Guide to Develop a Talent Acquisition Strategy

Some candidates seem perfect on paper but flop on the job – have you encountered such candidates? – Many would. 

It’s a common recruitment challenge. But a talent acquisition strategy helps you avoid this. 

A successful talent acquisition strategy is all about making top candidates want to work for you. Take Deloitte for example, their careers page showcases flexible perks, community projects, diversity efforts, and growth opportunities. That’s a smart move for smart hiring.  

Hiring shapes your company’s future. It boosts output, builds culture, and affects profits. This guide covers 11 proven talent acquisition strategies, from creating a brand identity to using AI and tech in recruiting. We’ll discuss fair hiring, the benefits people want, and building a qualified talent pipeline.

What is a Talent Acquisition Strategy?

A talent acquisition strategy represents an organization’s tailored approach to identify, evaluate, and hire the most qualified candidates to accomplish the company’s long-term objectives. It includes aspects like workforce planning, employer branding, candidate experience, and hiring strategy.

Ultimately, a successful talent acquisition strategy aims to attract and hire top candidates who can help the company succeed in the long run.

✅Improved productivity: According to a Harvard Business Review article, the best companies in the world outperform the rest by over 40%. For this reason, startups must acquire top talents who can increase productivity. An effective talent acquisition strategy will let you acquire and retain hardworking, productive employees. 

✅Enhanced work culture: Having world-class talent on staff improves company culture. Top performers and productive workers frequently take on leadership roles to support other workers in improving productivity and solving problems more effectively.

✅Increased revenue: By recruiting and retaining high-achieving staff members, businesses can reduce training and onboarding expenses and increase revenue. Their high-quality work helps save time, money, and valuable resources.

11 Best Talent Acquisition Strategies 

Use the 11 effective talent acquisition strategies below to create the ideal hiring process. Feel free to adjust the procedures as needed to fit your company’s specific requirements. 

1. Build your outreach strategy

The first recruitment channel you can think of to reach talents in today’s job scenario could be LinkedIn. But, there are multiple sources out there to help you reach candidates with specialized skills. For example, consider

• Job boards: Post job listings on Indeed, Monster, and Glassdoor to look for people exclusively looking for jobs.
• Networking events: Attending niche-specific events, conferences, or seminars can introduce you to skilled talents in your industry.
• Social media: Over 73% of applicants have found jobs through social media. You can promote your company culture and highlights on Instagram or TikTok to garner views and attract people who can be a great fit.
• Freelance platforms: Channels like Upwork or Toptal give you the flexibility to scale up or down if you’re a startup. Plus, it comes with fewer legal complexities and upfront costs.

👉 For instance, Bank of America reaches out to 30 community institutions spread over 10 states to find talent at the entry level. People from low- and moderate-income areas can get entry-level positions and career training through the company’s hiring and development program.

2. Develop an employer identity

An employer identity will help you big time in your hiring process, but most employers overlook it. Just like you screen candidates’ resumes and gauge their potential, the applicants seek your brand identity to understand 

• Your story
• What’s your position in the market
• Why top talents should choose you

Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) should be part of your talent acquisition strategy framework. Get your company’s value proposition across by explaining what you do and how it differs from the competitors. Be sure to mention benefits, workplace culture, and possibilities for professional development.

Consistent marketing campaigns can keep an employer’s brand alive, whether conducted online or offline. Share employee endorsements, workplace honors, and success stories via social media, corporate websites, and professional networks. 

Take note of the emphasis on employees. When an organization prioritizes the health and happiness of its employees, people will want to work there. Creating an identity for your business that reflects a growing, happy atmosphere can be an invaluable resource in the talent acquisition strategy.

👉 Here’s a look at Eventbrite’s employer-building attempt by featuring employee success on LinkedIn.

3. Improve your Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DE&I) policies

Your potential employee might not tick all your boxes. If an applicant has the potential to learn the skills necessary to fit the position, employers should be open to hiring them.

Employers must also be adaptable when it comes to the “make or break” hiring standards, like age, gender, or even years of experience. Organizations should consider incorporating different backgrounds and skill sets that offer new insights into their current systems and procedures. 

DE&I training is essential and shows that your business is prepared to adapt to the changing times by staying up-to-date and relevant. 

The US Chamber of Commerce once said,

“Diverse and inclusive businesses outperform their homogeneous competitors in innovation, employee retention, talent recruitment, profit, and many other business metrics that lead to long-term growth.”

Continue to remove prejudices from resume reviews throughout the employment application process by 

• Building a diverse hiring team, 
• Making resumes and applications anonymous before review 
• Removing personal identities and images from the sourcing process.

Read our blog on five ways to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

👉 Unilever’s talent strategy is centered on diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion policies affect the whole employee lifecycle, not just hiring but also training and keeping them around. What we loved about their DE&I policies is their commitment to identifying and supporting the under-represented.

4. Prioritize employee experience

Candidates get their initial impression of your business from your talent acquisition team, so you need to go above and beyond their expectations right away. 
That’s why developing a long-lasting and successful talent acquisition plan requires careful consideration of Candidate Experience (CX) optimization.

All prospects benefit from an effective talent acquisition strategy, whether employed or not. Think like an applicant for a second and evaluate your present hiring practices. It includes:

• The quality of job descriptions, 
• The amount of time applicants must wait, 
• The convenience of the application process, 
• The number of emails and automated notifications sent 

💡 Send surveys to new hires and candidates to find out how they feel. Whether an applicant withdraws, is turned down, or gets hired for the position, you can send these surveys to everyone who goes through their candidate journey.

👉 Spreetail conducted CX surveys to learn how prospective employees felt about the company’s candidate service and what they would change to improve it. They observed that rejected candidates needed more hiring decision insights.  The company then committed to providing more customized feedback and increased its Net Promoter Score. They also keep in touch with the rejected individuals and consider them for other positions.

5. Leverage AI and automation

While much of the work in talent acquisition and recruitment involves making real connections with people, the right tools can eliminate the need for repetitive manual processes. 

You can leverage automation through the following tools.

• AI-powered screening: Recruiters can find top talent more efficiently by using AI to help with resume analysis, candidate fit evaluation, and even preliminary screening.
• Data analytics and reporting: Using data-driven insights, recruiters can make well-informed judgments, spot process bottlenecks, and improve hiring practices.
• Candidate relationship management channels: CRM systems help recruiters track candidates, build connections with them over time, and give each one a unique and interesting experience.
• Mobile hiring apps: Create platforms and tools for mobile-friendly recruiting that make it easy for prospects to interact with recruiters, apply for jobs, and send in resumes.
• Talent acquisition software: Use it to find top talent, track applicants, manage resumes, and manage other administrative chores like posting jobs, interacting with candidates, and exchanging client comments.

Read our blog on HR automation to understand the use cases better.

💡An applicant tracking system (ATS) can improve your talent acquisition success. After all, ATSs enable you to monitor data, effectively cultivate relationships with prospects, identify potential improvement areas for your talent acquisition strategies, and much more. Seek a solid solution designed for businesses with large staffing requirements.  Use Peoplebox’s AI Resume Screening Tool and talent insight to find the best candidates in your applicant tracking system. It reduces your applicant review time by 90%.

6. Invest in employee referrals

Referrals from current employees are the best way for 88% of businesses to find qualified applicants. With thousands of employees, your company has access to people who can help you find potential candidates. Consider all the potential leads these connections could provide.

That’s why employee referrals are one of the best talent acquisition techniques. Employees will be more likely to take part in your referral program if you:

• Provide monetary rewards
• Make it a simple, user-friendly process
• Promote a positive company culture

Additionally, a well-thought-out employee referral program saves time, lowers the cost of hiring new staff, and raises retention rates. When staff members are encouraged to participate in the hiring process, they feel appreciated and invested in the company’s success.

👉 PURE, an American property insurance firm, reports a 40–60% staff referral rate. Inquiring about potential referrals is an integral part of the onboarding process for all new employees. This technique instantly generates more referrals and shows how referrals attract qualified candidates and save time and money.

7. Create a qualified talent pipeline

74% of HR experts say their talent pool has a skills gap. Given the competitive labour market, attracting top talent is a top talent acquisition strategy. A talent pipeline provides a consistent source of candidates for speciality or high-turnover roles. 

As part of any strong talent acquisition strategy, it is essential to develop a talent pipeline for the following reasons:

• Proactive recruiting: You can save time and energy when you network with possible candidates ahead of time, rather than having to fill positions as they become available.
• Reduction in time-to-hire: You can make decisions and onboard new hires more rapidly with access to a prequalified candidate pool.
• Improved applicant quality: Learn more about candidates’ backgrounds, experiences, and cultural fit by developing long-term connections with them.
• Better employer branding: Keeping up a talent pipeline shows a company’s dedication to hiring and developing people, which improves the employer brand.

👉  Consider IBM as an example. The technology business has partnered with Florida State University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Notre Dame to facilitate research and instruction. IBM, Duke, and Harvard Universities have also discussed potential research partnerships. IBM builds contacts with possible applicants rather than waiting for interested prospects to find the organization. This approach increases employee retention by drawing in prospects after graduation.

8. Design an employee-centred benefits plan

A lot of people would settle for lesser pay in exchange for better benefits. According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, nearly 20% of HR professionals have changed their benefits package in the last year to retain employees.

Competent job-seekers will look at more than just pay and benefits when deciding between multiple companies. Talking about pay and health benefits isn’t enough; you must also highlight your amazing corporate culture, where staff members work well together and love socializing. 

Some examples of such benefits include a work-life balance program, the availability of remote work, and the company’s commitment to employee development.

💡Your company’s “About Us” page and Glassdoor employee review sites should highlight these qualities. Those reviews could be the deciding factor for highly qualified individuals considering your business over competitors.

9. Look at skills, not degrees

Harvard Business School reports that 63% of companies acknowledge that degree requirements make it more difficult to fill open positions. Companies that impose strict requirements (such as degree requirements) have a competitive disadvantage when employing talent-based candidates. 

Hiring someone based solely on their college degree severely reduces the skill pool in a market with few job applicants. These days, it’s not about titles, degrees, or experience. The goal is to find applicants with the necessary skills to be successful in the position. 

The justifications for employing skills-based recruiting differ by location: Some companies use it to help with high-volume hiring in specific regions of the world. In other cases, the goal is to create more inclusive and diverse teams.

👉 A key component of Accenture’s talent framework development is the removal of college degree requirements for certain job postings. As the Burning Glass Institute revealed, Accenture had the lowest percentage (26%) of its tech competitors’ job posts for software QA engineer positions in 2021. Currently, the business hopes to fill 20% of its entry-level US positions with apprenticeships in cloud and platform engineering, cybersecurity, and application development.

10. Evaluate current and future needs

While recruitment focuses on filling department vacancies, talent acquisition professionals consider how your company will grow and find personnel to assist you in getting there. Your talent acquisition strategy should involve.

• Organizational analysis: Find out which areas of the company are in dire need of new talent to help achieve their present and future growth objectives.
• Long-term and short-term talent needs: Prioritize hiring based on current needs and future business goals. Give top priority to tasks that require prompt action.
• Candidate profiles: Make personas for your ideal applicants and craft thorough job descriptions that highlight the abilities and credentials required for each position.
• Internal talent evaluation: Identify internal candidates for unfilled positions and assess current employees for upskilling or reassignment to retain them.

Using data on employee turnover and business development, predictive analytics can estimate hiring needs. Planning and improving talent acquisition strategies with the proactive use of data optimizes hiring for higher quality and fit.

👉 Nestlé Purina was able to use its talent stream by developing a candidate persona. The company tailored messages based on applicant personas, and as a result, time-to-fill decreased, diversity in hiring increased, and offer acceptance rates improved. This improved the relevance and appeal of contacts with prospects in their talent pipeline.

11. Have an inbound recruitment strategy

The inbound recruiting approach is a candidate-centric strategy to establish a talent pipeline for upcoming hiring requirements. It places a strong emphasis on content marketing, proactive branding, and developing a long-term plan for cultivating relationships with passive candidates as recruitment strategies.

You can create an inbound recruitment and talent acquisition strategy by

Establishing your content hub: The main selling point of inbound recruiting is the ability to scale and predict success. As your content program develops, you can create forecasting models based on your transaction cycles or, in this case, the steps candidates take to apply for jobs.

Creating a strategy for evaluating KPIs: HR metrics make organizations function more effectively. Tracking how your content affects recruiting team performance helps you determine what’s working and what’s not. A candidate survey or brand lift study may help you understand how social media users feel about your firm.

Consider micro-conversions: Prepare the information for consumption. Consider showcasing relevant blog posts, giving prospects a chance to sign up for updates on future positions, and directing them to additional resources offered by your organization.

👉 Lockheed Martin’s Talent Network is a prime example. The parent business is a major global player in aerospace, military, security, and advanced technology. Even for candidates who aren’t quite ready to apply, their talent network allows them to join their community. The portal gives access to Lockheed Martin’s large talent pool. Prospective applicants provide their preferred geographic region, contact details, and areas of interest, and the organization can select the best candidates using this method.

Tips to Establish Your Talent Acquisition Strategies

Implementing effective talent acquisition strategies company-wide can be a daunting and time-consuming task. But these essential tips can help you get started: 

📌 Sponsor Your Job Listings

The number of applications recruiters receive these days is far less than a few years ago. Boost your open roles on social media to reach a far larger pool of potential candidates. To draw in a quality talent pool and maximize exposure, sponsor job postings and specify precise audience targeting.

📌 Create a Passive Candidate Email Drip Campaign

Even while your ideal applicant for the position isn’t actively seeking a new position, they still might give it some thought. You can use email drip campaigns to nurture a large pool of passive candidates already aware of your brand.

Email drip campaigns send emails to potential applicants to spark their interest and schedule an interview. You can automate them to maintain the appropriate cadence and save time composing and sending emails.

📌 Measure the results of your talent acquisition plan

Once you’ve developed a solid talent acquisition strategy, monitor key indicators to make sure it’s operating efficiently. Analyzing data lets you track your hiring process.

With a data-driven talent strategy, you can spot issues early and fix them. It’s crucial to monitor metrics linked to efficiency, such as candidate acceptance rates, cost-to-hire, and time-to-hire. These figures provide further insight into the efficacy of your talent acquisition process and the value it adds to your company.

📌 Use employee feedback to develop a positive workplace culture

88% of job searchers claim that business culture matters when choosing a position. After establishing your corporate identity, you can build a good company culture around your mission and values. Have your teams brainstorm what they think sets your company apart, and then do all you can to align your culture and values more closely.

📌 Strategize workforce planning

Strategic workforce planning focuses on obtaining suitable applicants for the appropriate roles when it’s best for the organization. You must first evaluate the abilities of your current staff to accomplish this.

One option is to conduct a broad skills audit, while another concentrates on underperforming teams. Focus on developing transferable, soft, and hard skills and core competencies that support teamwork and problem-solving. After this, use the data you collected to identify skills gaps in your workforce. Next, create a recruitment schedule.

📌  Use employee-generated social media content to recruit

Most people think of social media recruiting in more direct forms, such as serious LinkedIn messages or Facebook job adverts. However, you can also use content that current staff members create in more subtle ways while recruiting on social media.

Something as basic as encouraging workers to post about their successes on LinkedIn with a business hashtag would suffice, or it might be a “day in the life” video similar to the “life at Google” videos that Googlers publish on TikTok.

📌 Include structured interviews in the talent acquisition strategies

To help hiring managers, try standardizing the interview process with the structured interview method. Structured interviews require all candidates to answer similar questions following the same sequence and be evaluated using the same standards. 

Personal prejudice is minimized since all candidates are judged on the role’s fundamental skills. Although this may take longer before interviews, it speeds up the decision-making process afterwards, reducing the time to hire.

📌 Reduce ghosting by following onboarding best practices

A candidate you believe to be a perfect fit may occasionally ghost you after interviews or even after exchanging contracts. To avoid this, onboard top candidates proactively when you offer a post. A personalized video greeting new hires from the team is a great way to start the onboarding process.

As a result, employees get a great impression of their coworkers before they even begin working there, which helps to prevent ghosting and makes for a wonderful work environment overall.

📌 Offer flexible work options

Research shows that many workers would rather have the option to work remotely rather than a high salary hike. Employees with schedule flexibility also reported better mental health (43%) and increased productivity (30%) than those without.

The modern workforce seeks a better work-life balance among Gen Z and Millennials. Thus, companies willing to support flexible scheduling and remote work have a higher chance of recruiting and retaining talent.

Use Peoplebox to Connect Talent Strategy with Business Outcomes using AI

Every company wants to achieve moonshot goals but you need to hire and retain exceptional talent while aligning them with your strategic objectives. 

In most companies, hiring processes are fragmented, and talent development is disconnected from the company’s mission, resulting in poor execution and high turnover of top performers.

Peoplebox provides a single AI platform to streamline hiring, performance management, goal alignment and career development by automating skill-gap analysis and matching talent to the right roles to help companies achieve bigger goals.

It also offers AI Resume Screening tool to automate the entire screening and shortlisting process for HR managers. In a matter of seconds, it can accurately process thousands of applications. 

It provides insights into each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, including attributes from the public domain (LinkedIn, Crunchbase, PR etc).

You get an instant score assigned to each candidate’s profile based on their skills and company fit. And that means you save time to hire and improve your hiring rate.

More than 500 businesses, like Razorpay, Whatfix, Redbus, Exotel, Hackerrank, and others, rely on Peoplebox to help them find, nurture, and retain exceptional talents. Request a demo now to find out more.

FAQs

1. What is an example of a talent acquisition strategy?

Transparency is a core of YNAB’s (You Need A Budget) talent acquisition approach. Their strategy includes writing job descriptions that are noticeably longer than the norm and include comprehensive information about the task, a normal workday, and what constitutes success in the role. With this comprehensive process, potential workers may learn about the company’s values and see if they’re a good fit even before they apply. With everyone on the same page from the get-go, morale, and loyalty in the workplace may soar.

2. What is a talent recruitment strategy?

A talent recruitment strategy outlines an organization’s approach to identifying and employing the most qualified applicants for available vacancies. The plan should consider the organization’s accessible talent pool, budget, and personnel needs — both past and present.

3. What is a TA strategy?

TA strategy is nothing but a talent acquisition strategy. It includes applying diverse hiring techniques, procedures, and technologies. It helps hiring managers and the company develop a strong employer brand, a positive candidate experience, and a productive, inclusive, and diverse staff.

4. What is the strategic role of talent acquisition?

The role of strategic talent acquisition is to look at three factors to determine which talent is ideal for your business. Employer branding, focused selling, and marketing that is driven by recruitment are these strategic components of talent acquisition. Strategic hiring also synchronizes the talent acquisition process with organizational objectives.