Mastering the Art of Talent Acquisition: Critical Business Considerations

The best business plans can ultimately fall short without the right workers to bring that to completion. In today’s competitive and sometimes volatile marketplace there is often the opportunity to find work with multiple different employers. When those other employers end up being competitors, it is more imperative than ever for business owners to be well-versed in the art of talent acquisition.

Broad Strokes: Reconsidering Basic Hiring Ideas

There are plenty of ways to sweeten the pot and attract a bunch of potential hires— larger salaries, better benefits, fancy office amenities— but if that becomes the goal, just attracting as many people as possible to fill seats, employers may end up worse off in the long run. No business owner or manager wants to have gone through the tedious and often lengthy process of sorting through a pile of applicants, only to end up discovering later that the selected candidate is sorely lacking. A distinction needs to be made between people who can just fill a role and those who have a true command of themselves and their abilities.

As an employer, it is important to become clear about the scope of the role, not just as it appears on paper, but to understand and envision how that role will grow and evolve over the years. There are, of course, plenty of instances and people who have the drive, hard work ethic, and latent potential to learn as they go, but is that what the role calls for, or is a seasoned leader immediately necessary?

Additionally, someone may have all the hard skills and intelligence of a NASA scientist, but if they lack social and emotional intelligence or leadership abilities, then they may be a serious impediment to the success of any project— especially if it requires working with larger, more diverse teams.

The complexity of the hiring process can be intimidating, and for good reason, but the good news is that there is plenty of information out there that has been learned through trial and error, polished, and shared for others to utilize. Here are a few tips about critical business considerations in mastering the art of talent acquisition.

Tips for Talent Acquisition

Clear Job Roles

Anyone who has ever gone through the job hunt process has likely come face to face with job postings that, even though they may be lengthy, lack the clarity, detail, and information that would help them to become interested. In any market there are going to be competitors, they may not all be looking for talent at the same time, but if one employer has clearly defined, well-articulated job listings and another is a vague mess of information, then interest is going to lean toward the latter.

Spending time with as many people and departments as possible to clearly lay out the skills, workflow, and scope of a position will do much, not just in attracting or repelling the right talent, but in ensuring that the right people get placed in the right roles. A good tip? Ask current employees in a department how they might write or change the job descriptions.

Broadening the Search Parameters

Diversity, thought well and good as a topic to see racial disparities expelled from the workplace, has more to offer a company than just political correctness. Intentionally looking for people of different cultural, economic, or educational experiences means encouraging a diversity of intelligences.

If the same type of people are hired over and over for a role, then a company runs the risk of becoming intellectually homogeneous. People who think differently cause others to look at problems and solutions in different ways leading to potentially innovative and effective ideas.

Letting Go of Perfection

Job descriptions are just that: descriptions. They are certainly not a comprehensive elaboration of the nuances and complexities that will make up years’ worth of someone’s work in a single job position. Keep in mind during the hiring process that most people want to do a really good job, and even if they lack a few skills or a few years of experience, the drive and confidence to learn while striving for success will pay off in unforeseeable ways over time.

Being too focused on finding the “perfect” candidate means missing out on yet undiscovered talent.