Advance your talent acquisition strategy.

Is talent acquisition and recruiting the same thing?

Yes, they are the same thing. Actually, not quite.

And for businesses that have a close eye on talent — just about every organization — it’s crucial to discern between the two.

Recruitment and talent acquisition work well together. However, developing a talent acquisition plan requires longer-term strategic thinking.

Talent acquisition is a hot topic right now. As a global economy, we are experiencing unprecedented data regarding employment, talent, and opportunity. By 2023, 97 million new jobs are anticipated to be generated. That is a mind-bogglingly large amount, and there is a lot of talent to draw in.

Employers are reevaluating their talent strategy in the wake of the Great Resignation. After all, organizations today place a greater emphasis on employee retention than ever.

Learn more about the differences between recruiting and talent acquisition. You can create an effective talent acquisition strategy and advance your hiring with some assistance.

What is talent acquisition?

Before you begin creating your talent acquisition plan, let us take a moment to understand what talent acquisition is.

According to the Gartner dictionary, Talent acquisition is the process of identifying, attracting, recruiting, and retaining top talent. This includes selecting qualified candidates who are best suited for the available positions. But it also encompasses retention — not just attraction.

The human resources (HR) team generally includes your talent acquisition team. But every business has a different approach to hiring. It depends on your organization’s overall human capital goals.

Recruitment vs. Talent acquisition 

It may seem like recruitment and talent acquisition are the same thing. But it is essential to understand the difference between the two for any business that takes its talent strategy seriously. Let’s take a look at it.

Talent acquisition 

Talent acquisition takes a comprehensive approach to the entire hiring process. Consider talent acquisition to be the long-term objective.

In a well-developed talent acquisition strategy, companies invest in these components:

• Branding for employers
• Potential consumers and attractions (i.e. recruitment)
• Employee and candidate experience 
• Employing a diverse workforce
• Overall metrics and performance 

Recruitment

Recruitment tactics may be a component of the overall scheme. That implies that a recruiting strategy may merge with a more comprehensive talent acquisition plan.

The distinguishing factor is that it’s focused on the short-term.

The goal of recruitment is to fill unfilled roles that are burdening teams and workloads. It’s strictly focused on the current open vacancy, which means finding the best candidates as soon as possible.

Posting job descriptions online, promoting job ads on social media, and reaching out to qualified individuals are still part of the recruitment process.

Which one is best for your business?

Employers today cannot afford to be reactive in the job market.

We are aware of a record number of employees quitting their positions voluntarily. Hospitality, retail, and healthcare workers are among those who leave their employment more frequently. 

It is predicted that 23% of the workers will still be seeking jobs in 2022.

In a lot of ways, recruiting is about responding to open opportunities or job listings. Although recruitment has been effective in the past, it is not suited for the Great Resignation.

If you are serious about employee retention, then invest in your talent acquisition plan. It could be tempting to just take care of your urgent hiring requirements. But if you make an investment in a comprehensive talent acquisition plan, you’ll discover it pays dividends.

3 great practices for talent acquisition.

So. Are you prepared to step up your talent acquisition strategy? Follow these three key elements (and learn what not to do).

Do invest in all phases of the talent acquisition process.

Contrary to popular notions, hiring is only one aspect of talent acquisition. The phases of the talent acquisition lifecycle are as follows:

• ​​Job search
• Application
• Assessment or Screening
• Interviewing
• Hiring
• Onboarding

Look at the organizational structure of your company. Are you ready to succeed? Does each of these stages of the talent lifecycle receive support from your staff? Where can you add support, if not?

For instance, you have the necessary staff and assistance. But if your applicant tracking system is poor, you can be missing out on qualified applicants.

Don’t recruit pedigree.

Adopting a growth mentality is crucial, particularly if you’re a seasoned corporate executive accustomed to one method of recruiting.

We firmly think that talented people may be found anywhere. Additionally, we think that a perfect résumé on paper does not necessarily convert into a perfect fit for a job.

DO diversify talent plans.

This brings us to our next best practice. How are you broadening the scope of your talent sourcing plan?

Diversity at work is an absolute necessity. Every company should be deliberate in its approach to hiring people from diverse backgrounds. However, if you’re taking applicants to the same places and expecting different outcomes, reconsider your strategy.

Advance your talent acquisition strategy.

There are people out there with the best talent. It is your responsibility as a company leader to invest in talent acquisition because there are more job seekers than ever searching for the next best opportunity.