What is talent acquisition?

To understand talent acquisition you need to answer two different questions: How do you define talent, and what does it mean to acquire? In this case, ""talent"" is a skilled, qualified candidate, and ""acquire"" means to obtain or secure.

Talent acquisition is a broad term that describes the process of seeking out and securing (acquiring) people with the skills (talent) needed to meet an organization's needs.
Although similar, talent acquisition is not the same as recruitment – ​​it refers to the long-term strategy behind the procurement of skilled labor.

It involves analyzing an organization's workforce and expertise needs, forecasting its future needs, and   planning to meet those needs through recruiting, active sourcing , or a combination of both.

Are talent acquisition and human resources the same department?

Organizationally, talent acquisition  falls under the larger category of human resources specialists.  Some companies may divide talent acquisition and general human resources into two separate departments: human resources to manage existing employees and talent acquisition to bring on new employees.

What is a talent acquisition team?

The talent acquisition team is a group of professionals responsible for identifying employment needs, creating job postings, and finding candidates who meet the criteria for those positions. Often, people involved in talent acquisition careers play one of four major roles on the team, including:

• Talent acquisition managers:  leaders who manage team goals
• Talent acquisition specialists:  Professionals who seek out the right talent and bring them into the organization
• Sourcing Specialists:  Experts who identify candidates with highly technical and specialized skills
• Recruitment coordinator:  The professional responsible for designing and implementing a business's recruitment plan

What does the HR talent acquisition team do?

The talent acquisition team develops the company's strategy for planning, forecasting, and disseminating job opportunities. Each member of this team plays his or her role to realize the broader objectives of the department and the organization.  Following are some of the key responsibilities of the HR talent acquisition team  :

Analyzing key workforce gaps

Workforce planning involves assessing current and future workforce needs. This takes into account external forces such as government mandates and economic conditions, but also considers sector- and company-specific issues, such as business competition and demographics, attitudes, needs, and preferences.

Recruiting Qualified Job Candidates

Recruitment is the process of meeting immediate talent needs. It involves many different tasks, such as writing and publishing job descriptions, screening applications, interviewing candidates, handling pre-employment testing, writing proposals, and  onboarding new employees  .

Comply with law and regulation

Talent acquisition teams must understand and enforce federal, state, and local laws. Notable examples include immigration and visa requirements,  equal opportunity employment (EEO) laws , Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance  for background checks,   and rules surrounding employment contracts.

Streamlining tasks with technology

Talent acquisition professionals must be able to use software applications for a variety of tracking needs. These  include affirmative action  and non-discrimination compliance tracking, communicating with candidates, conducting background checks, and managing the recruiting process.

Is talent acquisition and recruitment the same?

Talent acquisition and  recruitment processes  are both focused on the same thing: filling vacant positions in a business. While these processes work together to help HR professionals recruit qualified employees, each of them requires a different approach to achieve that goal.

Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment

Talent acquisition means choosing professionals with specific skills to fill executive, leadership and specialized roles in line with the company's strategic vision. Alternatively, recruiting is usually centered around short-term, immediate business needs, such as filling a job vacancy after a person leaves the organization.

Take a school district, for example. A talent acquisition strategy would focus on finding the right people to fill roles such as superintendent, director of curriculum and instruction, and principals – roles that have a significant impact on the district's ability to set and meet broader goals. In contrast, recruiting would focus on meeting immediate needs for teachers, office assistants, nurses, custodians, and nutrition workers.

While the primary purpose of recruiting is to find the right person for the job, effective talent acquisition requires a long-term approach.

What is talent acquisition strategy?

A talent acquisition strategy is a blueprint for how an organization finds its candidates and fills open positions. Talent acquisition teams can approach their strategy in different ways to meet a company's varying needs and evolving trends within its talent pool, but most teams follow a similar six-step path:

1. Sourcing and lead generation:  Define talent needs, identify networks and communities that attract the specific talent you're looking for, and build relationships with those individuals. Your sourcing specialist should do this work.
2. Recruiting and attracting applicants: Create a  competitive benefits package  , brand image, and other incentives  that encourage top applicants to apply. A talent acquisition specialist is perfect for guiding these tasks.
3. Interview and evaluate candidates:  Bring in candidates who meet the essential elements of your criteria and ask them questions to assess their understanding. Important processes like interviewing and evaluating are best left to the hiring coordinator or talent acquisition manager.
4. Background-check references:  Verify the candidate's talent and experience with former employers. Your recruiting coordinator can handle this duty.
5. Hiring:  Decide which candidate is the best fit for your vacant position and make him or her a job offer. Your entire talent acquisition team can consider this decision.
6. Onboarding new talent:  Introduce the new employee to your organization, clarify responsibilities, and set expectations. Once you have a well-designed  onboarding plan  , your recruiting coordinator can determine how to implement it.

Talent acquisition managers must be able to plan and execute the tasks involved in this talent acquisition strategy to ensure that the company continues moving toward its goals.

Who is a good talent acquisition manager?

High-performing talent acquisition managers collaborate with HR and various teams to align their goals with broader company objectives. They also develop and communicate employer branding to candidates.

Since they are responsible for managing the candidate lifecycle, talent acquisition managers must forecast effectively to know what roles the company will need to fill and develop an accurate timeline for doing so. This helps to minimize the lag between employee departures and new employees onboarding.

A good talent acquisition manager also effectively builds and manages a high-quality talent pipeline to ensure that qualified candidates are readily available when positions need to be filled. Here are some common strategies for accomplishing this:

1. Leveraging employee referrals for vacancies   : Every employee can be a job recruiter because of their diverse network of contacts. 
2. Offer competitive compensation:  Offering the same salary as your competitors and a similar (or better) benefits package can help attract more quality applicants.
3. Embracing flexibility in part-time and remote employees: Sometimes, convincing the right candidate to work for you requires more flexibility in their schedule. Hybrid roles where employees are in the office only a few days a week are quickly   becoming  the most prevalent work arrangement .
4. Delegate tasks among your team:  The best leaders don’t do everything alone, and the same is true for talent acquisition managers.

To help build a strong pipeline of potential candidates, many talent acquisition managers  use applicant tracking systems (ATS)  . This platform can keep track of every candidate you come into contact with and makes it easy to reach out to those profiles whenever a position opens up in your organization.