The Dos and Don'ts of Talent Acquisition: Key Strategies for TA Leaders

With over 18 years in the recruitment industry and extensive interactions with various talent acquisition (TA) leaders, we've identified crucial strategies that can make or break the success of a TA team or individual leader.

In this article, I’ll outline three common pitfalls to avoid and three positive habits to adopt to ensure a well-rounded approach to talent acquisition.

Part 1: Three Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Overcomplicating the Tech Stack Avoid the trap of integrating too many apps and solutions, which can lead to technical debt and training challenges. I call this “over-apping.” Many tools are available, but that doesn’t mean you should be trying to use them all.

Streamlining technology to focus on interoperability and user-friendliness can greatly enhance recruitment processes. 2. Improperly Sizing In-House Teams Building an overly large in-house team, especially for companies with seasonal hiring, can lead to staffing imbalances.

A flexible approach, possibly through outsourcing, can help manage these fluctuations more effectively. This is our bread and butter; we’ve been helping companies solve this challenge with hourly staff for years. 3. Relying on a Single Sourcing Strategy: Diversify sourcing strategies beyond major job boards like Indeed.

Sticking with a single source will mean that you’re only seeing a fraction of the available talent, and sometimes it’s the same candidates every time.

Part 2: Three Habits to Adopt for Success

1. Broad and Diverse Sourcing Strategy: Develop a comprehensive sourcing strategy that offers multiple channels to attract candidates, ensuring the process is candidate-friendly.

Incorporate direct sourcing, talent databases, SMS, and social media advertising to broaden the recruitment reach.

This approach helps in tapping into diverse talent pools and makes the recruitment process more efficient.

Better still, consider hiring a service like ours to relieve some of this burden. We have a database of four millions job seekers, and can you spare you a lot of time searching through applications for the needle in the haystack.

1. Regular Review of Key Metrics: Identify and regularly review six to ten key metrics such as time to hire, candidate presentation, hiring manager process time, and candidate experience.

Conduct these reviews at least weekly, if not daily, to stay informed about the company’s recruitment landscape. You’ll quickly get a sense of whether your processes are efficient or whether you need some help.

1. Hyper Focus on Communication: Establish a predictable and repeatable communication strategy within your team and with hiring managers.

Effective communication is crucial for setting and managing expectations, both internally and with third-party firms. This habit is essential for improving recruitment results and overall business efficiency.

Make sure your workflows also include regular follow-up with applicants. Don’t be one of those brands that ghost a candidate you interviewed after a position is filled.

Remember, they are not only your job candidate; they might also be your customer. Treat them right.

Keep Incrementally Improving

The role of a TA leader is both challenging and rewarding. By avoiding common pitfalls and adopting these key habits, TA leaders can significantly enhance their recruitment efficacy.

Keep looking for ways to improve, and when you need it, ask for help.

Need some help with recruiting for hourly staff? Let us know what you need, and we will be in touch with some ideas about how we can help.