The Talent Acquisition Manifesto A NEW PURPOSE, A NEW PLATFORM
RESEARCH | CONSULTING | ADVISORY
Table of Contents Introduction: The Current State of Talent Acquisition
03 The Modern Recruiter
06 The Talent Acquisition Model
10 The Talent Acquisition Technology Landscape
17 The Candidate’s Journey
22 Talent Acquisition Metrics
24 The Future of Talent Acquisition
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INTRODUCTION The Current State of Talent Acquisition KEY TAKEAWAYS Talent Acquisition is becoming more complex due to increased business pressure, changes in the technology landscape and shifts in workforce demographics. Talent Acquisition deserves its own strategy and its own platform to support the modern recruiter and a savvier candidate. Organizations need a new model to help drive business outcomes.
In August 2015, unemployment in the United States fell to 5.1% - the lowest rate in over seven years. Over 173,000 new jobs were added and many Americans who were left jobless a few years ago now have an opportunity to find work. While a strong job market is positive for the U.S. economy, it also creates a sense of fear for any talent acquisition department. With more jobs to fill, recruiters have to attract the best people in a very short amount of time- a challenge for even the most sophisticated
Social media and the advent of new tools provide different channels for finding talent and the candidate experience has become paramount.
recruitment functions. According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, 40% of companies that plan to hire next year said they have had unfilled openings for six months or longer because they cannot find qualified applicants. Without the right strategies or technology, talent acquisition is an incredibly complex undertaking. And, it has become more difficult over the past ten years. In 2000, the unemployment rate dropped to 4% and recruiters found it much simpler to leverage job boards or third-party recruiters to help fill jobs. According to research from Dice Holdings, the average time to fill in 2000 was 19 days compared to 27 days in 2015. Glassdoor has reported a similar spike in time to fill with an increase from 3.3 to 3.7 days for countries around the world. Clearly, times have changed. Social media and the advent of new tools provide different channels for finding talent and the candidate experience has become paramount. Today, there is no longer a blueprint for recruiting and many talent acquisition professionals do not have a clear understanding of what they need to do and what technology they need to use in order to identify and attract talent.
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Why is Talent Acquisition So Complex? •
Business Pressure: Talent acquisition has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade. No longer a backoffice function, it is now a strategic endeavor and a business priority. Figure 1 shows the evolution of recruitment and explains why companies are rethinking their current strategies and technology in order to adapt to today’s workforce. While this transformation indicates that recruitment has matured, the increasing pressure to align with business goals has made many talent acquisition functions feel paralyzed when executing a strategy.
Figure 1: Evolution of Recruitment
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Contingent Workforce: According to research prepared by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), 75% of organizations used contingent workers in some capacity in 2014. Both employers and employees are looking for greater flexibility in their workforce and having contingent workers can help fill talent gaps in a more immediate and effective way. The challenge for most companies is that contingent workforce management is owned by procurement departments and any data or information on recruiting, onboarding and engaging contingent workers stays isolated from talent acquisition and HR.
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New Technology: Ten years ago, the talent acquisition technology market was comprised of several hundred providers offering very clear products in very clear categories such as background screening, job boards, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), assessments and onboarding. Today, the market has imploded and thousands of providers have entered with new providers announced each month. Additionally, the lines have been blurred. Many of these providers offer several solutions in talent acquisition or have
Tops Markets: Focus on Technology Tops Markets has become more cognizant of the impact of technology on talent acquisition. It has learned that the processes and technology it had in place may have been negatively impacting talent pools. As a result, it has embraced the idea of making its process simple, streamlined, and mobile friendly. Its biggest priority in 2015 is going to be updating its technology to modernize the application process and provide a more streamlined and user-friendly applicant experience. It hopes these actions will increase its viable candidate pools and minimize the amount of drop off and incomplete applications. It will also make processes mobile friendly and optimized, as well as giving field HR staff much better search capabilities and the ability to better tap into existing talent pools.
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As talent acquisition becomes more challenging, organizations are seeking providers with a deep domain expertise in every category of talent acquisition from employer branding to onboarding created new categories of technology which makes the buyer’s decision much more complicated. •
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Transparency: Transparency is a reality for this new era of talent acquisition and social media introduces a level of openness that was not part of recruitment ten years ago. Companies are expected to be transparent about their employer brand, financial performance and engagement levels. Recruiters are expected to be transparent about the candidate experience, career development and company culture. And, candidates are expected to be transparent about their experiences and career aspirations. Job sites like Glassdoor help to foster this transparency. While this level of transparency is positive and can ensure better quality hires, it adds an extra layer of complexity to recruitment and requires trust between employer and job seeker. This trust can often take time. Competition for Talent: The competition for talent is intense and organizations in every industry and company size are impacted. Organizations need a strategy that begins with attracting talent early and engaging candidates through onboarding and beyond. The End of the ERP Era: Organizations still struggle with deciding between an ERP solution to manage recruitment activities or a best-of-breed talent
acquisition suite. As talent acquisition becomes more challenging, organizations are seeking providers with a deep domain expertise in every category of talent acquisition from employer branding to onboarding. Given these external and internal pressures, organizations can no longer ignore talent acquisition or try to stifle it under a broader talent management strategy. Talent acquisition has a separate audience, separate processes and separate technology solutions. It requires a new purpose and a new platform. Talent acquisition deserves its own integrated suite of solutions. Today’s talent acquisition deserves its own conversation. This report is where that conversation begins.
Four Strategies to Make Talent Acquisition less Complex The good news is that organizations can overcome their talent acquisition challenges. With the right strategies, the right technology and the right metrics, organizations should be able to navigate through the complexity. Below are the key strategies for simplifying and improving talent acquisition that will be addressed in this report: 1. Define and develop the competencies required for today’s Modern Recruiter; 2. Utilize next generation technology to create the new talent acquisition platform and dramatically improve all areas of talent acquisition; 3. Enhance all elements of the candidate experience through more effective personal, digital and group communication throughout the entire talent acquisition; 4. Align the measures of success of your talent acquisition efforts with overall business objectives. The goal of this report is to provide a model for the future of talent acquisition and show how the right technology can play a critical role in determining its success.
Talent acquisition deserves its own integrated suite of solutions. Today’s talent acquisition deserves its own conversation. This report is where that conversation begins. The Talent Acquisition Manifesto
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THE MODERN RECRUITER KEY TAKEAWAYS The Modern Recruiter must juggle multiple hats and balance very different competencies and skill sets. Recruiting is evolving the same way that marketing has evolved and recruiters should treat their candidates with the same attention given to customers. The Modern Recruiter must find ways to engage candidates while being able to respond to business needs.
As talent acquisition becomes more complex so does the role of the recruiter and the recruiting function. Recruiters must juggle multiple hats in order to be successful. No longer focused solely on relationshipbuilding or administrative tasks, the modern recruiting function requires a new set of skills and competencies that
And if you ask hiring managers, 61% say that recruiters have little to no understanding of the jobs they are filling (iCIMS Hire Expectations Institute™ 2015). 6
The Talent Acquisition Manifesto
often seem contradictory. Data analysis and relationshipbuilding is one example. Talent acquisition professionals have to be able to build long-term relationships with candidates, interpret data, sell and market their employer brand, and consider a more flexible workforce which are all responsibilities that did not exist a decade ago. While this presents new opportunities for talent acquisition departments to align with business goals, it makes the process feel overwhelming. And if you ask hiring managers, 61% say that recruiters have little to no understanding of the jobs they are filling (iCIMS Hire Expectations Institute™ 2015). One reason that recruiters have not embraced this modern role is that they do not understand what it is or what they need to do. Most recruiting functions get pigeonholed in one of the following personas: the Networker, the Analyst, the Innovator, or the Overachiever (see Figure 2). Recruiters and recruiting departments tend to fall into the same patterns and routines, even when those routines are not bringing results (ie, quality hires). It is important for organizations to consider their strengths including what has worked and what can be improved.
Organizations should understand how each of these personas contributes to the modern recruiter and how the combination will help them achieve a more effective recruiting function. Figure 2: Recruiter Personas
Each persona is not good or bad. The key to becoming a modern recruiter is not to choose one persona over the other but to integrate these personas. Organizations should understand how each of these personas contributes to the modern recruiter and how the combination will help them achieve a more effective recruiting function. These personas, which had remained siloed in the past, when integrated
o Competencies: relationship skills, influence skills, and networking skills o Metrics: Candidate engagement, time to fill, conversion of candidate to hire, candidate experience, quality of hire •
According to research by G2V careers, recruiters speak to 13,000 people a year. give recruiters the tools and competencies they need to attract, recruit and hire talent. This evolution of the modern recruiter is similar to how the modern marketer has evolved. •
The Networker - These individuals work on building relationships and continuously building up their talent pipeline. According to research by G2V careers, recruiters speak to 13,000 people a year.
The Data Scientist - These individuals focus on analytical capabilities and understanding how data can drive better decision making. Zion Bank is one example of an organization that hires financial analysts to join their recruiting team and build out these capabilities. o Competencies: analytical skills, negotiation skills, marketing skills, sales skills o Metrics: Cost per hire, source of hire, time to fill, time to productivity, quality of hire, new hire retention
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The Overachiever - These talent acquisition professionals are looking to fill positions quickly and cost-effectively. They are less concerned with long-term implications and instead, focused on the “quick wins”.
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o Competencies: detail- oriented skills, organizational skills, time management skills •
o Metrics: time to fill, cost per hire
The Innovator - These talent acquisition professionals are willing to take risks and try new strategies and technology options to engage with candidates in a new way. o Competencies: marketing skills, social media skills, relationship skills o Metrics: Quality of hire, time to productivity, candidate experience
While all of these personas provide value to the recruiting function, talent acquisition must consider a combination of all of these competencies. The modern talent acquisition department must understand its strengths as well as areas for improvement.
found in the modern marketer. Marketers face many of the same challenges recruiters face including an influx of new technology, the need to distinguish the brand in a competitive market, and a focus on customer engagement (candidate engagement). Marketing departments spend energy and resources trying to understand their buyer. They identify, nurture and engage buyers in a way that builds a long-term relationship. Why wouldn’t recruiting do the same for candidates? Furthermore, most organizations develop buyer personas to understand the behaviors, motivators, challenges and preferences of buyers. Why wouldn’t recruiters do the same for candidates?
A Lesson from Marketing
The type of insight from a buyer persona provides a more personal experience for customers and it gives marketers the insight they need to better attract, recruit and hire top talent. Below is an example of a buyer persona that companies use to better understand their audience for marketing and sales (see Figure 3).
When talent acquisition professionals combine these personas, they tend to mirror the skills and competencies
Most marketing departments that create personas provide a better, more personal experience for the buyer and they do
Source: Word Street
Figure 3: Buyer Persona
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Marketers face many of the same challenges recruiters face including an influx of new technology, the need to distinguish the brand in a competitive market, and a focus on customer engagement (candidate engagement). this through interviews, surveys and conversations. It takes time and requires a new conversation - one that is genuine and personal rather than scripted. Recruiters should user this buyer persona as an example. A candidate persona could create the same experience for job seekers and recruiters. It will allow recruiters to capture some very powerful information that can be shared across the organization. Regardless of whether a company
leverages a persona for candidates or not, talent acquisition still has an obligation to understand its audience and customize the recruitment experience for that audience in the same way marketing customizes the experience for the customer. The following sections of this report will outline the key processes, technology, communication and metrics that the modern recruiter should consider.
Regardless of whether a company leverages a persona for candidates or not, talent acquisition still has an obligation to understand its audience and customize the recruitment experience for that audience in the same way marketing customizes the experience for the customer.
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THE TALENT ACQUISITION MODEL KEY TAKEAWAYS The Talent Acquisition Trifecta includes strategies to Attract, Recruit and Hire talent. Organizations should develop a model that integrates disparate processes in talent acquisition. Organizations should understand the processes that make up a talent acquisition model and then invest in the right solutions to support a strategic approach.
Organizations are often confused about what processes and strategies should be included in a successful talent acquisition model. Is employer branding part of a sourcing strategy? What is the difference between sourcing and recruitment? Is onboarding owned by the recruitment function or the learning function? There are many conflicting views on what elements should be included in recruitment and little consensus. Through careful analysis, we have identified the most critical components of a modern talent acquisition strategy and the processes needed to support candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.
This report will help to simplify talent acquisition by clearly outlining the key processes included in an end-to-end talent acquisition strategy. It will also provide recommendations and mistakes to avoid for each area. At the most basic level, talent acquisition is categorized in three main categories: Attract, Recruit and Hire (see Figure 4). These areas are the trifecta of any talent acquisition function and without one or several – it is incredibly difficult for an organization to execute on business results or a strategic vision for improving efficiencies, identifying quality talent and providing a consistent candidate experience.
Figure 4: Talent Acquisition Trifecta
Attract
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Recruit
Hire
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Attract: Attract, engage and communicate with future candidates through a variety of channels.
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Recruit: Identify, recruit, screen and select the best fit for your organization.
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Hire: Hire, transition and onboard candidates into new hires.
When combined, these categories represent a holistic approach to strategic talent acquisition that includes specific processes, technology and metrics under each of these larger buckets. This section of the report will start by exploring the processes (see Figure 5).
Figure 5: Talent Acquisition Model
Attract Attracting candidates is one area of talent acquisition that has been overlooked in the past. Yet, it is arguably the most important since it prepares organizations for current talent needs as well as future talent needs. With a strong and consistent strategy for attracting, engaging and connecting with talent, recruiters can build relationships and better understand the audience they are targeting with recruitment marketing efforts. Organizations can also bring awareness to their brand in a more authentic way. When individuals feel connected and engaged with an organization, they are more receptive to messages about the brand and curious about employment opportunities. Organizations today are beginning to prioritize the way they attract, engage and communicate with talent through several key efforts including Recruitment Marketing, Employer Branding and Sourcing. The focus on this pre-
applicant stage is on building a relationship with both active and passive candidates. So, communication and engagement at this stage of the talent acquisition lifecycle is a must. •
Recruitment Marketing: Recruitment Marketing is at the core of attract. It involves all the activities that connect a brand to the right person at the right time and with the right communication and messaging. Similar to a corporate marketing strategy, recruitment marketing should involve activities that: o Influence: providing the right information through messaging, segmentation and communication. o Attract: making sure organizations are going after the right audience by understanding the candidate personas, job advertising, and search engine optimization (SEO).
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o Nurture: engaging with individuals consistently through information and messaging specific to their interests and needs using vehicles such as campaigns and newsletters.
o Measure: evaluating these efforts to determine the engagement of candidates, conversion rates and the effectiveness of the overall strategy.
o Convert: converting individuals into candidates at the right time.
Old Tactic
New Purpose
Targeting the same message to everyone.
Segment messages to candidates and post the right content to the right candidates through different stages of the candidate journey.
Boring job ads.
Create engaging job ads with clear descriptions and leveraging video and marketing tools.
Candidate communication only when a job is open.
Engage with individuals consistently.
Generic email campaigns.
Create personal campaigns and messages that include the 10-80-10 rule (lead with personal information, including standard language and close with personal information).
A Sourcing strategy that involves simply posting jobs on job boards or blasting jobs on social media.
Consider an internal sourcing function and technology that supports a strategy rather than isolated activities.
Case Study: Salesforce Nurturing passive prospects is a major initiative of Salesforce’s recruitment strategy. The leading sales CRM understands that it must communicate with candidates differently throughout an improved candidate experience. Its’ sourcing and recruitment team begins engaging with passive candidates by finding “snackables” or short pieces of content that are relevant and interesting to passive candidates not just to individuals actively looking for jobs. Next, it sends out email blasts to candidates using marketing technology to gage interest in the company and jobs. Finally, it hosts events to engage with candidates and build relationships. It combines these events with larger events including Dreamforce. Not only does this approach provide a positive candidate experience but it ensures that Salesforce is reaching the right candidates and engaging them in different ways.
Salesforce Strategy for Passive Candidate Engagement
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Employer Brand: Although it is part of the recruitment marketing process, employer branding is an area that was once owned by marketing and communication departments and is now part of a talent acquisition function. The employer brand is the reason that someone wants to work for an organization. It encompasses the culture and the
Old Tactic
employee value proposition. A strong, descriptive brand will help companies attract talent and alleviate some of the challenges that sourcing can create. A weak brand, on the other hand, will deter talent or misrepresent the employee experience which can lead to new hire turnover and low performance once onboard.
New Purpose
Keeping the employer brand isolated from the organization
Employer branding should be transparent and communicated with employees and other departments. Marketing and communication departments responsible for the corporate brand should have knowledge and input on the employer brand.
Using the same employer brand messages for all geographies, job roles and candidates.
Employer branding should not be static and must be tailored to different geographies and job roles.
Sticking with the same employer brand messaging throughout the year.
Employer branding needs to be re-evaluated as organizations go through change and as the corporate brand evolves.
Using employer branding just for the pre-application process.
The employer brand should extend throughout the entire talent acquisition lifecycle and should be transparent to employees. Employees that are familiar with the brand can serve as brand ambassadors and connect with candidates and provide referrals.
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Candidate Engagement: Engagement is not just a strategy for current employees. Candidates should be engaged in the same way through consistent communication, recognition, and an understanding of the company culture. Too often, organizations ignore their candidates until a job opportunity
Old Tactic
exists. Companies will have the most success when they communicate regularly with their talent communities and send information and messages that are relevant to candidates.
New Purpose
Communicate with candidates only when a job is available.
Communicate consistently throughout the process. Enterprise Holdings is an example of one organization that has a five business day follow-up rule for recruiters to reach out to anyone who filled out an application.
Make sure that candidates are only communicating with recruiters.
Candidates should be encouraged to connect with employees and peers especially when those employees can act as brand ambassadors.
Wait until you hire a candidate before acclimating them to your company culture.
Candidates are also customers especially for industries such as retail and professional services. Candidates should be engaged in the company culture at every stage of talent acquisition not just when they are onboard.
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Sourcing: Organizations are unable to recruit top talent until they have sourced top talent. Yet, with competition for talent and a shortage of critical skills, companies need to think differently about traditional sourcing methods. Innovation in technology is helping to drive this change. Companies need to balance the art and science
of sourcing. The art includes relationship building activities and the science involves measuring and evaluating the more effective source of hire. While employee referrals are often considered the most effective source of hire, companies need a blended approach to sourcing by leveraging multiple tools and technology to attract and identify talent.
Old Tactic
New Purpose
Using third-party recruiters for all sourcing efforts.
Many companies such as Coca- Cola are bringing their sourcing function in-house instead of relying solely on third-party recruiters. By hiring sourcers or including a dedicated sourcing team in the recruitment function, organizations can have greater control and visibility into the way they source.
Leveraging job boards solely.
Sourcing requires several tools and strategies to be successful. For years, organizations relied on job boards for all of their sourcing efforts. Today, technology enhancements give organizations a lot of options for sourcing talent.
Isolating sourcing from recruiting.
Sourcing needs to be integrated with recruiting.
Recruit Recruit involves activities that help identify the right fit and hire the right fit. What sets successful companies apart from their competitors is their ability to create consistency in the way they approach each of these processes including screening, assessment, interviewing and onboarding. •
Screening: Although it’s considered a tactical area of recruitment, background screening can
Hire Screening only for certain positions. Screening candidates only when they are far down in the funnel. Considering only the most affordable providers.
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have a dramatic impact on a company’s overall recruitment strategy. Organizations that make a strategic investment in these solutions are able to expand their global reach, improve the candidate experience, and strengthen the quality of hires. Background screening includes employment verification, drug testing, credit reports, education verification and criminal background checks.
New Purpose Screening should be done for every position in the organization. Screening can serve as an effective way to help narrow down your candidate pool early in the process. Using pre-recorded videos to replace phone screens is highly effective. Having a validated and credible background screening provider is critical to ensure compliance.
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Assessment: Pre-hire assessments encompass the tools and technology that enable organizations to evaluate if a candidate has the right skills and behaviors to perform a job. These assessments are most often a combination of subjective tests and objective tests used to
Old Tactic
determine the accuracy of hire. Today, bestpractice companies of every size are providing objectivity to the hiring process by leveraging a variety of pre-hire assessments consistently throughout their organizations, from executivelevel positions to front-line workers.
New Purpose
Time consuming, manual tests that feel punitive.
Multifaceted insights looking and skill, fit and potential.
Managers resisting the assessment process.
Guiding hiring managers on questions to ask, areas to explore based on assessment insights.
One size fits all approach.
Using different assessment at different points in the hiring process, and for different roles, based on the needs of the organization.
One and done “disposable” test scores.
Carrying over pre-hire assessments into the onboarding process to help guide training and teambuilding.
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Interviewing: Interviewing is a staple of any talent acquisition process and often the deciding factor for hiring a candidate. Surprisingly, few recruiters and managers are trained on how to give a good interview. Additionally, few organizations have
Old Tactic
a standard approach for how interviewing is conducted. When recruiters and managers have the right tools and best practices, interviewing can be a powerful process that determines the best fit for the organization.
New Purpose Standardizing nterviews across the organizations.
Ad hoc interviews.
Leveraging interview guides that use reference call data from former colleagues.
Going with a “gut feeling”.
Including assessments in the interview process.
Multiple one-on-one interviews.
Leveraging digital interviewing platforms where multiple interviewers can participate.
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Hiring: Once an organization decides on a candidate, an offer letter management and negotiation begins. Hiring can bring frustration since an organization may lose a candidate
Old Tactic
during this process. Organizations must continue to provide a positive candidate experience and communicate with candidates throughout this process.
New Purpose
Stopping communication with a candidates once the offer is accepted.
Continuing the dialogue with a candidate in the window between offer acceptance and first day.
Ignoring the candidates that did not get the job.
Staying connected and communicating with candidates who did not get the job. Providing transparency to everyone that participated.
Waiting to tell a candidate they have been accepted.
Defining a communication plan for candidates.
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includes three necessary processes: forms management, tasks management and engagement.
Onboard When new hires have a positive onboarding experience, they are more productive on their first day and they are more likely to stay with their new employer. Unfortunately, for many companies, they invest heavily in the connect and recruit stages of talent acquisition and then ignore their candidates once they are onboard. When onboarding goes well, the benefits directly impact organizational success. When onboarding goes badly, the overall employee morale and engagement of an organizations is at risk. Strategic onboarding
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Forms Management: Ensuring that new hires have filled out all the correct forms to stay compliant and begin business-driven projects quickly;
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Tasks Management: Ensuring that new hires have everything they need and have met with the right people during the new hire process;
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Socialization: Ensuring that new hires are informed of the company culture and information on their manager and team.
Old Tactic
New Purpose
Having onboarding last for one week or one month.
Integration with development planning and goal setting.
Having managers responsible for onboarding.
Involving peers with team building, mentor programs and the buddy system.
Filling out new hires forms in the first week.
Providing new hires with the option to fill out forms before day one. recruitment departments in managing contingent workers or having visibility into their contributions in the workforce. It has been estimated by various studies that over 20% of an average organization’s workforce is comprised of contingent workers. Recruitments must think about how a flexible workforce will impact existing processes in attracting, recruiting and hiring talent.
These processes together comprise a complete picture of what talent acquisition involves. Organizations should evaluate what strategies they currently have, what they need to develop and finally, the role technology can play in helping to elevate these strategies and provide a consistent approach to every aspect of talent acquisition. Several trends important to highlight in any talent acquisition model are contingent workforce management, diversity and RPO.
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Diversity: Most organizations underestimate the value of diversity and inclusion in their recruitment efforts. Talent acquisition professionals often do not highlight or communicate diversity efforts to candidates and often do not have insight into these programs. According to a recent study by Glassdoor, 67% of active and passive job candidates say that diversity is important when evaluating a job.
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Recruitment Process Outsourcing: One of the high-growth areas of talent acquisition, recruitment process outsourcing has evolved from a transactional investment to a transformative initiative. Companies are looking at their RPO providers are partners who can help not only lift the administrative burden on recruitment but engage candidates, strengthen branding and evaluate the process.
These processes together comprise a complete picture of what talent acquisition involves. •
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Contingent Workforce Management: Contingent Workforce Management includes all of the recruitment of temporary workers, SOWbased projects and independent contractors. Traditionally, this area has been owned and managed by procurement departments. More recently, organizations are looking at the role of
The Talent Acquisition Manifesto
TALENT ACQUISITION TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE KEY TAKEAWAYS Leading organizations are investing in a talent acquisition platform that can support the trifecta of talent acquisition. Organizations should invest in a platform that has an ecosystem of partners in areas such as sourcing, screening, assessment and interviewing to give organizations a complete view of talent acquisition. When selecting the right provider, organizations should consider capabilities, domain expertise, customer support and financial viability.
Identifying the processes in a modern talent acquisition model is the first step, understanding the technology landscape comes next. A few years ago, the biggest trend in HCM was the concept of an integrated talent management strategy or a way for organizations to build consistency throughout all of their talent processes. Although this integrated model has provided tremendous value to the overall business, many recruitment functions and candidates have lost their way. By focusing solely on broader talent management, they have failed to address the
These companies are investing in an integrated talent acquisition platform that will connect the dots between employer branding, sourcing, screening, assessments, hiring and onboarding. Today, talent acquisition deserves its own suite.
growing complexities of talent acquisition and the importance of a positive candidate experience on brand, engagement and retention. Leading companies are beginning to take a step back, reexamining their recruitment processes and providing the same rigor around the idea of an integrated talent acquisition model. These companies investing in an integrated talent acquisition platform that will connect the dots between employer branding, sourcing, screening, assessments, hiring and onboarding. Today, talent acquisition deserves its own suite. Talent acquisition is more complex than performance, learning, succession and compensation combined. The buyer is different. The user is different. The experience is different. When organizations invest in solutions that are committed to talent acquisition, the overall talent acquisition strategy improves dramatically. Not only does the task of identifying, attracting, hiring and onboarding talent become less complex, but organizations are more likely to identify quality talent and improve the candidate experience. The challenge most companies face is that they are either relying solely on their ERP for talent acquisition or they are using a myriad of disparate solutions without integrating data or the user experience. This can create issues not only with efficiency but also cost and compliance. By leveraging a single platform that integrates with multiple third-party solutions can allow companies to provide a much simpler
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solution for recruiters, candidates and hiring managers. A next generation talent acquisition system should serve as this platform. The modern talent acquisition system is not simply a new Applicant Tracking System. It is much more. It encompasses the entire pre-hire lifecycle including candidate acquisition, requisition management, job postings, search capabilities, interview management, communications, and reporting. These systems foster a positive candidate experience though company career site branding, online employee referral programs, candidate selfservice applications, pre-screening questions, assessments, global configuration, social and mobile capabilities,
integration, contact management, compliance and in many cases, support for high-volume recruiting. A true next generation talent acquisition platform will also support onboarding of new hires through forms management, tasks management and socialization. An end-to-end talent acquisition system will partner with third-party solutions in areas such as background screening and assessment to give organizations a complete solutions that can support any and every area of talent acquisition. With a single platform that integrates with a broader talent acquisition ecosystem of solutions, organizations have a complete end-to-end look at talent acquisition.
When selecting the right talent acquisition provider, organizations should consider the following: When selecting the right talent acquisition provider, organizations should consider the following: o Product Capabilities: Does this solution have the functionality we need for our recruiters, hiring managers, internal candidates and external candidates? o Customer Support: Will this provider serve as a partner instead of a provider? Will it help us as we look to not only select the system but continue support beyond implementation? o Domain Expertise: Does this provider understand the complexity of talent acquisition and does it have a history and heritage in supporting similar organizations? o Partnerships: Does this provider partner with the solutions we need in areas such as background screening, sourcing, assessment, and video interviewing? o Financial Viability: Has this provider demonstrated financial stability and growth with customer wins, strategic vision and product enhancements?
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The following figure outlines the different categories of talent acquisition technology and how this ecosystem fits into the broader talent acquisition model.
Figure 6: Talent Acquisition Model: Process and Technology
Attract -
Recruitment Marketing - often referred to as the “pre-applicant platform�, this solution includes capabilities that maintain the employer brand, foster candidate relationships and enhance messaging and communication efforts.
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Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) - A strong CRM solution allows organizations to build a pipeline of current and future talent through messaging, email campaigns and communication.
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Employer Branding Solutions: Tools and solutions that help organizations define their employer brand and translate that brand to the candidate journey.
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Job Sites: Sites where job seekers can search for jobs and receive information about jobs and employers can post jobs and attract candidates.
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Sourcing: Sourcing solutions include several categories: o Job Distribution - Manage all job posting activities, integrations and analytics;
o Job-Matching - Take job seekers qualifications and matches them with employers requirements; o Resume Sourcing - Identify resumes online from job boards, ATS, social networking sites; o Job Search Engine - Search millions of job listings across the web; o CRM – Manage all the relationships and marketing for sourcing active and passive candidates; o Talent Communities - Create a community of talent; o Referral Network - Automate the employee referral process; o Social Media - Leverage the power of social media to create branding and source jobs; o Search Technology - Ability to search for candidate using keyword or semantic search.
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Recruit
Case Study: 2020 Companies 2020 Companies is a sales and marketing agency offering manufacturers and retailers solutions to increase sales and activate their brand. With the high turnover that occurs in retail, 2020 needed to diversify their sourcing efforts to find the best candidates but also lowering time to fill. It decided to invest in iCIMS’ Talent Platform to have a solution could meet all of its recruitment needs and streamline all of their sourcing in a central location. Mobile was also an important consideration since over 50% of applicants come through mobile devices. Through the integration if a Talent Platform and CareerCo (a job matching solutions), 2020 Companies was able to decrease time to fill, increase hiring manager satisfaction and improve the quality of applicants.
When making decisions around selecting the right technology, organizations should consider their core talent acquisition platform and then the ecosystem of solutions that will help to support all areas of talent acquisition. Many companies have existing relationships with background screening, sourcing or assessment providers and having a platform that will integrate with those solutions should be a major factor in decision- making. Many of the talent acquisition platforms today are building out a 1 of solutions that will integrate with their platform and offer customer options. This Figure shows leading talent
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Applicant Tracking System: A system for tracking everything from requisition management to offer letter generation.
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Background Screening: Tools to check drug use, employment verification, education verification, and criminal checks.
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Online Reference Check Solutions: Solutions that automate the reference check process and provide a talent pool of passive candidates.
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Assessment: Tools that provide a science for identifying the right fit.
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Digital Interviewing: Tools to support interview scheduling, video interviewing, and branding.
Hire -
Online Reference Checks: Tools for automating the reference calls to ensure better feedback and improve quality of hire.
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Forms Management– Collecting, tracking and managing new hire forms such as W-4s, I-9s etc.
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Tasks Management –Ensuring that all onboarding activities are completed and automated.
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New Hire Portal – Engaging new hires into the company culture through a new hire portal.
acquisition platforms including SmartRecruiters, iCIMS, Jobvite, Greenhouse, Peoplefluent, Kenexa and Cornerstone OnDemand and the ecosystem of solutions that help create a complete solution. It also includes service providers in contingent workforce management and recruitment process outsourcing. Figure 7 providers a visual and framework for how today’s talent acquisition ecosystem has evolved and includes some of the leading third-party providers under each category. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list but a small sample of some of the leading providers.
When making decisions around selecting the right technology, organizations should consider their core talent acquisition platform and then the ecosystem of solutions that will help to support all areas of talent acquisition.
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Figure 7: Talent Acquisition Landscape
The Foundation Certain capabilities serve as the foundation of the talent acquisition landscape and can be found in the majority of the solutions listed above including social, mobile, analytics and video. These capabilities create consistency in the experience for candidates and managers and recruiters. For organizations considering a talent acquisition platform, social, mobile, video and analytics are a must have. Social: Social media has transformed the way companies find and attract talent. Most organizations have a social talent acquisition strategy in place and leverage solutions that engage with candidates on these channels. According to Glassdoor, 79% of candidate use social media in their job search. Yet, 2 out of 3 employers do not know how to post jobs on social media and 3 out of 4 employers do not know how to share the employer brand on social media. These organizations need to ensure that they are engaging candidates rather than simply broadcasting jobs. Mobile: It is difficult to talk about social talent acquisition without mentioning the impact of mobile. Most of the talent acquisition solutions in the market offer some mobile capabilities although some are more mature than others. Some offer solutions only for hiring managers to approve
a job or a candidate. Others focus on the candidate yet are not flexible enough to handle a lengthy application. Organizations also have to take responsibility and alter their application process to make it “mobile ready�. Application rates drop by a staggering 265% if an application on a mobile device takes longer than 15 minutes to complete (ERE Daily). Analytics: As companies look to make sense of various sources of candidate data, recruitment analytics is becoming a popular topic. With the right information and the right tools, companies can make better decisions around their hires and measure the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts. The challenge is selecting the right provider and defining metrics that will align with business objectives Video: It is no surprise that video has disrupted the talent acquisition market. Organizations regardless of industry or company size are embracing video tools for branding, sourcing, interviewing and onboarding. As organizations (such as Walmart, the Boston Red Sox, and Rio Tinto) look to expand globally, video should be part of this strategy during every stage of the candidate experience. Some organizations are even using videos in replace of traditional reference calls.
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THE CANDIDATE’S JOURNEY KEY TAKEAWAYS Organizations need a strategy for communicating with candidates through every stage of the talent acquisition lifecycle. A Talent Acquisition Platform can provide the right capabilities for engaging candidates and providing information to create a positive experience. Communication with candidates should not end after an offer has been made and should continue through the onboarding process. Many parallels can be made between marketing and recruiting departments. Processes have changed, technology has evolved drastically, and the focus on the customer (or candidate) has become paramount. Despite the recent hype around the “candidate experience,” few companies truly understand what it takes to create a positive one. In fact, nearly 50% of candidates have a negative experience according to research from iCIMS Hire Expectations. In order to improve quality of hire and strengthen employer branding, organizations must rethink their approach to candidates, treating them with the same level of attention they place on customers.
According to research conducted by the Talent Function, LLC, on average 1,000 individuals will see a job post, 200 will begin the application process, 100 will complete the application, 75 of those 100 resumes will be screened out, 25 resumes will be seen by the hiring manager, 4 to 6 will be invited for an interview, 1 to 3 of them will be invited back for final interview, 1 will be offered that job and 80 percent of those receiving an offer will accept it. So how can organizations communicate with candidates not only in the later stages of the funnel but in the earlier ones as well.
Companies are doing everything they can to get to know their customers better, the same should be true for job candidates. Especially in industries like retail, professional services and hospitality- where the candidate experience mirrors the customer experience. It should be part of the foundation of any talent acquisition strategy and incorporated into existing processes and technology. This means companies should reconsider the “hiring funnel” and view it less as a way narrow down their talent pipeline and instead as an opportunity to communicate with candidates in a meaningful way through every stage.
This section of the report will discuss the different ways to communicate at every stage, how technology can help with this communication and help broker the relationship between candidates and employers.
For organizations, the hiring funnel provides insight into the number of candidates they need that turn into a single hire. For candidates, the funnel or journey traditionally provides insight into what chance they may have. But what it should provide is communication that will create a relationship in order to improve the overall candidate experience. Candidate communication throughout every stage of the funnel must move beyond isolated touch-points and create a consistent, personalized end-to-end journey. Companies take this approach with customer interactions, they need to do the same with their candidates. 22
The Talent Acquisition Manifesto
Candidate communication throughout every stage of the funnel must move beyond isolated touch-points and create a consistent, personalized end-to-end journey.
Attract: • • • •
Use personal targeted emails Include blogs on the career page Provide active and passive candidates with helpful tips for job seekers Translate the company culture through videos, social media and messaging
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Lead with the brand and make it transparent Send personal messages Consider reviews on Glassdoor Identify brand ambassadors at your organization Leverage your talent community where send messages and info Educate candidates on the company culture Supply them with useful content
Figure 8: Candidate Communication Funnel
Recruit • • • • •
Make sure that candidates know about the timeframe for recruitment and the stages they can expect to go through Provide candidates with information and bios on the individuals they will interview with. Be clear on what they can expect from assessment and share results Educate managers on using data to drive hiring decisions Continue to educate candidates on the brand and company culture
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Hire • • • •
Do not limit communication to only those that got the job but also include people that did not get the job
Send personal messages and feedback before Day 1 Make sure to ask for candidate feedback Introduce new hires to managers, peers and team members Communicate information on learning and development programs
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MEASURING SUCCESS KEY TAKEAWAYS When measuring the effectiveness of talent acquisition efforts, companies need operation metrics, strategic talent acquisition metrics as well as business metrics. By investing in a talent acquisition platform, organizations will have insight into the metrics they need and be able to make better decisions. Candidate engagement should be measured at all stages of the talent acquisition lifecycle.
Case Study: Navistar Navistar products, parts and services are sold through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil as well as 60 dealers in 50 countries. With 13,000 employees and several hundred new hires every year, Navistar was challenged with being able to quantify their recruitment efforts and measure the success. It relied heavily on expensive job boards and third-party recruiters which did not bring results. By investing in a Talent Acquisition Platform, Navistar was able to quantify their recruitment efforts particularly around employee referral programs, job advertising and SEO. It was also able to track key metrics such as time to fill and cost per hire. As a result, Navistar was able to reduce costs on third-party recruiters and job boards, improve time to fill and cost per hire and have an easy-touse system for measuring success.
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Metrics are the numbers that provide proof of a recruiter’s accomplishments and provide information about the effectiveness of the overall talent acquisition function.
Once organizations have the right processes and technology in place, evaluating their efforts is the next step. Metrics are the numbers that provide proof of a recruiter’s accomplishments and provide information about the effectiveness of the overall talent acquisition function. Unfortunately, metrics can often be misleading and recruiting functions are not always clear about what they should be measuring and the different ways to measure it. Additionally, companies are challenged on how to use metrics when they have so many disparate systems with different information, data and insight and no way to make sense of it all. The good news is that companies that invest in a talent acquisition platform have a better understanding of what
Through dashboards and reporting capabilities, talent acquisition professionals are able to easily collect, track and manager all information on the metrics that matter. metrics they need to track, how they can track them and how they should communicate them with business leaders. Through dashboards and reporting capabilities, talent acquisition professionals are able to easily collect, track and manager all information on the metrics that matter.
Metrics usually fall under three main categories: •
Operational Metrics: Metrics used to track efficiency and the operations of the recruitment function. Examples include cost per hire, cost of a vacancy, and time to fill.
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Business Metrics: Metrics that help business leaders understand the effectiveness of a talent acquisition function and its impact on organizational growth and profitability. Examples include new hire retention, quality of hire, and new hire productivity.
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Strategic Talent Acquisition Metrics: Metrics that help talent acquisitions understand their strategy and look at long-term results. Some of these metrics may include candidate engagement, brand effectiveness, and source of hire.
The following Figure reveals what metrics relate to each stage of talent acquisition (see Figure 9).
Figure 9: Talent Acquisition Model: Process, Technology, Metrics
This section defines what metrics should be evaluated at every stage of talent acquisition and what metrics matter to business leaders and to recruiters.
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Attract •
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Source of Hire: Organizations that track the source of hire have a better understanding of what sources are most effective at finding quality talent. According to research CareerXRoads has conducted since 1997, employee referrals are the top source of hire year after year. While, the sources with the best candidates include employee referrals, job boards, and career sites.
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Scott Weaver, Director of Talent Acquisition and Development at Cummings Corporation, found that leveraging a talent acquisition platform allowed him to create time to fill reports that could be easily sorted by hiring mangers:
Brand effectiveness: With the effort companies place in their employer branding efforts, it would make sense to have some way to measure the effectiveness of that brand. Companies should look at how their brand is translating into the number of applicants applying for jobs, the quality of candidates and the organizational fit. Companies can use tools to measure the effectiveness of their brand including google analytics, visitors to the career page, and any pay per click (PPC) analytics.
“With the reporting capabilities, I was able to create a time-to-fill report and sort by hiring manager. For example, I can see when Hiring Manager #1 has a 27 day metric and when Hiring Manager #2 has a 43 day metric. Our average time to fill company-wide is 37 days. With this information, I can go back to the Hiring Manager #2 and say ‘Here are the facts. Let’s figure out what we can do to shorten this’.”
Response Rates: Organizations invest a lot of resources into posting and advertising jobs. It makes sense that these organizations would track how many individuals are responding to email blasts, job ads or communication. Collecting this information and collecting response rates is an important part of measuring talent acquisition activities. Talent acquisition departments should set goals including how many candidates they want to join their talent community, or unique visitors to their career pages each month.
Not only do they have insight into what this number is but they have insight into the variables, including job advertisement fees, recruitment staff fees, third-party recruiter fees, interview costs, and technology costs. What organizations do not understand is the cost of a bad hire and the variables that factor into this definition including implications on employee morale and turnover. According to research by Bersin by Deloitte, the cost of a hire is $4,000.
Candidate Engagement: Organizations must evaluate candidate engagement throughout the entire process from attraction to hiring. Candidate engagement can be measured through surveys, conversations and the use and adoption of tools and technology.
Recruit •
Cummings Corporation
Time to Fill: Time to fill is a traditional recruitment metric that at one time, organizations used as the primary way to measure the success of recruitment efforts. Today, time to fill is important but it cannot come at the expense of quality. Organizations should look to improve efficiencies and find talent quickly but quality of hire needs to be paramount. According to research from Dice Holdings, the average time to fill in 2000 was 19 days compared to 27 days in 2015. Glassdoor has reported a similar spike in time to fill with an increase from 3.3 to 3.7 days for countries around the world. Cost per Hire: The majority of organizations have a clear understanding of their cost-of-hire metrics. The Talent Acquisition Manifesto
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Candidate Experience: The Candidate Experience is the foundation of any talent acquisition strategy. Organizations should assess their approach to the candidate through every stage of talent acquisition from the first interaction throughout the offer letter and onboarding stages. According to research by The Talent Board and the Candidate Experience Awards, only 50% of organizations measure the impact of the candidate experience.
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Hiring Manager Satisfaction: The relationships with the recruiter and the hiring manager can be challenging. Both have different expectations, communication styles and priorities during the recruitment process. When a talent acquisition function can bridge the gap with hiring managers
According to research conducted by iCIMS, 80% of recruiters believe that they have a good understanding of their roles while 61% of hiring managers believe that recruiters have an understanding of their roles.
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Quality of Hire: Often considered the “holy grail” of recruitment metrics, quality of hire measures the effectiveness of talent acquisition. If an organization has the right people in place and business results are being achieved, then quality of hire is high. If an organizations is losing new hires in the first year, failing to meet productivity and performance goals and have low hiring manager satisfaction, quality if low. The challenge most organizations face is how to measure quality of hire. There is no blueprint or standard measure but research shows that organizational fit and hiring manager satisfaction play a critical role in measuring quality. Companies should consider using their technology and talent acquisition platform to send surveys to hiring managers through electronic forms. These forms can track the candidates’ success once they are onboard.
and measure their satisfaction, new hire retention and productivity is likely to improve. According to research conducted by iCIMS, 80% of recruiters believe that they have a good understanding of their roles while 61% of hiring managers believe that recruiters have an understanding of their roles. The right technology can help improve the confidence hiring managers have in recruiters by providing the right communication for each position.
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Time to Productivity: Productivity is a culmination of recruitment and onboarding efforts. In order to translate the success of a new hire, organizations should have an understanding if this person is productive on day one. Companies can help increase new hire productivity by making the onboarding process as seamless as possible including filling out forms electronically before day one, tracking all tasks online and providing information on the company to the new hire before their starting day.
Conversion Rates: Companies need to look at how they are moving candidates through the funnel and how they are converting candidates into new hires. Below are some of the conversion rates companies measure:
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New Hire Turnover: This metric is calculated by dividing the number of first year employees that leave voluntarily or involuntarily by the total number of employees during a given time period. Too often, talent acquisition professionals turn a blind eye to turnover. Yet, in order to make sure that the people that are hired are the best fit, turnover in the first year cannot be ignored. Gables Residential is an example of an organization that was able to improve new hire turnover by investing in a system that provided socialization through a new hire portal and included personal welcome messages and information to new employees.
o % of candidates who pass prescreens o % of candidates selected to interview o % of candidates who receive an offer after interviewing o % of people who accept their offer
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THE FUTURE OF TALENT ACQUISITION With a better understanding of what a modern talent acquisition function should include and how the technology landscape can support that function, organizations should consider both their current and future needs. How can talent acquisition drive business outcomes today but also stay prepared to handle the unknown in the future? Below are a few recommendations for organizations that want a future-looking talent acquisition strategy to consider: 1. Focus on Brand: When an organization has a strong brand, they are better able to attract, engage and retain talent. Companies should leverage strategies and technology to help strengthen their employer brand. 2. Invest in a Talent Acquisition Platform: In order to overcome the complexities of talent acquisition and improve processes and efficiencies of their talent acquisition strategy, organizations need an end-to-end talent acquisition platform that can support everything from attracting to recruiting to hiring talent. 3. Learning from the Modern Marketer: The role of the recruiter has changed in order to respond to a changing workforce. The modern recruiter should mirror the modern marketer and look at treating candidates with the same attention and focus placed on customers. 4. Build a Comprehensive Recruitment Plan: Organizations need a clear understanding of all
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of the elements included in a high-performing recruitment function. As the workforce changes, companies will need to continue to reevaluate the talent acquisition model and make adjustments. 5. Understand the Talent Acquisition Ecosystem: Organizations should consider a talent acquisition platform but also the partnership ecosystem that integrates with that platform. Many organizations have long standing relationships with providers in areas such as background screening, assessments and video interviewing. Talent acquisition professionals should select a talent acquisition system that makes integration with these solutions seamless. 6. Communicate with Candidates: Talent acquisition functions need a plan to communicate and engage with candidates through every stage of the talent acquisition process from attraction to recruitment to hiring and onboarding. 7. Measure the Effectiveness of Your Efforts: Improving a talent acquisition strategy and selecting the right technology is not enough, organizations must be able to measure the effectiveness of these efforts. They must define the metrics that will be used to track success, communicate these metrics to the right stakeholders and reevaluate these metrics on a regular basis.
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