What Is the Difference Between Recruiting and Talent Acquisition?

What Is the Difference Between Recruiting and Talent Acquisition

The hiring process has become complex, lengthy, and costly with the current economic environment. To cut through all this confusion, you need a clear definition of the role of recruiting and talent acquisition in an organization.

If there is one thing the Covid-19 pandemic taught the world, it’s that the labor market needs revolutionizing. The pandemic exposed many flaws in the work and office space and showed companies in some sectors how bad their hiring policies have been over the past few years. According to a survey, no fewer than half the workforce in the United States changed jobs citing dissatisfaction in the workplace.

Many might think the dissatisfaction was due to payment, but the survey showed that only 14% left because of payment. The question that is to be asked is: What is the cause of the dissatisfaction? One way to answer the question above is the hiring policies of these companies. 

What is the difference between recruiting and talent acquisition? This article will help you better understand how each of them operates.

Changing the Hiring Policy

Over the years, companies and businesses have been reactive regarding hiring staff. This type of hiring, which is popularly known as recruitment, is mostly done when there is a vacancy or the company is planning an expansion. Recruitment involves hiring staff for a particular job to perform a particular task. Staff hired through this process are thoroughly evaluated and must be experienced and qualified for the job. It is believed that this method of hiring is the reason why most old companies are dying off.

During the pandemic, several employees saw how undervalued they were at their place of work. As time changed the need for a more flexible hiring policy was needed to improve the working efficiency of employees and retain the most valuable employees. This gave birth to a new hiring policy, known as talent acquisition, which is a bit similar to traditional recruitment but is believed to be a long-term hiring policy for companies when compared to recruitment. With talent acquisition, employers lay out strategies that will make their organization more attractive to employees. Here, the person with the required skill set is the boss. 

Understanding that huge payday wasn’t attracting the best minds, companies began reaccessing their working environment and hiring policies. They began to see other companies that were more flexible with employees’ positions and tasks hiring the most skilled workers. Statistics show that HR managers who have incorporated talent acquisition into their hiring policy have seen a tremendous increase in the number of qualified job applicants. 

Is Recruitment Still Valid in Today’s Labor Market?

Recruitment is a short-term fix for a long-term goal, so yes, recruitment is still valid in todays and the future labor market. When there is a vacancy in certain positions, companies might not have the luxury of time to hunt for talents to fit into those positions. All the company needs is a qualified, experienced employee who clearly understands their jobs and is equipped to perform them excellently. Going by this explanation, recruitment cannot be sidelined both now and in the future in the company’s hiring policies as it aims to achieve a purpose.

When Does A Company Need Talent Acquisition?

The thing about talent acquisition is that, unlike its counterpart, it is a long-term process. A company cannot fully implement a talent acquisition strategy overnight and attract the most qualified employees. First, it must build a reputation as an organization with good working conditions equipped with the qualities of appreciating and valuing its staff. When implementing a talent acquisition strategy, the company must be willing to invest in human resources linked to the organization’s overall growth and sustainability.

A company needs talent acquisition when they need staff but have no idea about the jobs they will be undertaking. With talent acquisition, the company provides employees with the flexibility they need to tap into the company’s goals and develop innovative ways/ideas of positioning the company’s path to those goals.

Talent acquisition is also important when a company is seeking to employ people with rare skills like coding, cyber security, AI engineering, and cloud programming. Recruitment is unable to get this set of people because they are always in high demand. The only way is to convince them that your company has what it takes to utilize and appreciate their talent and skill set. Recruiting Talent with Pareto is seamless and straightforward.

Conclusion

It is safe to say that talent acquisition is the future but saying recruitment is the past might be wrong as it still has a major role to play in the future of the labor market. However, it’s important to note that both recruitment and talent acquisition can be used hand in hand as they serve different purposes.