Sponsored by Concordia University:
Companies, especially new startups, succeed or fail based on the strength of their talent, but good talent is getting harder to find. In an Indeed survey of more than 1,000 HR managers, 86 percent of respondents indicated that they found it difficult to find good technical talent, and 83 percent of respondents believed that the talent shortfall was hurting their businesses.
In the survey, HR managers said they focused on work experience, soft skills and a good computer science education. More HR managers are hiring candidates who attend coding bootcamps as well. Despite this, 42 percent of respondents felt they couldn’t identify HR employees with the training necessary to find quality candidates, and more than half reported hiring candidates who didn’t meet the job’s requirements because they needed to fill the position immediately.
Talent acquisition is becoming an increasingly vital skill for HR personnel to have. In tech, jobs like software architect, mobile developer and QA engineer have significant talent shortfalls, and knowing how to identify quality candidates who can fill these positions and excel in them is necessary for HR staff.
Talent Acquisition vs Talent Recruitment
“Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs and to meet any labor requirement,” according to Recruiter.com. Many companies have dedicated talent acquisition teams that take charge of finding and hiring candidates based on company needs and goals, while other companies contract with talent acquisition firms to meet their staffing needs.
The key difference between talent acquisition and recruitment is that, while recruitment focuses primarily on filling vacancies, talent acquisition is a long-term strategy for building the talent pool within an organization and takes into account candidate assessment, compliance, corporate branding and the overall strategy of the company and its growth. For many positions, recruitment is a useful tool. However, for certain kinds of positions like those in tech, medicine, law and finance, a talent acquisition strategy can save a company money, create potential leaders within the company and strengthen employee cohesion and corporate culture within the company.
A talent acquisition strategy typically has the following components.
Talent Forecasting
Talent acquisition teams typically start by analyzing the current talent pool and determining what factors might affect the availability of talent in the future.
Talent Pipelining
Talent pipelining is an acquisition strategy that involves building relationships that allow easy access to future talent. Instead of being reactive when a vacancy opens, talent pipelining emphasizes proactive recruitment, seeking out talent for positions that might need to be filled in the future.
Strategic Talent Assessment and Development
Talent assessment tests are often used during the hiring process to determine if a candidate is a good fit for the company. These assessments are often used in an ongoing way to help inform job growth, training and other facets of talent development.
HR and Talent Acquisition Salaries
There are several positions within a company that work with talent acquisition teams and strategies.
Human Resource Specialist
Median Salary: $59,180
Human resource specialists work with employment records related to promotions, hiring and firing, transfers and other functions necessary to talent acquisition. HR specialists typically require a bachelor’s degree.
Human Resource Manager
Median Salary: $106,910
Human resource managers oversee many of the functions related to hiring and firing talent, including job interviews and resume review. HR managers typically hold a master’s degree or higher.
Talent acquisition requires a firm understanding of business principles and what businesses need to thrive. An online bachelor’s in business administration from Concordia University Texas can give you the skills to succeed in human resources.
