What is Talent Acquisition?

Like anything you do to improve your business, a solid talent acquisition system is a multi-stage thing. Here’s what it might look like:

You can certainly wait until a vacancy arises in your team, but it’s always worth doing a bit of forecasting so you can stay one step ahead with your recruitment and talent acquisition. This shouldn’t just include looking at what new hires you might need, but also how you’ll nurture the employees you already have.

Could your vacancy be filled via promotion rather than hiring? Would a contract worker be the more cost and time-effective option given the scope of your most demanding projects? All this is worth considering as you work to strengthen your acquisition process and hire the skills you need.

Once you know it’s time to hire, meet with the hiring team and make sure you’re all aligned on what this role should be. This doesn’t just include things like knowing what experience and qualifications to look out for but also knowing where on the team they’ll slot in, what salary bands you’re working with, and confirming that this is a role that can grow with the team (or else you might consider freelancers).

The job hunt can be boring at the best of times, so make sure your job spec stands out. This doesn’t mean writing with an extravagant tone that doesn’t suit your brand, but it also doesn’t mean writing like a robotic talent acquisition strategist. Write with genuine enthusiasm and really transmit your company culture.

For example, if one of your values is ‘transparency’, then you might want to make sure you include the salary in your job post (failing to do so may even cost you opportunities). You might also want to look at your Employee Value Proposition at this point, too, so you can shout about the positives of being part of your team.

LinkedIn makes it easy for you to reach out directly to suitable candidates for truly global talent acquisition. With AI search tools to help you find qualified candidates and Talent Insights to help you make the best decisions in your talent acquisition journey, it’s easy to find the best talent.

An essential stage to acquire talent is, of course, interviewing. While you may have done thousands of interviews in the past, there’s always room to improve, especially as candidates are growing tired of prolonged and old-fashioned hiring processes.

Consider running training with your senior staff as part of your talent acquisition strategy, so everyone is up to date with how to take an interview, while also knowing how they should talk about (or demonstrate) your company values with a candidate.

Onboarding can be a tenuous time in the talent life cycle, with reports showing that an unsupportive and uninformed onboarding process can lead to candidates simply not turning up. A chaotic and unorganised first few weeks can also see candidates quickly jump ship before their probation period ends. So, a solid onboarding process is something you should discuss with your team as a vital part of your recruitment and talent acquisition plan, so you’re all in perfect sync for day 1.