Human resources and recruitment have always played a vital role in the success of a company as a whole. Whether businesses are hiring to grow or replace previous employees, there is always a need for an efficient recruitment process. And with everything evolving around us, the term HR is becoming outdated as businesses seem to be more keen on using the term “talent acquisition” when referring to recruitment.
So does that mean talent acquisition and HR are two different things? And if yes, what exactly does talent acquisition look for when hunting for new employees?
While both HR and talent acquisition have to do with hiring people, these two terms do not mean the same thing.
While HR focuses on meeting the short-term hiring needs of a company, talent acquisition has to do with finding and developing a strategic approach to hiring talent. We can look at HR as being a quick fix to filling a vacancy without taking into account the long-term impact on the company. In general, HR is more about the “how” behind finding the right candidate, extending an offer and carrying out the onboarding formalities.
On the other hand, talent acquisition has more to do with the “why” and “who”. This means that talent acquisition relies on finding ideal candidates and deeply investigating why these candidates should be hired. It focuses on developing a strategy that takes into account the whole business and industry.
The role of talent acquisition is to find talent that will help the company in both the short- and long-term. To do so, not only does it find talents for current vacancies, but it also collects and analyzes data to create future predictions about the needs of the company. That is why talent acquisition is considered to be a proactive and forward-thinking approach. By looking at the bigger picture, talent acquisition specialists are able to see how the career path of a candidate will unfold in an organization and the added value they will bring.
In addition, talent acquisition specialists understand that maintaining a good relationship with all candidates is essential. They know that it is not just about finding a suitable hire for a particular position, but it is also about keeping an eye of talents that can be beneficial in the future as well.
While both HR and talent acquisition are necessary at different stages in any company, using talent acquisition strategies in the right way can make the hiring process more efficient while also decreasing the turnover rate. Ultimately what talent acquisition does is put more emphasis on humans and their talent than looking at humans as just another expendable resource.
The reality of things is that our world is changing, and for companies to be able to acquire top talent and retain them, the recruitment process has to be improved. It is instrumental that companies understand how important the roles of HR and talent acquisition personnel are. After all, these are the people who will determine what your company culture will look like, build hiring pipelines, and determine the quality of hires.
