Talent Acquisition - One part candidate and ten parts company
Updated: Jul 24, 2019
Want more information on the Talent Acquisition Process? Download the full chapter of the book on this topic.
Talent Acquisition is one part candidate and ten parts company, which means the majority of the process is completely in your control. This is great news because if you’re doing recruiting well, it’s to your credit. And if it isn’t going well, you have the control to fix it. But the reality is, there is serious risk involved in recruiting, and the process should be much more rigorous than most companies expect.
Recruiting involves putting together a hiring committee, coming to consensus on hiring criteria, screening applicants, and filling your company’s pipeline with qualified candidates. Recruiting is the launch pad to effective Strategic Talent Acquisition—next comes Selection then Onboarding. Recruiting is complicated because, in addition to filling the pipeline and qualifying candidates, it is the point in time when the business owner, who has been coached to own the process, must now transition that strategy and set of beliefs—that energy—to the team.
As a business owner, it is your obligation, responsibility and privilege to guide the recruiting process in order to obtain talent that fits the culture and ultimately will drive your business toward its goals. Recruiting is a collaborative process that is supported by HR or a similar resource. It starts at the top with a strategic direction. Recruiting requires prerequisite activities, including building a hiring committee of stakeholders who define the criteria of a right- fit candidate. The hiring committee sets the strategic tone for the entire talent acquisition process, which houses the first three centers of excellence: recruiting, selection and onboarding.
Think first about your own recruiting process. Even if you feel like you’re at par in the recruiting game, that’s not winning. Anyone can hire poor or average performers. The mark of an effective recruiting process is that it is built to qualify top candidates, who are then developed into high- performing employees. If this is not the case for you, it’s time to retool. It’s time to figure out what’s working, what’s not, and identify exactly why substandard performers are seeping into the organization.
Again, recruiting focuses on filling the pipeline with qualified, talented candidates. That pool feeds the Selection process, which ultimately results in selecting top talent and onboarding them effectively—then training, developing and investing in them in the Strategic Talent Development corridor.
Many companies have a set of hiring activities, but effective recruiting involves engaging the company’s leaders who are prepared to tease out the unique talents candidates possess. Your recruiting process is designed for your company. It is designed by the owner to foster the culture and drive the strategy. The owner sets the tone for how leaders go about bringing in talent with the skills, attributes and potential that will advance the company’s objectives.
What businesses must understand now is, yesterday’s recruiting doesn’t work in today’s highly networked, specialized and rapidly changing business world.
Want more information on the Talent Mindset? Download the full chapter of the book on this topic.
Other book chapters also available for download
Chapter 1 - Download - Getting Into the Talent Mindset
Chapter 2 - Download - How Strategic Talent Management is like parenting a child?
Chapter 3 - Download - Talent Acquisition - One part candidate, ten parts company
Chapter 4 - Download - Selection - The Talent Deep Dive
Chapter 5 - Onboarding: Generating Energy, From Day One
