HRM Five: The keys to recruiting the right talent

Recruiting the right talent requires the alignment of no small number of ‘stars’ – the right talent, position, skills, time, place, and culture, just to name a few.

But that doesn’t mean that it has to be an inscrutable dark art. Read on to find out what successful talent acquisition teams are doing to keep up with the recruitment demands of Industry 4.0.

1. “Post and pray” is no longer enough

Posting up a job ad and waiting for candidates to reply involves no small of time wasting  – it also assumes the right candidate will be browsing that particular platform in that two-week or one-month period when the advert is up.

In  a competitive landscape, talent acquisition teams need to be out and about, trawling for candidates, and approaching them, rather than waiting for them to approach you – or worse, waiting for your competitors to approach them, instead.

2. Active relationship management is the future

A candidate might turn out to be a poor fit for Role X, but maybe they’ll be ready in a year or two – or perhaps they will be better suited to Role Y that comes up in a few months.

But due to time and resource constraints, the tendency among many talent acquisition professionals is to discard candidates once they are no longer of use or relevance to the position at hand.

Taking a few extra minutes to wrap things up on a positive note with a candidate will be better for your employer brand – and be a strong aid to a longer-term recruitment vision.

3. Talent acquisition needs to specialise

Developing active relationships with candidates is more difficult when talent acquisition is handling all candidates, all the time.

When they are empowered to develop expertise and knowledge in certain functions or areas, they will then be able to develop a strong network of relationships with potential candidates and assets.

4. Streamline the process: avoid red tape

There’s a tendency, especially a bigger organisations, to front-load the job application process with bureaucracy. But this comes with its own issues involving privacy and document retention.

Let’s face it, you don’t need the life story of every applicant. Perhaps not even of every interview candidate, depending on how many rounds of interviews there are.

It’s more efficient for both applicant and hiring organisation to call for documentation once you’re actually serious about making a hire.

5. Automate as much as possible 

The process of recruiting for a job can be laborious, but thanks to technology, the talent acquisition function can evolve beyond administrative tasks.

Artificial intelligence is just one of the many tools emerging in the booming HR technology landscape, to help with interview scheduling and document collection.