiter, you may not always find the ‘perfect’ fit for a role, but you understand “tried and tested.” So, you stick to a formula for hiring, and your workforce becomes similar.

This is when you can use analytics to identify trends in hiring. Analytics can help you to understand your strong and weak areas in hiring and retaining talent.

Keeping some essential criteria in place (for skills and temperament), recruiters must promote diversity in the workforce. Diversity will help get varied skill sets, different perspectives in decision-making, and inclusivity.  

#5 Maximize your outreach

Another aspect of hiring that has a great impact on the process.

You will have noticed that some brands have better visibility and connect with an audience.

This is not only because of their advertising but also their brand identity. Through their marketing, they communicate what they represent and, therefore, what any candidate joining them stands to benefit from. Today candidate outreach has become more straightforward thanks to technology – via social media, tech communities, and job boards. 

Organizations also rely on employee referrals as a reliable source of attracting candidates. Also, engaging with dedicated sourcing consultants and partnering with local universities creates a consistent flow of potential candidates.

#6 Automate and streamline

A streamlined hiring process has several advantages for the recruiters and the organization.

Today, Talent Acquisition software offers an entire suite of automated sourcing, candidate matching, pre-employment testing, onboarding, and performance management extending to learning and development.

This allows visibility of the entire process to the hiring team and collaboration during various stages of interviews. Automated features save much time and effort in administrative tasks such as scheduling and reduce unconscious bias while selecting a candidate. 

#7 Offer an excellent candidate experience.

When skilled recruiters look at a candidate as a potential employee, they also look into their future needs. Candidate relationship management is a big part of talent acquisition involving:

• Building relationships with potential recruits – Many recruiters engage consistently with candidates who are likely to be a good job fit. 

• Retaining acquired talent

• Offering challenging roles – This is especially true for technical positions. With technology evolving daily, organizations with excellent talent acquisition strategies ensure opportunities that keep them engaged. 
• Offering updated or flexible work options is possible, depending on the industry. Offering a hybrid mode of work, location, etc., are some options for candidates of late.
• Offering a competitive salary package – This also needs some trend analysis to understand the salary standards in your industry. Even if you cannot match the best paymasters, candidates will consider the opportunity if they are offered other perks.
• Adding incentives and benefits – Recently, several organizations added a lot of financial help for the candidate and their families. This includes meal coupons, medical insurance, and bonuses. Companies also have non-financial perks such as paid leave, sabbaticals, paid education, training, etc. 

• Engaging with passive (yet skilled) candidates for future openings – Looking ahead, excellent hirers know how to present a lucrative offer to passive candidates. There are many ways to connect with your candidates – social media, company website, campaigns, and communities.

Hyreo makes the whole Candidate Experience one notch higher and increases post-offer conversions by up to 30%; check the post-offer candidate engagement platform now.

Implementing all these steps is possible only if you have a clear and organized strategy.

Wrap Up

Every organization has its way of functioning – although no process change can happen overnight, it all starts with a foresight to be more streamlined and efficient. A lot can be achieved by setting clear goals and using the tools to recruit suitable candidates for your organization.

Talent acquisition is a big project that needs to be broken down into phases to be executed. Several aspects of a robust talent acquisition process cost money, especially automation.

But many elements can be implemented without any financial investment, like candidate engagement.

All in all, talent acquisition is quite simple – the kind of organization you want to create depends on the vision you have for it.   

Also Read:
Best 9 Talent Acquisition Practices in 2023
Talent Acquisition vs Talent Management in HR
Tips and Insights from Top Talent Acquisition Blogs

FAQs on Talent acquisition strategies