Why is it important to invest in talent acquisition strategy and processes?

Attracting talent is consistently among the top 3-5 areas of concern/opportunity for CEOs – the ability to attract and retain high-quality talent can make or break your business. Your business can’t scale unless you add talent to grow your team, and the quality of the talent you add has a direct impact on your growth.

The effects of the pandemic made talent acquisition more complex – the ground shifted and employee expectations of their employers changed. Employees are looking for more purpose, fulfillment, and flexibility in their professional lives. It’s more important now than ever before to get prospective employees excited about your organization and convince them to join —especially if you’re in a competitive talent environment.

Talent Acquisition Strategy

How should you organize your talent acquisition process?

Create a talent acquisition pipeline akin to a marketing/sales pipeline – you need a lot of candidates at the top of your funnel in order to find the best people at the end of the funnel. The process is similar to selling a product: you need to identify prospects at the top of the funnel, build relationships, sell, and then close. The primary difference with the talent funnel is the addition of an evaluative element in interviewing—but you also have to sell talent on spending 40 hours per week working for you.

You can set up your talent acquisition pipeline in an applicant tracking system (ATS) – your ATS can help you build stages into your hiring process and run TA like a sales pipeline. An ATS allows you to track candidate communication and progress through the pipeline and captures data to help measure pipeline efficiency and effectiveness. For example, you can have a view into how long a hiring process takes from job posting through to offer acceptance, then try to tighten your process and create better results.

How should your company’s core beliefs and culture shape your talent acquisition?

Your culture and core beliefs should be woven into every interaction across the pipeline – culture should show up at the top of the funnel in your employee value proposition, in the middle of the funnel as your team interacts with candidates, and at the bottom of the funnel in your pitch or close process for a candidate.

Your culture and core beliefs should also figure into candidate selection – if you want to hire someone who will buy into your company’s core beliefs, you need to communicate what those beliefs are during the interview process. You can then ask questions to test for some of the desired behaviors. For example:

• Humility: Provide an example of a mistake you made. What did you learn from your mistake?
• Driven/hungry: Tell me about a situation where you had to go above and beyond the call of duty to get a job done.
• Customer service: We have all had experiences with difficult customers. Describe a customer who tested your patience. How did you react?

Talent Acquisition Infrastructure

Who are the people who are involved in talent acquisition? What role does each play?

Everyone should have talent acquisition top of mind – talent acquisition is the whole company’s mandate. There’s nothing more powerful than an employee telling a referral, “This place is amazing and you should consider working here.” Cultivate the ethos that it’s everyone’s job to think about their network and spread the word if there’s an open job. Smart companies find a way to get their entire team engaged in recruiting, e.g. through referral bonus structures, creating content for social media to enhance employee value proposition, or inviting employees to participate in recruiting events.

The executive team is responsible for evaluating talent acquisition needs and building strategy – the executive team should devise the TA strategy and consider where talent should be added across the organization. There needs to be a strong tie between the activities of your TA function and the overall strategy of your business to ensure that business needs are properly resourced.

Build and involve a talent acquisition team – a mature TA team is typically composed of a leader who oversees a team of recruiters. This might just be one person at first. This team specializes in managing the talent pipeline process. They handle the tools and technology, orchestrate communication, are responsible for running a smooth and efficient process, and are accountable to agreed-upon metrics of success.

The composition of your talent acquisition team depends on the size and structure of your company – many organizations start out relying on HR and using third-party recruiters when they’re only hiring a few people a quarter. As a company scales, this becomes very expensive. Eventually, most companies will benefit from investing in dedicated internal resources to lead TA.

Business leaders and hiring managers partner closely with the TA team – the hiring manager is very involved in the initial scoping of a role, the definition of the role specs, and in interviewing and closing with the candidate. They should remain informed and engaged at every step but won’t necessarily manage the day-to-day work and communication.

What tech tools support talent acquisition? When does it make sense to start using each?

Sourcing tools and platforms help you find candidates and get their contact information – the most popular tool is LinkedIn Recruiter, but finding the best tool for you depends on your industry. For example, GitHub or Stack Overflow for tech, or Indeed for Healthcare. There are also an increasing number of newer tools that leverage AI and other emergent technologies for sourcing, e.g. HireEZ, and Fetcher.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) – your ATS is a key tool that serves as a centralized database for managing and tracking job applications and candidates, managing your pipeline, and generating reporting and metrics. There are many standalone ATS systems (e.g. Lever, Greenhouse, JobVite) and many HRIS systems offer an ATS module.

Outreach tools – these tools can help you automate reachouts to candidates to make your hiring team’s communications more efficient and standardize outreach cadences. These tools are akin to marketing tools that allow companies to send automated email marketing campaigns. Some sourcing or ATS tools offer inbuilt outreach functionality.

Onboarding tools – once a candidate actually begins their job, an onboarding tool can facilitate and automate the employee onboarding process by tracking onboarding tasks and ensuring the necessary paperwork gets done.

It’s crucial to consider integration when building your HR tech ecosystem – all tools don’t integrate equally well with each other. As you build out your HR tech stack and add new tools, be thoughtful about how your systems talk to one another.

What services are available to support talent acquisition? When should you use them?

Many companies use third-party recruiters when they’re small and don’t have high recruiting volume – This can be very expensive – most recruiters will get paid 20-33% of the role’s total annual compensation. That said, external recruiters can be helpful in the early days of building out a company and for specialized hires.

Different recruiters focus on different areas of the pipeline:

• Sourcers – some recruiters will focus solely on sourcing candidates and filling the top of your hiring funnel.
• Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) firms – these can handle the entire recruiting funnel end-to- end or do components of the process. Outsourcing may be the best option if a company is going through a one-time spike in hiring volume (e.g. associated with a round of funding or the opening of a new office). The flexibility of an RPO might be more appealing than spinning up an entire internal recruiting team.
• Executive recruiters – third parties are often used to fill C-suite and other leadership roles because the candidate pool for these roles is typically small. Executive recruiting firms that specialize in building networks of these executive candidates can be a worthwhile investment.

If you use an executive search firm, consider whether Contingent or Retained search is a better fit – Contingent search means that the recruiting firm is paid only if you hire a candidate that they source. Retained firms are paid in tranches (usually three: upfront, in the middle, and at the end of the process). Contingent firms bring forth many candidates that meet minimum qualifications for a role, but do not spend a significant amount of time with each candidate. Contingent firms often focus more on active candidates and rely on job postings. Retained firms dedicate resources to a role and typically spend time vetting candidates to present just a few very highly qualified people. Retained firms focus more on passive candidates who are currently working. Most retained firms will be exclusive, whereas contingent firms are more likely to be flexible on exclusivity.

Talent Acquisition Processes

Top of Funnel

What is an employer value proposition? What makes a good one, and why does it matter?

Your employer value proposition (EVP) articulates what differentiates your company and makes it an attractive place to work – it’s a statement or set of statements that you’ll put on your website and train your team to be able to speak to as part of the recruiting process. A good EVP is succinct, clear, and easy to remember and understand. It should be backed up by reality and evident in your people, processes, and tools.

Think about it as a marketing asset directed to new hires – a good EVP puts your best foot forward to attract applicants and reflects the tone and energy of your company. For example, if you work in a very formal or casual setting, the language in your EVP might reflect that.

Your value prop should cover 3-5 aspects of what makes your company unique – you don’t want it to be overly long. Note the EVP is different from a list of benefits your company provides, which can be much longer than five.

Some examples of companies who lead with employee value propositions:

• PWC
• Honest Burgers
• ServiceNow

How should you think about positioning your company as a great place to work?

The employer value proposition is key to positioning your company – you want to make sure it’s strong per the guidance above, and that it is transmitted in all of the interactions the candidate has with your organization’s content and people.

Venues to consider positioning your company as a great place to work include:

• Company website
• LinkedIn
• Indeed
• Recruiting platforms (e.g. Glassdoor)
• Other social media sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
• Industry-specific platforms (e.g. GitHub for Tech, Professional Associations for Healthcare)
• Employer awards (research awards in your space and determine which are worth pursuing – note some are pay-to-play, nomination-based, or based on surveys)

Pay attention to and respond to reviews on recruiting websites – paying attention to what you put on the web is one side of the equation, but you should also keep tabs on what’s said about your company on review platforms. Respond to all reviews about your company (particularly negative reviews), on sites like Glassdoor, Facebook, Google, etc. These sites can impact a candidate’s perception when they’re researching your company. Ensure you have a clear owner of this process within your team; someone should be checking these sites regularly to ensure prompt responses.

Talent Acquisition should maintain a strong partnership with Marketing – your Talent Acquisition team should tap into the Marketing team’s expertise around messaging, social media, etc. These teams should coordinate to ensure consistent messaging across channels.

How can you increase the number of candidates at the top of the funnel?

Engage your team – one of the best ways to find candidates is through your current team. Consider a referral bonus program or other incentives to encourage your team to refer great candidates.

Find out what platforms your target candidates are looking at and ensure your company and roles are appearing – meet candidates on platforms they are already using, and at in-person events if possible. Ask candidates where they are looking for jobs, reach out to universities to find out where they are telling students to look for jobs, and ensure that these feedback loops are not stagnant as things can change! Some platforms will require you to pay for job postings—if you do this, monitor the ROI on this spend by tracking where candidates heard about the job when they apply (ask as part of the application process).

Elevate your company and its leaders in media – leverage any Marketing and PR resources you have available to elevate your company profile. If your CEO or executive leader is on a podcast, book, or show, amplify its reach. Get the word out about what you’re doing and what’s special about your company in any way you can.

Middle of Funnel

What internal processes should you go through before opening up a rec?

Step one: Agree on a business case for the hire – this likely involves a conversation at the executive or line leadership level on why a new role is needed. Depending on the stage and maturity of your company, this might happen as part of a regular headcount planning process or may be more ad hoc.

Step two: Conduct budget research and approve budget – before confirming the salary range for a role, research market compensation rates through salary benchmarking tools and/or by surveying your team. Then, go through whatever budget approval process that your company requires.

Step three: Scope role and develop necessary hiring assets – your talent acquisition team (in conjunction with the hiring manager) needs to create the job description, build an interview scorecard, and agree on an interview team and process.

Codify an overview of your approval process so that you don’t start from scratch every time – document the process and ensure relevant employees know how to kick this process off and what will be required along the way.

What does a great job description look like?

A good job description (JD) is an advertisement for the job – you need to convince people to apply. The job description should be exciting, engaging and reflect the culture of the organization. The candidate should read it and get excited about the opportunity while also learning whether it’s a good fit for them.

Don’t limit your job description with unnecessary pedigree requirements – it may be important for a candidate to have a certain education, but oftentimes narrow requirements may limit the number of people who apply. Avoid unnecessary specifications around experience or education.

Instead of pedigree, anchor your JD on outcome-based specifications – a JD should have a clear overview of what success is going to look like for the role and what competencies are required. It shouldn’t be overlong or repetitive, so make it succinct and clear. Include an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement – an EEO statement in a JD is not required by law unless you are a federal contractor, but an EEO statement in the company’s voice can be a powerful signal to candidates that your company is committed to building an inclusive workplace.

What steps should you build into your candidate evaluation process?

Create a structured interview process – it is a waste of time for you and for the candidate if your company conducts four interviews with a candidate where the exact same conversation happens four times. Create a structured interview process with a thoughtful approach to testing outcomes and competencies required for the role. For example, assign each interviewer a different competency to test for. To ensure alignment amongst all team members, create a document stating who is responsible for asking what questions.

Sample interview slate:

• First screening interview – typically done by a talent acquisition team member to give the rest of the team leverage (since there will be a lot of these conversations). Define the areas or attributes they should screen for (culture, experience, skill set, etc.)
• Experience interview with hiring manager – the hiring manager should be involved early in the process. The hiring manager should focus on experience and understanding whether the candidate has the functional skills to be successful.
• Competency interviews with cross-functional team members – focus on how the candidate works. Have a specific plan in place for what each interviewer should ask.

Personality/style assessments may be informative for some roles, but they shouldn’t determine your hire – you can bring up the assessment results with the candidate and ask them if their results resonate but be careful using assessments as an indicator of whether a person will be successful in the role. Study after study indicates there isn’t a clear personality test result that indicates a perfect fit for a role.

Skill assessments and work sample tests can be useful – for example, if you’re hiring a software developer, a coding assessment can help you gauge their competencies. You can also ask candidates to do work sample tests, which mimic the kind of tasks the person would be doing on the job. For example, for a customer service role you could ask the person to role-play how they would address a common customer challenge as part of the interview process.

Find creative ways to get to know the candidate better – a dinner or lunch in a more casual setting can help you get to know the candidate better. Social situations give the opportunity for more casual conversation and for observing social interactions.

Check references from the candidate (and look for backdoor references) – it can be tempting to skip reference checks when you’re moving through the hiring process with urgency. Don’t do it! Ask candidates to give you references and conduct backdoor references wherever possible. Be very specific about the references you ask for, e.g. ask to speak with a person’s supervisor from a specific role listed on their resume.

Train your team on the process – whoever is involved in candidate interview processes should be trained. They should understand what their role is in the process and how it fits into the broader process, know what questions they should ask, know what is expected of them after the interview, and be comfortable speaking to the candidate’s questions.

What does a great candidate scorecard look like?

A strong scorecard is outcome-based and guides your interviewers – the scorecard should specifically articulate what the role requires and how the candidates will be judged on success, it might include outcomes like: “Grow revenue from $10M-$20M over the next two years;” or “Design and implement a sales training program this year.” You can even share these with candidates during the hiring process—if a candidate decides they can’t achieve one of the desired outcomes, then you’ve both saved time.

Competencies are the more difficult scorecard component to test for – desired competencies could be things like: detail-oriented, analytical, innovative, etc. Testing for competencies needs to be intentional. It’s crucial to have a structured interview process with clear questions and approaches to test for them.

Incorporate a clear scoring rubric (1-4) for your scorecard – a scale from one through four works well because evaluators don’t have an option in the middle. It forces evaluators to put a stake in the ground on a person’s abilities.

How quickly should you move candidates through your process?

Move candidates through the process as quickly as you can without compromising on the process – moving slowly or being disorganized in the process can turn a great candidate off. Conversely, proceeding with speed and agility shows the candidate you’re excited about working with them. Note that you might have to live with candidate-driven delays; you might have to put a hiring process on hold if a strong candidate tells you they’re busy and need to delay.

Bottom of Funnel

What can you do to ensure that candidates have a positive experience and impression of your company?

Candidate communication is crucial – if a candidate goes days without hearing from you and doesn’t get responses to questions, that isn’t a good look for your company. Create a strong candidate communication cadence for your hiring process, then continue communication through offer acceptance and until the new hire’s start date.

Set clear ownership, roles, and expectations across your team – executives, the hiring manager, and the talent acquisition team should know their responsibilities in the process. The hiring manager should ideally be involved throughout the process for maximum impact when an offer is made (the candidate will feel invested in). For an important hire or a great candidate, you might want the CEO or other executive to send a note saying how excited they are to work with them.

Other ideas for how to provide the best possible candidate experience include:

• Ensure all candidates (regardless of whether or not they meet your criteria) have an excellent experience. You never know who they might know!
• Provide candidates with company swag during the interview process.
• Gather explicit feedback about your process with a survey (typically after a process has closed, and often performed within your ATS)

What processes or norms should you put in place to increase your chances of closing great candidates once you make an offer?

Let the candidate know what to expect along the way – transparency with new hires can go a long way. By communicating with them consistently, informing them of next steps, and remaining transparent, you decrease their

uncertainty and increase their estimation of your organization. Tailor the job offer to the candidate – when you get to the offer stage, don’t just use a form letter to send the candidate an offer. Include in the offer some verbiage about why they were chosen and why you are excited to work with them.

What should you do to set new hires up for success early in their tenure?

Be careful about expecting new hires to do work before they join – you can provide them with some content to consume (a video, a welcome packet, your culture statement/BBO, etc.), and a great candidate will hopefully want to engage with that to get connected and feel ready, but don’t expect them to spend a significant amount of time while they are not yet on payroll doing work to prepare for the role.

Invest in a best-in-class onboarding experience – this is a rich topic that we won’t get into the details of in this guide, but a strong onboarding experience is key in setting candidates up for success. Some aspects of a strong onboarding experience include:

• Structured and organized
• Seamless start with tools, systems, and meetings, including training sessions, set up on their calendar in advance
• Employee handbook provided
• New hires matched with a buddy or mentor
• Clear expectations set for the first 30, 60, and 90 days

Overall

How should you integrate your talent acquisition strategy with your broader marketing and people strategies?

Leverage Marketing’s expertise to improve your external communications to talent – Marketing has expertise around social media and messaging that your talent acquisition function can benefit from. Their knowledge can help TA devise a consistent and thoughtful approach to marketing your company and new roles to potential candidates.

Integration with HR/People is important to create a seamless candidate experience – depending on the structure of your organization, HR may or may not be involved in the interview process. Either way, once a candidate accepts an offer, the person should be seamlessly passed on to the HR team to handle onboarding. As new people programs are created such as leadership development, and new benefits, it’s important that the TA

team learns how to incorporate these benefits into the recruiting process and content.

Integration success depends on standard cross-functional collaboration techniques:

• Establish a regular cadence of communication – this ensures important updates are shared between teams in a timely manner.
• Set the expectation of collaboration between functions and talent acquisition – this expectation should be set by the CEO.
• Clearly define owners and responsibilities – given the cross-functional nature of TA, clear roles and responsibilities will ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

What are the most important pieces to get right?

Good leadership of the talent acquisition team is crucial – this often evolves over the course of a company’s life cycle. Early on, TA may be the responsibility of an HR person or a business leader. As a company scales and hires greater numbers of people, there will come a time when a leader will be needed who can scale the TA function to support the growing business.

What are the common pitfalls?

Siloeing talent acquisition away from the rest of the business – a TA function on an island separate from HR, Marketing, and business leaders will not be successful.

Not recognizing and minimizing interview biases – there are a lot of bad ways to interview and there are many biases that can seep their way into interview processes. Avoiding biases starts with a thoughtful and structured interview process. This article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides some tips on how to avoid common interview biases.

Relying on personality assessments in hiring decisions – the research indicates that most personality assessments are not reliable and should not be used to dictate hiring decisions. They can be helpful in learning more about a candidate, but should be used alongside a structured, skill-based interview approach.

For more information or to connect with the Rallyday team, reach out to Padraic McConville at 415-385-4714 or Padraic@