Modern hiring practices are evolving.

No longer can global companies afford to hire people simply to fill a gap. The hiring process needs to be something more thoughtful and proactive if a company wants to bring in the best talent from around the world.

That’s where “talent acquisition” comes in. 

We’re getting into the bones of hiring highly-skilled workers and laying out a 6-step plan for getting the talent acquisition process right.

Ready to bring in future business leaders? Let’s get into talent acquisition.

What exactly is “talent acquisition”?

Talent acquisition is the strategic approach of finding particularly talented workers to meet the organization's present and future needs. It relates to the strategies and methods that help you attract and retain highly talented workers in the job market.

Getting a good talent acquisition process up and running means you’re ready to bring the most talented job seekers into your workforce. Some companies do it in-house, while others hire recruitment specialists who are trained to attract and retain world-class talent.

Talent acquisition and traditional recruitment do share a few things in common, so let’s take a moment to understand the difference between the two styles of hiring.

How does talent acquisition differ from recruiting?

While a lot of the principles and practices of talent acquisition and recruiting are similar, they differ in a few ways. Talent acquisition prioritizes quality over quantity and uses more thorough and considerate applicant selection.

Talent acquisition is more proactive, anticipating what your workforce might need in the future and seeking specific skills in candidates that suit the company. It looks at hiring through a broader scope and searches for traits in candidates that are deeper than resumes. It’s often done in a forward-thinking way when companies are aiming to expand into new industries or markets. 

Recruitment on the other hand focuses on finding employees to meet the current empty positions in the company. It is more reactive, like when a position opens up after an employee leaves. Recruitment has been used in almost every industry, but as industries like tech and social media develop, focused and careful talent acquisition has become increasingly important.

Key takeaway:

• Talent acquisition: Broad scope, carefully weighed, proactive hiring.
• Recruitment: Narrower scope, fast execution, reactive hiring.

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6 Steps for setting up talent acquisition

If you’re aiming to set up a standout talent acquisition system, implement this 6-step plan for best results:

1. Plan, Plan, Plan!

There’s no doubt about it, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. You’ve gotta get your plans down before you’re able to acquire real talent. You need to deep-dive on exactly which roles you need filling, and you’ve got to be fast about it.

Create job advertisements that describe the role you need filling in as much detail as possible. If you’re seeking a data analyst, for example, you might want the description to specify Excel, Python, or SQL. Whatever it is this person must know, you need to be crystal clear about it in the job post.

Once your descriptions are done, plan for your budget and timeline. This is especially important for startup HR departments. You need to consider the cost and time for things like recruiting events, background checks, and tracking systems.

It’s a dangerous game to carry out any big project without making a plan first. 

2. Scout out the market

In the technological age, there are more ways than ever for employers to find new talents. What companies need to be careful of, however, is “choice paralysis,” meaning that there are so many options available, that it’s hard to choose the right one.

You need to make sure you’re open to as many channels as possible to find your talent but also focused when you find a candidate with potential. Here are a few channels to consider:

• Referral programs: This uses the power of word-of-mouth to search for talent. You might know someone personally who knows a fantastic freelance coder who’s looking for work, for example.
• Conventional advertising: Open roles can be advertised through job boards online and social media and podcasts, as well as older methods like billboards.
• New digital advertising tools: You could try using integrated applicant tracking systems (ATS) to reach specialized talent too. 

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The overall objective of step 2 is to cast your net far and wide in the search for a star to join your company. Be broad in your search, but be ready to zoom in when you find the right talent.

3. Review and screen candidates

By now you should have a selected pool of glimmering candidates who are ready to be interviewed and showcase their talent. But first, there’s a lot of value in setting aside some time to properly review and screen each and every candidate, before the interview stage.

Now that so many people work remotely (up to 20% in 2024), there are more people than ever applying for jobs across the world. With this increase in applicants, it’s important for companies to properly screen each person to save time and effort later. On top of that, it’s critical to make sure that real talent doesn’t slip by under your nose!

Some of the best screening processes include:

• Deep resume screening: You might have your large pile of resumes ready, but you can use software to filter out applications that don’t meet specific requirements of skills and experience.
• Pre-employment assessments: Tests and talent assessments can screen applicants in as many areas as you choose. It’s up to you then, if you only want to proceed with candidates who meet all of the test’s requirements.
• Reference calls: You could decide to chase references across all resumes to validate them all. This is something that can unfortunately happen, and you want to make sure all talent claims are backed up. 

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4. Master the interview

Now you’re all set for the make-or-break interview. One thing to consider when creating the perfect interview is this: 

Yes, the candidate only has one chance to get the interview right, but so do you!

There are many steps involved in creating the perfect interview. The factors that help you decide who passes the interview can vary, but perhaps the most important factor is getting the questions right.

There isn’t one silver-bullet question you can ask, as talent acquisition interview questions can be as simple or as technical as the role needs. Your opening questions need to help the applicant get rid of any nerves and help them relax. The middle questions should be increasingly technical, and you should finish with open-ended questions (be open to their questions too!)

You need to tailor your questions to suit the role and responsibilities, but here are some examples:

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Loose opening questions:

• Tell me a little about yourself.
• How are you feeling about this interview?
• What part of your resume are you most proud of?

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Role-specific:

• How many years of experience do you have using ___?
• Can you tell me how you would respond in this situation: ___.
• What coding language are you most comfortable with?

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Ending questions:

• What kind of company culture do you most enjoy working in?
• How do you see yourself evolving over the next five years?
• That’s great, now do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?

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Throughout the interview process, try and focus on the candidate’s skills and experience. It’s best to do this in the role-specific middle section, but the opening and ending questions set a relaxing atmosphere for the interview. Try to get a good mixture of these to spot the best talent in the interview process.

5. Make your offer

At this point, you should have your ideal candidate ready to bring their myriad talents into the workforce. One crucial thing to remember is that your superstar candidate could currently be headhunted elsewhere! For this reason, it’s best to have at least 3 candidates to choose from for the final selection. Of course, it’s up to you to offer the job, but it’s still up to the candidate to accept it.

You need to prepare the right package for the final job offer. It isn’t just a matter of competitive salary, you need to have incentives and benefits that entice your new hire. Perks like bonuses, professional development programs, and flexible working are increasingly attractive for new talent. In fact, a Stratos survey highlighted that 83% of employees see business travel as an attractive job perk.

For your chosen star, craft a standout job offer letter to set the tone right with them. Congratulate them and include key information, getting them completely informed on what the next step is. Include all of the benefits you crafted earlier in the job letter too. They don’t want to miss that!

Make sure you’re ready and responsive for fast communication. Your talents might have follow-up questions from the interview to discuss with you, or even counteroffers, so be ready! You need to show that you’re ready to support the new hire entering the workforce, and that says a lot about you as a manager and your company culture.

6. Congratulate and get onboarding!

Once they’re in, time for onboarding with a welcoming atmosphere! Nothing quite welcomes a new hire like a well-planned onboarding program. It sets the tone right and makes sure they don’t feel overwhelmed by any of their new responsibilities.

Onboarding can last anything from a few weeks to a few months. The overall mission of onboarding is to get the new hire up-to-speed with their teams as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

Your talented new hire will be eager to feel like they’re part of their team, so combine the onboarding with plenty of teambuilding activities and you’ll be integrating them perfectly. Set the stage for a fantastic start to your new employee’s life-cycle with a welcoming onboarding program they won’t forget.

Attract and retain superstar talents with a standout team retreat!

If you want to attract top talents to your company and build team bonds at the same time, a team retreat is a fantastic way to go about it. Productive team retreats are an increasingly popular job perk that talented workers are extremely excited about.

Here at Surf Office, organizing work retreats is what we do best. A twice-annual retreat for your teams provides an unforgettable environment where work and play mix for incredible results.

We’ve recently had the pleasure of organizing retreats for:

• Alephium, a blockchain company who had an epic retreat to Athens Riviera.
• Vandalia Rentals, a construction equipment specialist who hit up Nashville.
• Icecat, who took a retreat to Venice and got their work done in style!

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Each and every company that has chosen us has left nothing but gleaming reviews! Check out the full list of retreats here.

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Here’s what we offer:

• Stress-free transfers? We got you! ✅
• Quality-assured accommodations? Check! ✅
• Engaging team-building activities? Our speciality ✅
• Restaurant reservations? That's on us! ✅
• Expert retreat planning assistance? Of course, we have this covered! ✅
• Onsite support, tailored to your needs? Absolutely ✅

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Not only this but we also have access to 160+ locations around Europe, APAC, the US, Latin America, and now Africa, meaning the sky is your limit when it comes to choosing the right location for you and your team.

If you want to attract, maintain, and develop future business leaders in your company, a teambuilding retreat can attract them like a bee to honey. Don’t miss out on the perks a team retreat offers. Leave us to sort out the tricky logistics. Spaces are very limited, so get in touch now!

FAQ

What is the role of talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is the modern practice of recruiting highly skilled workers. It uses a proactive and holistic approach to hiring that is considerate of all aspects of the business, and its future plans.

What is the difference between talent acquisition and end-to-end recruitment?

End-to-end recruiters oversee the entire hiring process and aim to fill vacancies that occur in a company. Talent acquisition is a slower and more measured approach to making sure a new hire suits the organization.

Can talent acquisition be carried out through outsourcing?

Talent acquisition, like many functions of an HR department, can be carried out by third-party specialists. Most managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) choose to carry out talent acquisition in-house, but this can be difficult when searching for leading talent in the job market.