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.
What is the difference between Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
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 pre-determined 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.
Recruitment is NOT Talent Acquisition
In our Lexicon, we define Talent acquisition as “a strategic approach to identifying, attracting and onboarding top talent to efficiently and effectively meet dynamic business needs.”
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 – ensures business alignment, examines workforce plans, requires an understanding of the labor markets, and looks at global considerations.
- Workforce Segmentation – 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 – 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 Audiences – necessitates defining and understanding the audiences in which an organization needs to source for specific roles. Different sourcing strategies should be applied based on the understanding of the jobs and where the audiences will come from to fill them.
- Candidate Relationship Management – includes building a positive candidate experience, managing candidate communities, and maintaining relationships for those candidates not selected.
- Metrics & Analytics – 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 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.
Recruiting is what many people want to dive into; however, that is what we call putting the cart before the horse. The elements listed above are necessary for doing recruiting well. To use an analogy – the design and implementation of leadership programs is only a piece of a leadership development strategy, following an understanding of business goals, defining leadership competencies, and integrating with other talent management process. 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.
In early Spring we will be publishing a new, more comprehensive Talent Acquisition Framework. In this report, I will help you make sense of what is arguably the most complex area within HR/talent management. Stay tuned!
Finally, be sure to join me at our annual IMPACT conference April 10-13 in St. Petersburg, FL. I will be facilitating/delivering four sessions that address the topics of next generation recruiting, employment branding, improving quality of hire, and high-impact global recruiting. In these sessions will be senior-level TA leaders from UnitedHealth Group, Turner Broadcasting, Accenture, Eaton Corporation, Halliburton and Royal Caribbean.
Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs and to meet any labor requirement. When used in the context of the recruiting and HR profession, talent acquisition usually refers to the talent acquisition department or team within the Human Resources department. The talent acquisition team within a company is responsible for finding, acquiring, assessing, and hiring candidates to fill roles that are required to meet company goals and fill project requirements.
Talent acquisition as a unique function and department is a relatively new development. In many companies, recruiting itself is still an indistinct function of an HR generalist. Within many corporations, however, recruiting as a designation did not encompass enough of the duties that fell to the corporate recruiter. A separate designation of talent acquisition was required to meet the advanced and unique functions. Modern talent acquisition is a strategic function of an organization, encompassing talent procurement, but also workforce planning functions such as organizational talent forecasting, talent pipelining, and strategic talent assessment and development.
Talent acquisition is quickly becoming a unique profession, perhaps even distinct from the practice of general recruitment. Talent acquisition professionals are usually skilled not only in sourcing tactics, candidate assessment, and compliance and hiring standards, but also in employment branding practices and corporate hiring initiatives. Talent acquisition as a function has become closely aligned with marketing and PR as well as Human Resources. As global organizations need to recruit globally with disparate needs and requirements, effective recruiting requires a well thought out corporate messaging around hiring and talent development. Talent acquisition professionals often craft the unique company message around the approach the company takes to hiring and the ongoing development of employees. The employment brand therefore encompasses not only the procurement of human capital, but the approach to corporate employee development. The unique needs of large companies especially to recruit and hire as well as attract top talent led to the development of a unique talent acquisition practice and career.
Recruiting professionals often move between agency recruiting and corporate recruitment positions. In most organizations, the recruitment roles are not dissimilar: the recruitment role is responsible for sourcing talent and bringing qualified candidates to the company. However, modern talent acquisition is becoming a unique skill-set. Because talent acquisition professionals many times also handle post-hire talent issues, such as employee retention and career progression, the talent acquisition role is quickly becoming a distinct craft. Some recruitment industry advisors even advocate for a talent department unique from the HR department, because talent acquisition and development is so intertwined with a company’s ultimate success and effectiveness.
As a craft, talent acquisition is of course not new; it is the simple process of recruiting good talent to meet company needs. As a profession, however, talent acquisition is quickly evolving into a unique and important job function.