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The Empuls Glossary

Glossary of Human Resources Management and Employee Benefit Terms

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Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition is a crucial function within the organization that highly focuses on determining, attracting, and acquiring talent that would fit the company’s workforce needs and boost its success. Talent acquisition primarily recruits and hires individuals with the skills, qualifications, and cultural fit.

What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is a strategic approach to identifying, attracting, and acquiring skilled individuals to meet an organization’s workforce needs and objectives. It is usually considered a strategic process that aligns human resources with the organization's overall business objectives.

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What are talent acquisition specialists?

Talent acquisition specialists (talent acquisition coordinators) are HR professionals who specialize in finding and acquiring skilled individuals to reach the organizational workforce needs. They play an essential role in the recruitment and hiring process, working closely with hiring managers, HR teams, and other stakeholders to determine and attract the right talent for the organization's job roles.

What is the talent acquisition process?

The talent acquisition process is as follows:

  1. Workforce planning
  2. Job analysis and description
  3. Sourcing candidates
  4. Candidate screening
  5. Candidate assessment
  6. Interviewing
  7. References and background check
  8. Offer management
  9. Onboarding
  10. Candidate experience and feedback

  1. Workforce planning: The talent acquisition process begins with properly understanding the organization’s current and future staffing needs. HR collaborates with hiring managers and stakeholders to identify the roles that need to be filled, essential skills, and hiring timeline.
  2. Job analysis and description: After the workforce needs are identified, HR specialists conduct a job analysis to define the special tasks, responsibilities, qualifications, and competencies required for the role.
  3. Sourcing candidates: Talent acquisition professionals actively search for potential candidates through different channels. This includes posting job ads on job boards and websites, using social media and networking platforms, and attending career fairs.
  4. Candidate screening: Resumes and applications received during the sourcing process are screened to determine candidates who meet the basic job requirements. This initial screening allows job requirements and narrows the candidate pool for further evaluation.
  5. Candidate assessment: Once the candidates are shortlisted, undergo an evaluation, which may involve various models like interviews, skills, personality assessments, and behavior, and evaluate the candidate’s suitability for the job role.
  6. Interviewing: Qualified candidates are invited for interviews with hiring managers and representatives. Situational interview questions assess the individual’s past performance and experiences.
  7. References and background check: After the interview, the organization may conduct reference checks to validate the candidate’s past work and gather insights from previous employers.
  8. Offer management: If a suitable candidate is identified, the organization extends an offer that includes compensation, benefits and other terms of employment.
  9. Onboarding: Once the candidate accepts the offer, the onboarding process begins. It includes integrating the new hire into the organization and providing training with company policies.
  10. Candidate experience and feedback: Ensuring a positive experience is necessary. HR professionals maintain regular communication with the candidate, provide feedback, and update the application status.

What is the difference between talent acquisition vs. talent management?

Talent acquisition is identifying, attracting, and recruiting candidates to fill vacant roles within the organization. It highly focuses on the initial stage of bringing new talent into the organization and includes activities such as sourcing, screening resumes, and offering jobs.

On the other hand, talent management is a wide and holistic approach to managing the organization’s workforce. It includes strategic planning and development of employees during the entire lifecycle inside the organization from initial recruitment to departure.  

What is the difference between talent acquisition vs. recruitment?

Talent acquisition is a broader and more strategic approach to acquiring talent for an organization, as it encompasses the entire process of identifying, attracting, and hiring candidates, which also includes various aligned steps involved in managing and developing employees throughout the journey in the organization.

Whereas recruitment is actively seeking and attracting candidates to apply for specific positions in the organization, it is a subset of talent acquisition. It focuses on the initial steps of the hiring process. The basic goal of recruitment is to generate a pool of candidates who match the job vacancy requirement.

What are tips for effective talent acquisition?

Effective tips for talent acquisition are as follows:

  1. Clear job description
  2. Employer branding
  3. Diverse sourcing
  4. Proactive talent
  5. Collaborating with the hiring manager
  6. Candidate experiences

  1. Clear job description: Establish a detailed job description that highlights the skills, responsibilities, qualifications, and experiences. A clear description attracts candidates who match the position’s requirements.
  2. Employer branding: Build and promote a strong employer brand to stand out in the company’s culture, work environment, and growth opportunities. A positive employer brand attracts top talent and retains existing employees.
  3. Diverse sourcing: Using a diverse channel to attract candidates for various job roles. The sources include job boards, social media, career fairs, professional networks, and various other sources.
  4. Proactive talent: Establishing and maintaining a training pipeline by constantly engaging with potential candidates, even when there is no immediate vacancy, helps tap prospective candidates when the position is available.
  5. Collaborating with the hiring manager: Work closely with the manager to know the specific needs and necessities of the role and ensure alignment and better knowledge of the candidate profile.
  6. Candidate experiences: Focus on providing a positive experience across the process as it responds to inquiries, keeps candidates informed about their status, and gives constructive feedback.

Employee pulse surveys:

These are short surveys that can be sent frequently to check what your employees think about an issue quickly. The survey comprises fewer questions (not more than 10) to get the information quickly. These can be administered at regular intervals (monthly/weekly/quarterly).

One-on-one meetings:

Having periodic, hour-long meetings for an informal chat with every team member is an excellent way to get a true sense of what’s happening with them. Since it is a safe and private conversation, it helps you get better details about an issue.

eNPS:

eNPS (employee Net Promoter score) is one of the simplest yet effective ways to assess your employee's opinion of your company. It includes one intriguing question that gauges loyalty. An example of eNPS questions include: How likely are you to recommend our company to others? Employees respond to the eNPS survey on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes they are ‘highly likely’ to recommend the company and 1 signifies they are ‘highly unlikely’ to recommend it.

Based on the responses, employees can be placed in three different categories:

  • Promoters
    Employees who have responded positively or agreed.
  • Detractors
    Employees who have reacted negatively or disagreed.
  • Passives
    Employees who have stayed neutral with their responses.

What are the strategies for talent acquisition?

Some tips for effective talent management are as follows:

  1. Personalization
  2. Social media presence
  3. Candidate referral programs
  4. Highly focused on soft skills
  5. Constant networking

  1. Personalization: Tailor the communication with the candidates to be relevant. Pass information by addressing candidates' names and acknowledging their unique skills and experiences.
  2. Social media presence: Maintain an active and engaging presence on social media platforms to showcase your employer brand and interact with potential candidates.
  3. Candidate referral programs: Encourage the existing employees to refer potential candidates as it helps to result in high-quality hires and strengthens the company’s culture.
  4. Highly focused on soft skills: Without any doubt, technical skills are necessary, but paying attention to the candidates’ soft skills are also necessary such as problem-solving abilities, communication skills, and teamwork as it helps to contribute to a strong and cohesive workforce.
  5. Constant networking: Attend industry events, conferences, and sessions to build connections and stay updated on industry trends and potential candidates.

What are the types of talent acquisition?

The types of talent acquisition are as follows:

  1. Internal talent acquisition
  2. Graduate/entry-level hiring
  3. External talent acquisition
  4. Experience hiring
  5. Specialized recruitment

  1. Internal talent acquisition: Internal talent acquisition includes identifying and recruiting candidates from within the organization to fill vacant positions or by promoting employees to high roles and foster career growth and mobility within the company.
  2. Graduate/entry-level hiring: Specifically targets recent graduates or individuals with minimal experience to bring fresh talent into the organization and develop them for future roles.
  3. External talent acquisition: External talent acquisition is a process of attracting and hiring individuals from outside the organization to fill the vacant positions. Also this is considered as most likely used talent acquisition strategy.
  4. Experience hiring: Focus on recruiting candidates with significant experience and expertise in a specific field or industry. Also, these candidates bring skills and experiences to the organization.
  5. Specialized recruitment: Targeting candidates with specific skill set or experiences like engineers, healthcare professionals, etc.

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