It’s important to have a viable talent sourcing / recruiting process in place. This brings to mind a question about the differences between recruitment and talent acquisition which are often confused with each other. Let’s take a look at the subtle differences between the two processes that are both key to finding top talent and building out the best possible team for an organisation:
A difference of vision
The biggest distinction between talent acquisition and recruitment is the role each plays in the short and long term development of your workforce strategy. Recruitment is more focused on the processes necessary to fill an immediate need – posting requisitions; screening and interviewing candidates; finding the right talent; extending an offer; and, on-boarding new hires. It can involve stopgap measures such as working with staffing agencies to fill vacancies. Recruitment is more suitable for the “how” to get employees hired for open positions in the short and long term.
Key components of talent acquisition
Like most programs that are focused on benefiting a company on a long-term basis, talent acquisition strategies involve distinct phases. Recruitment is one of them, but there are several steps that must come before:
- Developing a strategy: This step is largely conversational and hypothetical. Acquisition specialists and other HR team members look at the business as a whole, projecting both its short- and long-term prospects in terms of revenue and growth. Broader predictions of the industry are also involved.
- Workforce segmentation: HR and talent specialists look at what departments are most in need of staff now and which of them will most likely need new talent in the near future (as well as in what order, for prioritisation purposes). According to HR Technologist, collecting data and closely analysing relevant key performance indicators will be pivotal to this step.
- Employer branding: In collaboration with the organisations’ marketing/ communication teams, the talent acquisition team devises a brand identity for the organisation (especially for social media and LinkedIn where it should emphasise the company culture and attributes that make it unique aside from its standing in the industry.
- Recruitment: This phase and its associated processes represent the raw mechanical steps of bringing in talent: lead nurturing, candidate sourcing, candidate selection, interviewing and on-boarding.
- Candidate relationship management: It’s critical to start and maintain a robust dialogue between all worthwhile candidates. For one, the hiring process for managerial and C-level roles will often take some time as high-level stakeholders across the business consider different options, so HR must keep in touch with them to ensure they don’t lose interest and pursue other opportunities. Also, it’ll be wise to stay in contact with applicants who weren’t perfect for one role but could be just right for another down the line.
Article adapted from Lesley Lyons