How to Multiply the Efforts of Your Talent Acquisition Team
Many small to mid-size companies are utilizing their in-house HR professionals as their talent acquisition team. These individuals know your organizational needs and understand your company culture best, so it’s critical that they’re involved in the talent acquisition process.
The trouble? There is so much more to an organization’s HR needs than talent acquisition alone. If your internal HR group is focused mainly on talent acquisition, other critical HR functions may likely suffer.
Creating and executing an effective talent acquisition strategy framework requires valuable time and resources from a business. The key is balancing your internal HR team’s time and capacity in a way that lends value to the organization without sacrificing other critical functions.
Here’s what you need to know about multiplying the efforts of your talent acquisition team without draining resources.
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The Talent Acquisition Basics
Talent acquisition is a strategic methodology that enables you to look for qualified candidates, foster relationships and ultimately woo the right people to join your organization, bringing with them the specific skills and expertise you need to make your company more successful for the long term.
The talent acquisition process is different from traditional recruiting because this approach is focused on long-term HR planning and finding the right candidates for roles that require very specific skill sets to help you meet your business’s objectives.
Your Internal Talent Acquisition Team
Having knowledgeable employees looking out for your company’s long-term hiring strategy is invaluable. Every company should have an internal talent acquisition team.
Who should be on my internal talent acquisition team?
Depending on your company’s specific needs and goals, your talent acquisition team may be composed of several different professionals within your organization. If you’re looking to make the most comprehensive and efficient team, at a minimum, consider including individuals from these categories:
- Your HR Team: Many small to mid-size companies use HR professionals as recruiting advisors because of their intimate knowledge of compensation and benefit topics, as well as their familiarity with the business overall.
- Leadership: When it comes to a long-term talent acquisition strategy, also consider involving organizational leaders who can weigh in on the company’s long-term objectives and vision.
- Trusted staff from various areas of your company: Especially if your company is hiring for an executive level position, or if there is a particular department that will require multiple hires, consider including a trusted staff member (not from company leadership) from this area to offer input. They’ll likely have perspectives that you hadn’t previously considered.
What should my internal talent acquisition team be doing?
Because talent acquisition is all about meeting your organization’s long-term goals, an important part of creating a strategy is identifying and documenting your company’s mission, your vision, future goals and how they translate into core competencies for potential hires.
From there, your internal talent acquisition team can identify roles that need immediate candidates, as well as future roles that will be needed to meet the company’s objectives one, two, three, and even five years in the future.
This team should also gather any available internal data from sources like exit interviews, job analyses and corporate surveys to inform hiring decisions.
Using their intimate knowledge of your organization’s needs and goals and the data they have gathered, your internal talent acquisition team can create job descriptions (for immediate and future roles) and assets that communicate information about the company and the details of specific roles.
This team should also be the ones:
- Making final hiring decisions;
- Onboarding new hires; and
- Periodically evaluating the success of your company’s talent acquisition efforts and instituting improvements.
Multiplying Your Talent Acquisition Team’s Efforts with Consultants
To preserve your internal team’s time and resources and to make your talent acquisition as effective as possible, consider multiplying your efforts by outsourcing other recruiting functions and partnering with a talent acquisition specialist.
What does a talent acquisition consultant do that my internal team can’t?
With the mission, vision and role information provided by your internal team, a third-party specialist can help with other recruiting functions that are time-consuming for your team by leveraging their network contacts, providing expertise about industry standards, pre-screening candidates before your team interviews them and much more.
A talent acquisition expert can advise your team on selection methods and criteria to use for specific vacancies. They’ll help you target your audience with methods that will attract the right people to your postings, so you can make hiring decisions from a pool of well-qualified candidates.
They’ll also provide strategic-level assistance, helping you flex and adapt to market changes. You’ll gain access to expertise in areas you may lack in your own team, and you’ll have access to relationships your internal team might lack. These are areas where deep expertise saves you effort and helps your organization get the very best candidates in less time.
Your talent consultant can even help you navigate the process of building out your talent acquisition strategy framework, so you’re not left weeding through a pile of unqualified applicants that don’t fit your company’s needs.
Connect with a Talent Acquisition Specialist
A talent acquisition specialist can help you make the most of your internal talent acquisition team’s efforts by providing years of HR talent acquisition-specific knowledge and dedicated manpower.
This allows your team to provide the influence and guidance needed to ensure success, while also having the flexibility to attend to the other functions of their own jobs.
Our team at Warren Averett Staffing & Recruiting would love to talk to you if you need help with your talent acquisition strategy framework. Schedule a time to chat with us today!