3 Things Every Talent Acquisition Strategy Needs

Article originally published by HR Morning on April 5, 2024. Written by Brian Bingaman.

Your talent acquisition strategy needs just that — a strategy.

During her remarks at the BambooHR Virtual Summit, Anita Grantham, BambooHR’s head of HR, noted that a foundational talent acquisition strategy can also bolster your employee retention.

Talent Acquisition Strategy 1: A Mission-Driven Culture

A culture with a legacy carrot-and-stick approach — rewarding hard work and punishing those who don’t perform as well — isn’t going to be attractive enough for prospective employees. Today’s workforce wants to feel like the work that they do matters.

“You want to create an environment for passion and connection. … Mission-driven companies outperform their competitors in all areas, including talent acquisition. If you haven’t already, you need to identify and articulate your [organization’s] contribution to society,” she said.

Clarifying, strengthening or developing your mission is going to require huddling up with the C-suite to honestly examine the company’s core values and whether or not those values are actively being practiced. In other words, what’s the say-do ratio?

“Values give you a definition [of] how you want to work together. [They] give you a road map for how you navigate conflict and how you do hard things together,” she said.

Grantham highlighted one of her own company’s values: “Grow from good to great.” It means never be satisfied with the status quo. She explained how it applies to a talent acquisition strategy: “During the hiring process, we would use that value to ask candidates to share a process or product they’ve improved upon.”

More than three out of four workers (77%) say that when selecting an employer, the company’s mission and values are important to them, according to Randstad’s Workmonitor 2024 report.

Talent Acquisition Strategy 2: Create a Hiring Blueprint

Because just putting “warm bodies” in seats is likely to get lukewarm results, you want a plan to identify the skills and capabilities needed to reach desired outcomes, as well as a plan to grow that new talent.

Grantham gave a good example of why it’s important to articulate a talent philosophy. A company that plans to expand globally will need to hire people with some kind of international business experience and prioritize finding that talent.

If that happens to your company, would you recruit C-suite talent with international experience? What talent acquisition strategy goals would you set for 12 or 24 months from now? What challenges might you have to navigate along the way?

“Your talent philosophy should … articulate your needs around top talent or employees who consistently deliver superior performance and demonstrate high potential for future growth. … Once you identify the outcomes of each job, really consider what kind of person will deliver those outcomes,” she said.

In addition, a plan for your “B players” — the solid, consistent, steady contributors — also needs to be included in your talent philosophy.

And don’t forget to get buy-in from your hiring managers. “Your recruiters are only as good as your hiring managers,” Grantham said. “They need to be clear on what they’re going to deliver regarding talent.”

Talent Acquisition Strategy 3: The Employer Value Proposition

Talent acquisition in today’s labor market takes a compelling employer value proposition — what the company holistically has to offer to job candidates. Some examples include salary, benefits and flexible hours.

“Think of it as a promise between an employer and a potential applicant,” Grantham said. “This gives you the language you need to sell what you have to offer and articulate why people would come work for you at your business. … Your strongest selling point might not be the most obvious.”

Because marketing isn’t traditionally part of an HR pro’s toolkit, you may need input from your internal marketing team or outside marketing help.