5 Talent Acquisition Tips From The Experts

Acquiring talented individuals that are a great fit for your organisation can be difficult...

Acquiring talented individuals that are a great fit for your organisation can be difficult. Hiring tends to be a task that HR professionals squeeze in among other daily commitments, and so little room is left to experiment with new strategies.

Having said that, HR teams do want to improve their talent acquisition efforts. According to a recent survey of more than 2,300 HR professionals, recruitment is their top business challenge.

In this article, we're going to take a look at 5 talent acquisition tips from business experts, so you can confidently secure the very best talent for your company.

1. Utilise Social Media

"Employers with a strong company culture are looking at more than just job experience."  - Laura Betourne, social media specialist at Uproar PR.

By utilising social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, employers can learn more about candidates than what is available in their CV and cover letter. According to a new study, the number of hiring managers using social media to investigate job candidates has grown significantly over the past 10 years, with 60% of employers now turning to social networks to research job applicants.

This is a great way to find out if candidates are the right fit for your business before moving forward in the recruitment process. 

You can also utilise social media more directly for talent acquisition. Social recruiting is steadily rising in popularity, with 73% of companies successfully hiring a candidate with social media. 

2. Encourage Employee Referrals

"It's widely known that employee referrals are the best source for candidates...Every employee should be a recruiter for their company." - Tom Darrow, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Society for Human Resource Management.

According to a recent benchmarking survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, an incredible 96% of companies cite referrals as their top source for new hires.

By encouraging your employees to refer suitable candidates for a role at your company, you can save a significant money in advertising costs. Besides, who knows the culture of your company better than your employees?

Employees will be able to find the right fit when it comes to acquiring talent for your business.

But:
How do you encourage them?

Incentives.

Real incentives. If you offer a mediocre reward for referrals, then you aren't likely to get many. However, by offering a great bonus to employees that successfully refer someone, you are encouraging them to put the time in and find the perfect candidate from within their networks.

3. Be Transparent

"[Transparency] really helps with having great teamwork and less politics...Taking the extra step and making it public extends that trust to prospective team members."  - Joel Gascoigne, CEO at Buffer.

Transparency is a great way to stand out as a business that is honest and trustworthy. By presenting everything up front, from your company values to your salaries, you will be approached by the right candidates for roles in your business.

Buffer, a smart social media management tool with over 3 million customers, is known for its transparency, particularly when it comes to hiring. A few years ago, Buffer posted an in-depth article explaining their hiring process from start to finish.

Following this, they saw a huge increase in applicants for open positions at their business. This increase continued when Buffer decided to make their salaries and salary formula public -- job applications within a 30-day period increased over the previous 30 days by roughly 229%, Quartz reported.

4. Create a Brand Story

"We work tremendously hard creating a communications strategy for potential hires." - Nicole Hedrick, CHRO at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Before people apply for a position at your company, they'll want to know what your company is like. Creating a brand story is like advertising your company to potential talent, so it's important to do it right.

Humans have an emotive response to stories. When telling your brand story, be sure to make it engaging and appealing to potential employees. Focus on the people behind the brand.

Showing photos of your team helps with talent acquisition because people respond to visuals. In fact, 46% of marketers say photography is critical to their current storytelling strategies

Another important part of your brand story should be the incentives you offer your employees. When looking for a career with a new company, people want to know that they will be supported and appreciated in their new role.

5. Work with a Consultancy

"Talent management is not merely a task to be completed. It is a journey we embark upon together." - Matt Green, Founder of IDEX.

So, what's the best talent acquisition tip from the experts?

Work with the experts! 

When you work with a consultancy to acquire new talent for your business, you can rest assured that the candidates you find will be great long-term matches for your team.

At IDEX, our unique four-step methodology gives employers access to the best talent in their sector:

1. Insight
We complete an in-depth analysis of your organisation in order to better identify the best candidates for your business requirements.

2. Attraction
We then attract the optimum candidates on the market with a number of cutting edge strategies.

3. Selection
Using a selection of approaches, we will ensure that your business receives expert advice on how to shortlist the talented candidates we provide.

4. Retention
We offer a targeted support package to maximise the impact of your new recruit(s) and to reduce the risk of staff attrition.

Find out more about our methodology below:

Final ThoughtsTalent acquisition is always going to be an important task for HR professionals and hiring managers, so it's imperative that it receives the attention it deserves. The tips in this article should give you some inspiration for the next time you need to hire, so that you can acquire and keep the right candidate(s) for your business! 
For more advice on talent acquisition, get in touch with us today.