What Is Talent Acquisition? Everything You Need To Know

Talent acquisition is a strategic approach to identifying, assessing and acquiring new employees for a company. Unlike general recruitment, which sometimes values quantity over quality, talent acquisition is a carefully curated process that businesses rely on in order to find the very best fit for their team. There are often talent acquisition specialists within a company whose primary role is to source candidates who have the exact skill set that is needed to help a company thrive and grow.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, talent acquisition and recruitment are two very different approaches. Recruiting is best described as filling current vacancies in a company.

While it certainly includes trying to find the best candidates for a role, it’s not as nuanced a process as talent acquisition.

What Does a Recruiter Do?

The focus of a recruiter’s job is to collaborate with a hiring manager to determine what type of candidates are best suited for a position, then find and screen those people. A recruiter is almost always seeking to fill an open role, or a role that will soon be available. It’s common for a recruiter to work for an outside agency, and attend events such as job fairs to find potential employees.

What Does a Talent Acquisition Manager Do?

Businesses, health care systems, universities and school districts all keep talent acquisition managers on staff. Through extensive research, consulting and recruitment, these specialists are experts at identifying the top talents available in a particular field or industry. Their role is not just to fill open positions, but to also source individuals who will benefit a company long term.

Talent acquisition strategy usually involves six steps, from preliminary research to final onboarding. Approaching the talent acquiring process methodically often results in the best outcomes.

1. Sourcing and Lead Generation

The important first step of locating top potential recruits is sourcing options from different pools of talent. This could include generating leads via networking, reaching out to past candidates, creating a committee or attracting new applicants through company branding.

2. Attracting Candidates

Attracting top-tier applicants means having a cohesive package prepared and ready to present. Candidates will want to see an overview of the company, including its mission, culture, benefits and pay. This step is where a business can stand out and differentiate itself from other competitors.

3. Interviewing and Assessing

Once the final candidates have been sourced and expressed interest, the next step is the interviewing process. Depending on the company or organization, this may look like large group interviews, progressive interviews that move up the executive ladder or even virtual interviews if a candidate resides further away.

4. Checking References

In talent acquisition, it’s important to pay attention to every detail when making a hiring decision. This includes thoroughly checking references, specifically the candidate’s current and former managers. In some cases, it may also be necessary to include a preliminary background check before finalizing an offer.

5. Final Selections

Once the list of candidates has been whittled down and vetted, it’s time to make the final selection. This step will likely be a collaborative effort between the hiring manager, talent acquisition, human resources and other team members. It’s important not to rush the selection process, since the right candidate will be an integral part of the company culture and performance.

6. Hiring and Onboarding

The talent acquisition process doesn’t stop once an offer is extended. There is still onboarding work to be done, including welcome emails, team introductions, benefits information and resource sharing.

These steps will help integrate the new employee to the culture and expectations of the company, which in turn helps improve loyalty and retention.

Each one provides a proactive way to locate and secure the best candidates for a role.

• Forecast. Identify and prioritize any roles in a company that have been difficult to fill, or have had high turnover. Note that finding the best candidates for these positions will likely take several months, so plan a timeline accordingly.
• Build a pipeline. Having a system in place to identify and track potential candidates will make the acquisition process much smoother. The pipeline system can look as simple as a shared spreadsheet or, for larger companies, can include implementing recruitment software that offers data and other reports.
• Get the team on board. While collaboration between human resources, talent acquisition and management is important, don’t overlook the value of including other employees in the process. Advertising talent searches, offering referral incentives and having a cohesive brand will help get the word out to potential candidates.
• Take enough time. While hurrying through the steps may be tempting if a position is sitting vacant, don’t rush the process. Taking the time to thoroughly get to know a candidate and understanding their goals will help source and secure the right match.