Having an effective talent acquisition strategy is required for long-term success. However, what defines “effective” can change from industry to industry, company to company. So, too, do the ways that organizations define success, with a variety of ways to assess where your organization stands in terms of TA strategy and how to tell if it is improving with any changes.
Please Indicate how you Assess the Effectiveness of Your Current TA Strategic Initiatives
Regardless of your industry vertical, company size or revenue, all strategies must tie back to your business objectives. That is why Brandon Hall Group research shows successful companies look at a variety of metrics rather than those that are unique to the TA challenges your organization may face.
The biggest mistake organizations can make is to operate in the dark or to simply make assumptions about their TA strategy based on previous or current activity. Any organization that has gone through major disruptions can attest that a strategy that is “good enough” will not suffice during a time of extreme volatility.
Being able to adjust, adapt and forecast possible scenarios are hallmarks of a successful strategy. However, those qualities are difficult to attain or every organization would be doing them. Proper forecasting requires accurate historical data so trends can be identified. Creating a more agile workforce that can adapt and adjust requires hiring practices encompassing a variety of skills and competencies. No organization can ever be completely sure of the future but being able to plan for as many likely possibilities as you can is surely the safe option.
The positive implications with having an effective TA strategy are not just avoiding risk, but creating a favorable employee experience that starts from the moment they hear of your organization through recruitment, hiring and onboarding.
In addition, your TA strategy affects not just your organization’s chance of addressing hiring needs but also the ability to have the right people in critical roles in an increasingly VUCA market. Having a well-thought-out TA strategy enables you to prepare your workforce for whatever changes might happen in the market.
To properly assess the effectiveness of your TA strategy, organizations must first assess their current status, then determine what is required to improve. Key questions organizations should address include:
- Who are the people responsible for developing and implementing TA strategy and how are they held accountable for their success?
- What tools and technology are in place to gather and analyze metrics to determine effective TA efforts and how are those tools used?
- What areas of your current TA strategy are missing or not working and what are the metrics you will use to determine improvement?
- What systems do you are in place to adjust your TA strategy, as needed, based on accurate assessments?
Take a Multi-Variant Approach to Assessing TA Strategy.
A common mistake organizations make when determining the success of their TA strategy is to be reactionary. For instance, if they are not seeing enough activity at the top of the funnel then they will execute strategies fully focused on recruitment marketing. Instead, by examining different metrics, including looking at possible future scenarios, a smart organization can deploy an approach that solves the immediate problem without neglecting other areas that may require shoring up.
On a Scale of 1 to 5, Please Indicate the Level of Importance Your Organization Places on Developing a TA Strategy
It will be very difficult to implement a strong TA strategy assessment process if leadership at your organization does not fully buy into why it is so critical. With only 59% of organizations stating it is important or critical, it’s clear that this is a challenge many organizations face: convincing decision-makers to invest in understanding and improving their TA strategy. As discussed earlier, the impact of TA goes beyond simply meeting hiring needs but shapes the direction and adaptability of the organization in the near and far future.
Make a Business Case for Change.
According to the Brandon Hall Group TA Certification 2021 Survey, some of the reasons organizations were seeing resistance to changing TA processes, behaviors and technology to be more strategic were:
- Not willing to change the way of working with people
- Transformation shifts
- Old habits, low pressure to change
- Budgeting allocation
- Remote collaboration and brainstorming
- Change is challenging due to embedded culture
- Due to time constraints, technology to play a more vital role and the organization is neglected
- Resistance within HR due to limited staff and workload
A quick scan of those reasons seems to show that lack of time and resources are the most common challenges to having a more strategic TA process. The way to overcome those challenges is to make the business case that the resources spent in assessing improving TA strategy will provide a return on investment well worth any time and budgetary concerns. This can only be done by taking a data-driven, objective approach to assessing current and potential future TA strategies.
Work with Existing Technology to Find Insightful Metrics.
Technology providers can help you determine the current state of your TA strategy’s effectiveness. However, there is a good chance that the current system you have in place is gathering data that can be useful for assessment but isn’t brought to front-facing dashboards or used in the right type of analyses to create a more meaningful picture. Work with data analysts from HR and other departments to get some ideas on the data, metrics and KPIs to properly shine a light on your TA strategy and inform the modifications that will assure your organization has the workforce it needs to meet any challenge head-on.
