TALENT ACQUISITION – BEST V/S RIGHT

Well, as the HR manager what should be your aim; recruiting a person for a vacant position or acquiring the best talent or hiring the Right Talent?

Recruiting is the process of identifying people that match the basic eligibility criteria and to screen the talent or skill against the Job Requirement and Company culture. Putting the right people at the right places.

When we talk about Talent Acquisition, then it is the process of measuring a candidate on different parameters such as experience, industry knowledge, Mapping Skill to KPIs, Cultural suitability, temperament as required for the role, and knowhow of the profile. Also, the candidate is checked for how good he or she fits into the strategic framework and existing team.

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Experts emphasize the need of having a structured Talent Acquisition system that looks at the process in a wider perspective than just taking people onboard. Some tips to develop a right environment for Talent Acquisition in the company:

  • What is the Key Result Area of the prospective team member and what Key Performance Indicators will be used for measuring the success? For this, you need a detailed job description and specific and measurable results that would impress you.
  • Look at the company culture and environment before you hire a person. Keep in mind your brand and check how well the person is going to fit into the framework? How is your organization viewed in the market? Is there a mapping between the image perceived by others and the vision of your company?
  • An open position in the organization has to align with the departmental and organizational goals. It should fit in the organizational budget, and you must hire the most suitable employee.
  • Look at the source (talent pool) from where you are taking a person onboard. Are you looking at the resume randomly? Are you using technology-dependent interface? Are there any internal recommendations? You should derive the respective scrutinizing strategy for each category.
  • Make sure you create a positive and realistic image of the company, while interacting with the candidate. Treat them with respect and fair judgment. It is imperative in either of the situation, whether you take a person onboard or not.
  • Bringing people together through human touch, putting Right person for the Right Job is the key.

Is the brand helpful in acquiring talent really?

The brand is your identity in the competitive marketplace. Experts rate it high for enhancing the visibility and acceptability.  Gone are the days when branding was significant to the product marketing. Today, every function makes use of it to add to the growth of the company. Hence, even the HR team also uses company brand and brand image to carve a niche in the prospective job market.

When it is the time to find out and obtain the most deserving talent, the HR team has to showcase the benefits of joining the organization by amalgamating the brand image and HR policies. The HR aspects of the brand need to be enticed while interfacing between the talent pool and the organization. According to the recruitment geeks, a sturdy branding results in tapping an excellent talent pool.

Some people are fascinated with the brand. They should be tapped by the HR at the right time. Make the brand propagation well so that a positive publicity can be made. At the same time, make sure that the hiring process is clear, unambiguous and simple. Offer a user-friendly interface to the job aspirants so that they find it interesting. Also, the best talent that is being hired by you should see the consistency in the brand.

Why companies fail in retaining the talent?

You put great efforts in acquiring the cream of the talent, but the efforts go in vain if you can’t keep them working with the team longer. Why does it happen? Is there any fault in the acquisition process? No, it isn’t! The problem lies somewhere else. Experts blame these three aspects for not retaining the best talent in the company.

When nobody talks about career progression

Yes, talented employees are always worried about their career path because they know their ability. When your company doesn’t give a clear picture of what they will be doing after five years from now, it is certain that they will look for another opportunity.  Unfortunately, even in big companies bosses seldom talk about it.

Frequently changing strategic priorities

You hire them with the assurance of giving a challenging project, but end up with assigning mundane operational things because of a sudden change in the priority. When your organization keeps on changing strategic priorities quite often, talented employees get frustrated. ‘Jerking around’ is the last thing they would prefer. Hence, don’t experiment with the top-seeded talent you hire.

Micro Management, the most irritating aspect

Talented people don’t like their activities to be tracked out at the micro level. At the same time, they do not run away from their responsibility and accountability. They love to lead a project and ready to take the acclaim as well as the criticism for its success or failure.

When top management doesn’t allow them to work freely or look into the miner things, they get extremely irritated. Remember, they always welcome constructive criticism, suggestion or insight. However, they simply can’t tolerate preaching or poking.

Ambiguous hierarchy

Top talents get irritated when there is no clarity about the positional hierarchy. If you have a matrix structure where anybody can report to anybody, then it has to be made clear at the time of talent acquisition. If there is an ambiguity in the reporting structure, it is very likely you lose the best talent.

Conclusion

It is quite clear that hiring the best talent is the half part of the success story. The real challenge lies in retaining it for a long time. The more you keep them onboard, the higher is the benefit.  Hence, do not leave a stone unturned while retaining the top talent.