Recruitment and talent acquisition are often talked about like they go hand in hand—in some cases, even mistaken for being the same thing. Believing that to be the truth could launch you far past a simple misunderstanding and put unnecessary strain on the hiring process.
There are so many qualified and well-rounded individuals out there, and when numerous candidates become applicants for a spot in your company, there isn’t a singular correct way to handle it. There are, however, methods that are more efficient to execute than others - methods that are well worth exploring, especially as it pertains to staffing your team.
There are options, but what it might boil down to is defining talent acquisition vs recruitment. To put it simply, where one welcomes immediate satisfaction, the other inspires rewarding results. But which is which and how do you choose? Keep reading to see how the concepts can be distinguished from one another and what might be most suitable for you in practice.
The short-term fix. Your company finds itself in need of workers. A position has opened up. You reach out to gather a pool of applicants, from which you interview a select number and pick an eligible candidate for the job. If that’s all you need to do, then recruitment might be the right course of action for you. Recruitment is a linear process that leads to filling vacancies. That’s the purpose. You’ll find a specific candidate who meets the necessities of a specific role in need of filling, and that’s all. It’s reactive.
The long-term solution. Talent acquisition is executed with more of a strategy. It focuses on seeking out specialists, leaders, and future executives—sustainable candidates who will bring talent to your team from the start. This is more of a cyclical process than recruitment and anticipates your company’s hiring needs before it needs them. It reels in top talent that does more than meet your position’s expectations. It’s proactive.
Now that we’ve defined these two concepts on their own, and concluded that they accomplish different things, let’s delve into how they measure up to one another.
Recruitment as a process doesn’t take much of a strategy. A company recruiting new hires can refine their search by adding and altering requirements for the job, which narrows the results slightly to applicants who can meet those requirements, but it doesn’t take much planning. What it does take, however, is a newfound vacancy in your company. This sprouts a problem: a position you’re in need of is empty, and you become desperate to fill it, which isn’t an efficient series of events. While this can match you with a suitable candidate, it doesn’t guarantee the best.
Comparatively, talent acquisition is a much more strategic approach – you must be insightful to the needs of your business and understand what the future could hold based on those conclusions. Those aiming to acquire top talent aren’t desperate to fill a vacancy. Rather, they are forward-thinking and take into account the markets around them, choosing to invest their efforts in planning and seeking out promising candidates who will help them hone their visions.
By fostering a positive image of your company and nurturing a good culture within it, the business becomes attractive to top talent surrounding it. From start to finish, recruitment is a process dependent on outreach—announcing that there is a position in need of being filled and trying to funnel applicants toward it.
Talent acquisition adopts a different approach that caters to the needs of top candidates, which is more promising in ensuring the company’s needs are met too. “Networking,” as you might have heard in the past, is more efficient in the long-run.
Before there is even a need, you should be building bonds with surrounding talent. Research and recognize where these sources are and build bonds. Nurturing these relationships can benefit you by expanding future options to people who you know to exceed your expectations and who are already invested in the company.
The strategy that comes with talent acquisition isn’t complete without tracking the analytics. The numbers and key metrics are part of what allow your strategy to flourish, whereas recruitment is stunted by its reactive tendency. You can acquire talent with a plan by using the data gathered to hone the hiring process. This is as continuous as your desire to grow and improve your talent acquisition efforts.
Talent acquisition vs. recruitment are looking pretty distinct from one another right now, but you should note that the former is still part of the strategy that goes into acquiring talent. In recognizing that, do also recognize that to engage in recruitment without talent acquisition is like stepping into the rain before opening up your umbrella.
Talent acquisition is a readied step ahead. How you take it is in acknowledging that acquiring top talent isn’t a one-time ordeal but a continuous process. Investing in the future manifests in thinking about today. Wondering how you can get started? Here are three steps you can take to get a jump start:
1. Get Organized.
Figure out how you’re going to track talent once you find it. Smaller companies could do with a few neat spreadsheets, but larger companies may need to think about software to help with that. Determine what’s manageable for you and your team and go from there.
2. Look for Talent.
Identify social circles and communities where talent might be hiding, then participate. Start by connecting, and from there, build on that initial foundation to create long-lasting and strong relationships with the talent you envision joining your team one day.
3. Care About Your Brand.
You want top talent to work for your company—the trick is, they have to want to work for you. Make your company an attractive place to work. Start from the inside by understanding existing employees and meeting their needs. Extend that outward in the networks that surface among local talent, and prove that your company is one they want to be a part of.
If you are looking for a solution that meets the needs of talent sources, recruiters, and HR managers alike, consider Lanteria – an all-in-one HRMS with a recruiting module. And be sure to follow our blog for more guides on building recruitment and talent sourcing strategies!
