Challenges for Talent Acquisition in 2014
A quick survey of Google returns a host of challenges poised to daunt talent acquisition professionals in the coming months. Part of any good strategy is not just identifying and examining the potential problems but also evaluating the risks associated with each quandary and determining the best path forward. As Sun Tzu states in the Art of War, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
Jeanne Meister recently identified 2014 as the year social HR matters in Forbes. Meister predicts, “This year we’ll see more forward-thinking HR leaders making the connection between having a solid social media strategy and finding top talent. After all, 47% of Millennials now say a prospective employer’s online reputation matters as much as the job it offers.” Meister also details how several big data recruiting firms, “can find new talent before the prospective employees even know they are in the job market,” by examining candidates activity online and social media feeds.
While social media and big data technologies are obviously important pieces of the puzzle that same technology can also be a source of frustration and a road block to success according to Jibe's recent Talent Acquisition Survey. In a survey of more than 100 recruiting professionals, Jibe discovered that, “More than a third of recruiters surveyed (35%) said they spend more of their recruiting budget on technology than anything else. However, 46% of respondents reported that they were deeply dissatisfied with their current technology. And 27% actually said their current technology gets in the way of their ability to do their job.” Jibe also identified problems with extracting and sorting data stating that, “Fewer than one in three (32%) recruiters find it easy to extract data or metrics from their current recruiting tools, which is probably why respondents reported that they spend, on average, 22 hours a month manually sorting through or manipulating data.”
For Lou Adler, sourcing problems are rarely the problem. Adler cautions recruiters simply that, “you can’t use the same strategy to find and hire top performers that you use for average performers... With the wrong strategy, no matter how much you try to improve your tactics you won’t get too much better, and even if you do, it won’t be for too long if you don’t change the underlying strategy.” Adler goes on to explain models of Talent Scarcity vs. Surplus Strategy and how firms need to determine which model they are operating under to create a strategy to meet their recruiting goals.
Join HCI this January 16, 2014 at 3pm ET for the webcast Recruitment Automation: Acquiring Talent for High-Volume Hourly Positions and hear Kim Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer at DreamsJobs and Nan Zieleniec, HR Consultant for Aero Communications share the case study of how Aero Communication leveraged recruitment automation to increase cultural fit and candidate engagement.