It’s quite common to hear people use the terms “recruitment” and “talent acquisition” interchangeably. They are two different types of hiring techniques, with one being more focused on the short-term and the other for the long-term. As an HR professional, you should be deeply familiar with the differences between the two and decide which hiring tactic to use for your company.
Recruitment vs. Talent Acquisition
Let’s define the two terms clearly. Recruitment is a reactive and straightforward process of hiring a candidate as soon as a vacancy pops up in the office, usually due to a resignation or team expansion. Hiring managers find a candidate for a job that already exists and is currently available.
On the other hand, talent acquisition is more proactive and continuous. There doesn’t necessarily have to be a vacancy for you to begin the hunt for qualified candidates. It’s an ongoing search for talents that would be an excellent fit for your company in the future. That said, this hiring process anticipates your company’s needs.
How to Know Which One Works for You
Hiring is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Many companies start with recruitment techniques since it’s the logical way to build a company. However, as your business grows, it may be necessary to deploy a talent acquisition plan and perhaps favor that instead of recruitment techniques. You might also realize that one method works better for the nature of your business and company size. Here are some factors in knowing which hiring tactic works for you.
1. Establish your company’s position
It’s typically harder for niche markets to find people that can fill in the job vacancies since the skills and requirements can be highly specific. Some examples of these industries include technology, medicine, law, and financial management. If your company is looking for employees with a mastery of their hard skills such as very specific knowledge and qualifications to execute a task, then you should adapt to talent acquisition strategies. On the other hand, recruitment will work effectively for your company if you’re looking for employees that can learn on the job and carry out tasks inherently.
2. Determine your goal
Every business has different needs. Be in touch with the mission and vision of the company. Your business goals should also reflect on your hiring goals. For instance, if you’re looking to build several new departments in the coming months, talent acquisition efforts would be helpful. If you’re content with the current status of your company and want to keep it at status quo, recruitment can sort out your hiring needs.
3. Identify the speed of growth
Companies have different plans of scaling their team—some might have a lax pace, while others have a more urgent timeline.
If your industry requires a lot of human resources to operate, and you can’t advance without expanding your workforce, it would be smarter to deploy talent acquisition. If you’re working on a startup company that can be run with a few people and you have a calculated and steady business growth approach, recruitment may suit you better.
4. Assess the job position
If you see yourself as part of a fast-paced industry looking for a specialized skill, then it might be more favorable to stick with talent acquisition. On the other hand, if you’re confident that you have an abundant talent pool and you’re not in a hurry to scale, you can do well with a great recruitment strategy.
5. Stand out from the competition
If you have a talent acquisition strategy, you’ll be able to regularly promote your business to jobseekers and attract top talent that may not be looking for job opportunities at this time. This is wiser for small-to-medium companies who are relatively new and want to promote themselves in their industry.
With recruitment, jobseekers might only be familiar with your business if there’s a vacancy. This requires snappier job ad copy and marketing efforts. The technique may better suit big companies that are known in their industry as they might have already captured the interest of their market.
Which Approach are You Going to Take?
There’s no hard and fast rule here. Your hiring strategy entirely depends on how you want to develop your company moving forward. Assessing your business needs is essential for identifying your growing points. From here, you can partner with a recruitment firm that specializes in either strategy to help fulfill your goals. No matter what size, industry, and goals your company has, it’s best to work with a tailored hiring approach to always get top-quality team members.
