In today’s post-COVID-19 environment, talent acquisition is crucial. Last year, the global economy rebounded from the pandemic, and companies have started looking for new employees. But the Great Resignation became a major issue, forcing businesses to address a high level of turnover with quicker, large-scale hiring.

Talented teams are the heart and soul of successful businesses, but those talented people will not come knocking at your office doors just because you’ve posted a job – you have to proactively recruit them. If you want to see better company performance and outperform your competitors, you need to perfect your talent acquisition (TA) strategy.

This article will explain talent acquisition, why it’s so important, and the best talent acquisition practices in 2022 (and beyond). 

What is Talent Acquisition?

Talent acquisition is an HR strategy for recruitment that focuses on finding, attracting, hiring, and retaining the best talent inside a company. It is a well-planned and structured strategy that directly impacts the future of the company. But, talent acquisition is not the same as recruitment. Although recruitment is a part of talent acquisition, it still doesn’t incorporate everything TA does to satisfy ongoing staffing needs. In short, recruitment focuses on getting employees into positions here and now, while talent acquisition focuses on having the right talent lined up to fit open job positions, either now or in the future.

Why Is It Important?

The reason why talent acquisition is so important nowadays is simple – competition! The number of dissatisfied employees is growing, and the competition is tough.

According to 2019 research done by CareerBuilder, 29% of employees say they regularly look for jobs while employed, and 78% say that even when they don’t actively look for a new job, they are open to the right career opportunity. The research also notes that 50% of employees feel like they have a career while the other 50% feel like they just have a job, making the latter group ready to change their jobs almost instantly. Research also confirms this, as 32% of employees said they were already planning to make a career change that year.

This growing unease among employees about their employment situation, further exacerbated during the pandemic years and turbulent times, seems to lead to more people looking for new opportunities. However, while there might be a quality talent pool to pick from, filling job positions with the best employees is still a challenging task. And, unless your company is the top-tier in its industry, it could be very hard to compete for the best talent. You need the right talent acquisition strategy. So, here’s what you need to do:

1. Build a Strong Employer Brand

This is a vital prerequisite for successful talent acquisition. According to Glassdoor, 86% of job seekers say a company’s reputation as an employer is important when deciding where to apply for a job.

But, building a strong employer brand starts from within. It is much easier to attract new talent if your current employees are happy and proud to work in your company and are willing to share this with others. This way, they naturally become your employer’s strongest brand advocates, making your talent acquisition more successful.

2. Optimize Your Company Website

According to LinkedIn, 59% of candidates visit the company website after discovering a job. That’s why you should create a well-optimized career site that offers all the necessary information and answers any questions potential candidates might have. The site should enable candidates to quickly and easily set up a profile, look for jobs, and apply. A site can turn off potential job candidates if it is difficult to navigate. To have an informative and attractive career site, consider including the following sections:

• About Company
• Teams and Departments
• Benefits and Perks
• Open Job Positions
• Hiring Process
• Employee Testimonials
• Career Blog (with compelling employee stories and interesting projects your company is working on)

3. Write Clear Job Descriptions

This step can make or break your talent acquisition efforts, so your job ads must be perfectly composed. Although some research suggests that shorter job descriptions can attract more job applications, in reality, providing more info in job descriptions will attract more high-quality talent and turn off those who may not be a good fit for your company.

Today’s talent is looking for full transparency in job ads, so make sure to include qualifications, compensations, job details, performance goals, career growth, company culture, and mission in your job description.

4. Get Everyone On Board

Talent acquisition should not be limited to HR managers and their teams. Involve everyone in the company, from top to bottom. Make use of your employee referral program, provided that you properly incentivize it to encourage your employees. These brand advocates can create engaging content about their experiences in your company. Sharing your job openings on their social media can help raise awareness and attract more candidates.

5. Hire Talent From Within The Industry

This step involves approaching top talent directly – whether they are employed by your competitors or work in fields related to your industry – and talking to and convincing them to join your company.

You can also get in touch with freelancers (some might even have a contractor’s relationship with your business) to gauge interest in permanent employment. The advantage is they already know a lot about your company and can add value as employees (compared to just being freelancers). 

6. Have an Attractive Internship Program

Internships are a great way to attract talented students and hire them after graduation. This talent acquisition strategy allows you to build relationships with academic institutions and have a steady stream of undergraduate interns from such institutions. This way, you can rotate talented students through several departments within the company and groom them as future employees once they finish their formal studies.

7. Attend Job Fairs, Hackathons, and Other Job Market Events

Employees looking for a career change are increasingly visiting career events like job fairs, workshops, career counseling sessions, and hackathons. You can tap into a great talent pool by establishing a regular presence at such events and hosting or sponsoring them.

8. Hire In-House

When hiring, big companies always look first for talent ‘from within.’ This talent attraction strategy includes encouraging existing employees to take on more responsibility that may lead them to higher positions in your company.

9. Provide a Great Candidate Experience

Many employers tend to forget or neglect candidate experience despite it being a very important part of an effective talent acquisition strategy. TA doesn’t stop after you get people to apply for your job openings. During the entire talent acquisition process, you need to ensure a positive candidate experience and properly showcase your company culture and core company values. According to CareerBuilder, 78% of job candidates say the overall candidate experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its people.

Conclusion

Recruiting top talent for your company is not the easiest thing to do as it requires a lot of planning and prompt execution. Even with all the preparation and planning, there are chances that you will miss out on quality talent if you don’t know how to do it right. That is why a streamlined talent acquisition strategy targeting job candidates who can become an asset to your company in the possible future is important.

Hundreds of new candidates are looking for job openings every day, and CIBR Warriors is here to help you find the right one. For more help in advancing your career or finding a qualified candidate in IT and Cybersecurity, contact us. We’d be happy to answer your questions and provide you with the best advice for getting started.