Why a robust talent acquisition infrastructure is business-critical

Many organizations are still focusing on tactical hiring because they don’t have the infrastructure in place to take a strategic, long-term approach to talent acquisition. By infrastructure, we mean people, processes and technology. The pandemic is one of the main reasons as budgets were slashed and many companies opted to downsize their HR departments. And because a lot of organizations slowed or paused hiring, talent acquisition teams bore the brunt of those cuts. However, despite 2021 being a year of growth for many companies and 2022 going strong, it seems that talent teams are still focusing on tactical hiring because they don’t have the correct infrastructure in place.  

In simple terms, there are too many organizations focusing on recruitment rather than talent acquisition. Recruitment is about filling open roles on a short-term basis while talent acquisition focuses on a company’s long-term goals to ensure it has the access to talent and the pipeline it needs – both now and in the future – to meet those goals.  

So, why are companies still concentrating on the short-term? Well, there are several reasons. HR and talent acquisition teams are under immense pressure to fill open roles right now. The talent landscape is more competitive than it’s ever been and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. Total employment in the US is projected to grow from 153.5 million to 165.4 million over the 2020–30 decade, an increase of 11.9 million jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In May 2022, the labor force (the number of people who had jobs or were seeking employment) in the US stood at 164.3 million, according to data from the BLS.

The employment landscape has changed more in the past couple of years than it has in the last decade. Skills shortages, for instance, are no longer resigned to specific industries – all sectors have been impacted. And a record number of job openings and changing candidate and employee expectations are heaping even more pressure on talent acquisition teams. A robust talent infrastructure (with the right people, processes and technology) that aligns with an organization's overall business strategy has never been more important. 

One step at a time 

If your company doesn’t have a robust talent infrastructure in place, don’t panic. The first step would be to align your talent strategy with the wider goals of the business. You’ll need to speak to multiple key stakeholders for this. Then, think about your talent function’s objectives. Outlining all the stages that go into the talent acquisition process will help you spot any gaps. Again, collaboration is key. Speak to stakeholders regularly to ensure they are clear on what role they’ll play and are aware of any progress made. 

To develop a robust talent acquisition infrastructure, you have several options depending on the resources and bandwidth you have. 

You can either: 

• Build it: It's not a quick fix; it will take time and resources. Talent consulting can help if you want to build a structure that has the right people, processes and technology as it will ensure you have a customized infrastructure that will stand the test of time while elevating the efforts of the talent team through demonstrable ROI.
• Redesign what you have: This will be faster than building from scratch, but it’s still a time-consuming option. Again, talent consulting can help. Talent consultants have the expertise to help with the re-design process to make it as painless as possible.
• Outsource it: You could consider outsourcing your talent infrastructure. By outsourcing, we mean asking a talent consultancy to design and develop a robust talent infrastructure, or even outsource certain roles within the process. 

Let’s get started: What should an org chart for a talent acquisition function look like? 

A modern talent acquisition function requires a wide range of people and skillsets. Effective talent acquisition has long included sales and marketing elements, but recruitment marketing is no longer a nice to have; it’s a business imperative, but it must be operationalized to be effective.  

When it comes to operationalization, a proactive approach is required to identify candidates and build talent pipelines that allow you to nurture top talent until the right position becomes available (which could be weeks, months, or even years later). Technology and automation can help with this. But so will a strong employment brand (as long as it aligns with your employee value proposition, or EVP). It also must be showcased through eye-catching recruitment marketing campaigns on the platforms that matter most to target candidates.  

Each person within your talent acquisition department should understand their responsibilities, the role they play in the wider hiring process and the importance of collaboration between the relevant teams and/or stakeholders 

The same approach applies to data. A lot of talent teams have access to masses of data nowadays but fail to operationalize it effectively. Data underpins everything – you need data to create effective candidate personas and market mapping exercises to build talent pipelines. For example, some recruiters dismiss unqualified candidates immediately just because they are not suitable for the role that’s open right now. That doesn’t mean they won’t be suitable in the near future.  

There are several reasons why some recruiters do this and the main one is because they simply don’t have the time to nurture the relationship. It sounds obvious, but there are still far too many recruiters dismissing silver medalist candidates who have shown an interest in the brand. Instead, recruiters should work with the recruitment marketing team to place them in suitable talent communities. It’ll keep them engaged and interested through compelling content (not only job postings!) for when a position opens in the future. 

Tip: Talent acquisition teams must market and sell their organizations to their candidates in the same way companies market and sell their products to consumers. A strong employment brand, that truly aligns with your EVP, is critical if you want to position as an employer of choice. And the recruitment marketing activity you carry out, must be on the platforms that candidates frequent (note that this changes over time). Given the rapid pace of change in the employment landscape over the past couple of years, now is the time to modernize your employment brand to ensure it reflects evolving candidate and employee expectations.