Ultimate Guide to Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

E-guide
Ultimate Guide to
Recruitment and
Talent Acquisition

of 16
In this e-guide
Ultimate guide to recruitment and
talent acquisition p. 2
What is recruitment? p. 2
What is talent acquisition? p. 5
Process model p. 6
Methods and strategies p. 7
Challenges: COVID-19 pandemic
reorders talent acquisition and
recruitment p. 9
Benefits of effective recruitment and
How to develop a plan p. 11
Products and tools p. 12
Technologies p. 13
The future of talent acquisition p. 14
Further reading p. 16
E-guide
In this e-guide:
Recruiting workplace talent is arguably as old as commerce itself.
Businesses have always had ways to identify and attract workers, decide
if they're suitable, agree on pay, then hire and integrate them into the
company.
Read this guide to recruitment and talent acquisition to get an overview
of each discipline along with basic how-to advice, and click on the links
for more detail.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Ultimate guide to recruitment and talent
acquisition
David Essex, Editor at Large, SearchHRSoftware.com
Recruiting workplace talent is arguably as old as commerce itself. Businesses have
always had ways to identify and attract workers, decide if they're suitable, agree on
pay, then hire and integrate them into the company.
The computer age long ago made it possible to automate most of the recruitment
process and extend its reach to a global pool of candidates. In recent years, the term
"recruiting" has been subsumed by the fancier-sounding talent acquisition, and though
the terms are sometimes used synonymously, there are important differences.
Read this guide to recruitment and talent acquisition to get an overview of each
discipline along with basic how-to advice, and click on the links for more detail.
What is recruitment?
Recruitment is the process of finding, screening, hiring and eventually onboarding job
candidates. It is the biggest component of talent acquisition but has a more near-term
focus on the practical steps of the hiring process, while talent acquisition looks more to
the future and the human capital that organizations will need to remain competitive.

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
The recruiting process usually begins with a job requisition, a formal request to create
a new position that justifies the need for the position and provides key details, such as
the timing of the hire and whether the position is full or part time.
If the requisition is approved, the hiring manager -- often in collaboration with the HR
department -- writes a detailed job description that may amplify and tailor the
information provided in the requisition.
The job description is the basis for the job listing that will be posted internally on the
organization's career page and externally on job boards or through social media. The
job listing has additional language that explains the career opportunities in the
position. For an external listing, the job description not only provides an accurate and
compelling explanation of the open position but also sells the organization and
possible reasons for wanting to work there.
Image on the next page

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
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When people apply for a listed job, their resumes and applications are then screened,
sometimes automatically in applicant tracking system (ATS) software. Interviews and
other screening methods, such as pre-hire personality tests, are used to learn more
about candidates and assess their suitability for the role.
After the hiring managers review the information on each qualified candidate and
decide on a finalist, negotiations with the chosen candidate about salary, vacation time
and the like are concluded, and a formal offer drawn up and delivered. If the candidate
accepts and signs the offer, the onboarding process begins, typically before their first
day on the job.
What is talent acquisition?
These standard recruiting steps are the daily nuts and bolts of talent acquisition. But
here's where talent acquisition differs from recruiting: Talent acquisition goes beyond
basic hiring by adding strategic elements that apply detailed analysis to the
organization's overall talent needs, how those needs relate to business goals and what
HR and recruiting specialists can do to close the gaps between the two.
It's also important to note that talent acquisition is not the same as the similar-
sounding talent management.
Talent acquisition focuses mainly on recruiting and onboarding, which are the first
major steps or "pillars" of the even broader field of talent management. The latter is

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
the comprehensive process that continues through the entire employee "lifecycle" and
includes learning and development, performance management, compensation
management and succession planning.
Therefore, while talent acquisition draws upon some of the data and analysis of these
later stages of an employee's tenure -- for example, by analyzing the performance
reviews of successful employees to see what characteristics to look for in a job
candidate -- it primarily maintains a focus on recruitment.
Process model
While the differences between recruitment and talent acquisition described above
seem clear, in practice, HR professionals, consultants and vendors of HR software often
disagree on exactly where to draw the line between talent acquisition and recruiting.
The two disciplines do overlap more than they diverge, and the reality is that the bulk
of talent acquisition work often gets done in an organization's existing recruitment
process.
To clear up the confusion, let's break down in more detail how talent acquisition goes
beyond recruiting:
• Lead generation and sourcing. Talent acquisition adds one very important step
to the beginning of the recruitment process: lead generation and sourcing.
Talent acquisition specialists actively investigate and manage the best sources

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
of prospective candidates who meet the organization's needs, then gather
leads (such as names and contact information) for individual candidates. Talent
acquisition specialists spend far more time than recruiters do on identifying and
investing in sources that can feed the talent pool, then make sure the talent
pool remains well stocked.
• Continuous improvement. Once the recruitment process begins, talent
acquisition continues to serve as both an overlay to the process and as an
external process for judging the effectiveness of recruiting and identifying ways
to improve it.
• Analytics. Data analytics is the primary tool used in talent acquisition to
measure and improve an organization's talent and recruiting strategy. It can, for
example, identify the sources of the best talent in the organization, identify the
characteristics that top performers have in common and measure the
effectiveness of job listings on specific social media platforms.
Methods and strategies
Recruitment marketing. Having a recruitment marketing strategy is essential in any
effective talent acquisition strategy. Recruitment marketing is a subset of marketing
dedicated to promoting the organization as a desirable place to work, reinforcing the
employer brand and corporate culture, and building up a database of leads, many of
whom will be passive candidates not actively looking for work. Current employees play
a key role in marketing the company through employee referrals, video testimonials
and social media.

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Source of hire. Another effective talent acquisition strategy is to have a process for
identifying the source of hire (SoH) of top-performing employees -- sources such as the
company's career site, employee referrals and job boards. An ATS can track SoH
information and slice it into useful categories such as passive candidates, unsuccessful
applicants or geographic regions; analytics software can be used to glean further
insights from this data.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Social media recruiting strategies. Social media sites are often a key component of
recruitment marketing, but they also have a distinct role in talent acquisition that goes
beyond simply marketing the employer brand. Social media platforms, especially
LinkedIn and niche sites like the software development site GitHub, also function as
two-way communication channels for posting jobs and interacting with candidates in
the early stages of recruiting.
Challenges: COVID-19 pandemic reorders talent acquisition
and recruitment
Recruiting and talent acquisition were challenging enough before the COVID-19
pandemic struck in the first quarter of 2020. The "war for talent" was in full force, as
many Western countries' economies neared full employment and companies struggled
to fill open positions.
As the pandemic disrupted the workforce, companies radically rearranged hiring
priorities and scrambled to understand a new set of challenges, but the need for a solid
talent acquisition process did not go away.
Many companies quickly realized they needed to figure out how to hire remote
employees and how the boom in telecommuting was changing corporate cultures,
productivity and talent management. Other businesses that require most of their work
to be performed on site, such as retailers, restaurants and logistics providers, have
faced a revolving door of furloughs, rehirings and firings. For these companies,

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
employee retention has gotten harder, and financial support and benefits have been
trickier -- if not impossible -- to provide and afford.
Most organizations have had to deal with these new talent acquisition challenges while
learning how to conduct more of their recruiting processes virtually than ever before.
Benefits of effective recruitment and talent acquisition
Identifying the skills and people an organization needs to deliver on its mission and
strategic goals, then hiring the best candidates to meet the identified needs is essential
to the organization's very survival, let alone its ability to grow.
Effective talent acquisition has numerous other benefits, including the following:
• improved employee experience and engagement;
• higher productivity;
• improved employee retention (and therefore, lower turnover), which in turn
reduces the cost to hire and train new employees;
• more innovation in products and services, thanks to the creativity of
experienced and highly skilled employees; and
• higher revenue from improved productivity and innovation.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
How to develop a plan
Taking a strategic approach to recruiting requires a willingness to step back and
examine what is working and what isn't, and to not neglect broader goals in the rush to
fill immediate needs. This big-picture perspective is exactly what talent acquisition
brings to the process of developing a recruiting strategy.
When building a recruiting and talent acquisition plan, consider taking these steps:
1. Assess current organizational strategies. The overall business plan,
departmental plans and workforce plan are good sources of the top-level
considerations that should guide the recruiting plan. These might include new
lines of business, mergers and acquisitions, and global expansion.
2. Research best practices. Templates and other guides to effective recruitment
and talent management are widely available, often for free online.
3. Solicit stakeholder feedback. Departmental managers, HR and senior
executives will expect to have input into the overall talent plan. They're also the
best source of experience and insight into business processes.
4. Define the employer brand. First, conduct a study to identify public
perceptions of the brand, either formally or by checking sites such as Glassdoor.
If the brand image isn't aligned with business goals, take steps to fix one or
both, then incorporate them in recruitment marketing and other
communications.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Products and tools
Organizations can choose from a wide variety of recruiting and talent acquisition
software.
A human resource management system (HRMS), or core HR system for managing
employee records, payroll and benefits, is usually the first HR technology installed at
an organization. It may come with a basic recruiting module, but most organizations
find they quickly outgrow it. That's why it's important to look for specialized recruiting
software.
Perhaps the most commonly used kind of HR software are the talent management
suites from vendors such as Cornerstone OnDemand, Oracle, SAP SuccessFactors and
UKG (formerly Ultimate Software and Kronos). These suites handle all of the major
phases of talent management, starting with recruiting and continuing through
performance management and ending with "offboarding," the mirror image of
onboarding completed when employees leave the company. Most of these suites are
delivered as SaaS, which means the software vendor is responsible for the computing
infrastructure and delivers it to users over the internet.
It's not always necessary to buy a comprehensive talent management suite. Other
software products focus more on the recruiting process, and some online job boards
can process resumes, applications and communication with candidates. There are also
SaaS talent acquisition platforms that handle more of the recruiting steps.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
A recruitment management system can be one of the most effective tools for partially
automating the talent acquisition process. An RMS is really more of a collection of
software tools that usually includes an ATS to manage the job postings and
applications. It also has candidate relationship management features for staying in
contact with applicants and keeping them engaged with the recruiting process and
with the organization. An RMS does more than the typical ATS to match candidate
resumes automatically with the skills called for in the job description.
Video interviewing tools provide the platform for conducting candidate interviews
remotely and have artificial intelligence that can analyze people's gestures and facial
expressions for clues about their fitness for a job.
Technologies
A handful of computer technologies that have begun to transform other areas of
business, such as accounting, manufacturing and e-commerce, have also infiltrated
talent acquisition to help make the process more "intelligent" and user-friendly.
The use of AI in talent acquisition is speeding up candidate sourcing by applying natural
language processing (NLP) and machine learning to better understand the language in
job requisitions and find close matches in resumes. AI can also comb through resumes
in a fraction of the time it takes humans, and it can even help minimize discrimination
against minority groups in the hiring process by reviewing qualifications and detecting
biased language in job ads.

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Chatbots, many of which use NLP to interpret the words spoken or typed by users,
have done much to advance the recruitment process. Candidates can now respond to
job listings by texting their interest from their mobile devices, and a chatbot will walk
them through the steps, communicating with them in ways that are scarily similar to
that of a human recruiter.
The future of talent acquisition
Talent acquisition technology trends for 2021 and beyond all point to the continued
growth of AI, analytics and chatbots, but with the added emphasis on the two major
HR trends that emerged in 2020: diversity and inclusion, and the rapid growth in
remote work. The nature of the workforce in the next decade is sure to change along
with the ways that work itself is conducted.
While nearly every organization is having to take a hard look at its inclusiveness,
vendors of talent acquisition software -- such as Oracle, SAP and Workday -- are
themselves having to address their lack of Black diversity and other shortcomings.
Nevertheless, it can also be said that the future of talent acquisition will mostly be
centered on recruiting the people who are the future of organizations: Millennials, now
mostly in their 30s and looking to move up in already established careers, and the Gen
Z group that recently entered the workforce.

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In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
Effective Gen Z recruiting will require more than just the now-stereotypical pandering
to the habits of these digital natives, such as smartphone- and social media-friendly
business and HR applications. The youngest generations that now represent the future
of the workforce want to feel that their work has a greater purpose in society. They're
also looking for a better work-life balance.
Organizations whose talent acquisition and recruiting strategies don't already account
for these generational shifts may already be losing the next war for talent.
Further reading

of 16
In this e-guide
Process model p. 6
recruitment p. 9
Technologies p. 13
E-guide
About SearchHRSoftware
Who is SearchHRSoftware? We are a trusted information hub for all the essential human
resources (HR) technology you rely on to do your job. We know that HR leaders have many
difficult, strategic technology decisions to make when trying to find the best employees, keep
them happy, and get them paid.
That's why you can come to us to find unbiased news, analysis, resources and the latest
strategies to better manage HR and HCM functions at your organization.Our team of editors
and market experts will give you the advice and insights that you need to make smart choices.
Whether you’re looking to buy new technology, fine-tune existing HR techniques or both, we
cover everything you need to know about talent management and recruiting, payroll, benefits
administration, HR analytics, workforce management and HR compliance.
For further reading, visit us at
http://SearchHRSoftware.com/
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Ultimate Guide to Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

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