Having a core team of effective employees could fuel your business toward future growth. The key for organizations to move forward, build their brand and gain customer loyalty is to hire the right people. But how do you really get to employ the best candidate? Would you opt for recruitment or talent acquisition? Which of these two is right for you?
Recruitment and talent acquisition are usually used interchangeably. Traditional human resource departments see these two methods as an act of filling in a vacancy. However, with the evergrowing market for competitive candidates, HR specialists have envisioned recruitment to go beyond short-term objectives. Thus, the creation of talent acquisition.
Although they seem to be the same, recruitment and talent acquisition are totally different from each other.
Recruitment refers to finding a qualified person to fill in a vacant position in a company. Recruitment is a process that involves:
At a glance, recruitment involves everything from the identification of the need for staff and then filling it.
Talent acquisition (TA) is a more complex form of recruitment. Although both talent acquisition and recruitment aim to fill in a vacant role within the company, TA looks beyond short-term goals. Recruitment’s main goal is to complete the head count. TA’s primary objective is to fill in the headcount with people that may potentially qualify for higher roles in the future. Thus, TA seeks to find someone with skill sets that could be honed for executive-level positions and leadership roles.
Again, both strategies aim to get people to occupy vacant seats. With recruitment, they hire people and move on to the next. Talent acquisition is a continuous process. Even when positions are already filled out, they maintain to build a relationship with internal and external candidates.
Recruitment is often a reaction to a vacancy. Once a role needs to be filled, recruitment begins. And if the role is filled out, the recruitment ends.
On the other hand, TA is an ongoing effort to build your brand and attract talent. Your branding, communication, and marketing efforts should be regularly refined not just for clients but also for those who seek employment.
Talent acquisition is a necessity for jobs that are difficult to fill. Technology is disruptive and TA specialists should know that most jobs that are hard to fill are those inclined with tech and IT-related jobs. TA is effective in hiring people for the long term and ensuring that the company hires more qualified candidates.
Although COVID-19 is gradually getting out of the limelight, a lot of people are still considering quitting their jobs. This era is known to be the Great Resignation with more than 4 million people in the US quitting their jobs in June, almost 11 million job vacancies remaining unfilled in the US, and almost 900,000 unfilled job openings in Japan. Recruitment and talent acquisition is definitely any organization’s tool to make sure talents are maintained within and qualified candidates are onboard to fill in the gap.
Building a talent pipeline for future growth is no doubt a must for every organization. With talent acquisition you can:
Effective recruitment process results in more engaged hires that contribute to your business performance. The HR team should implement an effective recruitment strategy to:
Whether it is a recruitment or talent acquisition you require, it is helpful to know these best practices to get the right candidate onboard.
Define who you are and what you do. Clearly use job ads and forums to let candidates know your culture. The brand is relevant in molding a candidate's hiring experience. Use your website and other platforms to let candidates see how beneficial it is to work for you.
Think of hiring people that will work with you for a long time. Make sure the job expectations are met by being realistic with your offers and company culture during the interview. New hires are not just looking at compensation. They search for a company that also provides them with an avenue for growth and learning.
It is a competitive world out there and businesses are exploring how to optimize technology for their benefit. Recruitment software and other third-party resources like Zebra could help streamline the complexities of hiring the right people. Identifying the candidates for the job can be done seamlessly with applicant tracking software (ATS) and other pre-employment testing software.
Candidates are not just the ones trying to survive the competition. Even companies are now fighting a battle to win the right person for their team. Effective recruitment and talent acquisition processes can help you gradually build out a winning squad of qualified employees.