How To Improve Your Talent Acquisition Process in 7 Steps

This post on talent acquisition processes was originally published in November 2021 and was updated in July 2024 with new information.

In this persistently competitive labor market, effective talent acquisition processes aren’t just nice to have — they’re a must. The Great Resignation may technically be over, but people are still quitting. A new survey from PwC showed that 28% of employees are likely to switch employers in the next year, compared to just 19% in 2022. Even after they’re hired, new employees are susceptible to turnover — according to Harvard Business Review, one-third quit within the first 90 days.

To win and keep top talent, you need a solid recruitment strategy and engaging candidate experience. You also need an onboarding experience that leaves new hires well-prepared to do their jobs and strengthens their connection to your company. Can your talent acquisition process keep up?

There’s no better time than now to refine your company’s approach to talent acquisition. Take a look at these seven steps to building a better process.

💼 Technology is transforming talent acquisition! Learn how Talent Acquisition software can streamline your recruiting process and boost efficiency in your hiring practices.

Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment

Talent acquisition and recruitment are often used interchangeably, but recruitment is just one part of a talent acquisition strategy. Talent acquisition encompasses many functions, from recruiting, screening, and interviewing to hiring and onboarding. It involves tasks like managing compliance requirements, coordinating the schedules of hiring teams and candidates, and building relationships with active and passive candidates alike.

You can think of a recruitment process as reactive and talent acquisition as proactive. Recruitment is limited to filling open positions and getting new employees in the door, while talent acquisition strategy involves more teams considering their company’s long-term hiring goals. If you’re focusing solely on recruiting or just hiring to fill vacant positions, you’re more likely to hire any qualified candidate you can, rather than find one that’s an excellent fit.

Talent acquisition processes equip your recruiters and candidate sourcers to hire strategically, nurturing talent pools, accelerating time-to-hire, and minimizing disruptions. The fact is that eventually, nearly every role at your company will change hands. A talent acquisition strategy ensures that the best possible candidate is hired and critical roles stay filled. It’s a central part of your human resources strategy and enables retention, performance, and engagement efforts.

Talent acquisition processes must run smoothly to keep businesses fully staffed and avoid productivity dips. That’s especially true for companies in fast-paced, high-turnover industries like healthcare and construction. At some companies, these processes are managed by HR, and at others, they’re handled by recruiters or talent acquisition specialists.

Now that we’ve covered the difference between recruiting and talent acquisition, let’s look at a few measures you can take to keep your strategy fresh.

1. Evaluate Current Processes

First things first: take stock of your current recruitment and/or talent acquisition processes. Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a better idea of how your current processes are working and where they could improve. Ask yourself:

• Have you created a consistent candidate experience across roles and departments?
• Is your recruiting and sourcing team identifying internal candidates for promotional opportunities?
• Do any of your candidate sourcers scout talent for executive positions?
• Are any team members nurturing a talent pipeline for your organization?
• Do your recruiters and sourcers have access to resources and tools to assist their efforts, including software tools?
• Are you tracking recruiting and sourcing data, including time-to-fill, time-to-hire, retention rates, top candidate sources, etc.?

If you answered “yes” to all of the above, excellent! You’re on the right track with talent acquisition. Analyze your recruiting and sourcing data to find opportunities for maximizing efficiency. If you answered “no” to any or all of the questions, focus on developing new talent acquisition strategies that target the areas that need improvement.

2. Upgrade To AI-Enhanced Talent Acquisition Software

Many companies are already using talent acquisition software, which includes applicant tracking systems (ATS) and onboarding tools. 94% of recruiters say their ATS has positively impacted hiring. ATS systems can automate and manage talent acquisition processes like job board posting and employee referral programs, create an engaging candidate experience, and track recruiting data, too. They also serve as a single source of truth for HR, recruiters, and hiring managers.

If you want an ATS designed for talent acquisition, you’ll need to look for a system with onboarding features like:

• Connectivity with the ATS for easy, error-free new hire data transfer
• A self-service portal where new hires can complete onboarding documents and get familiar with the company and their team members
• Advanced, automated I-9 processing and E-Verify submission for compliance and faster hiring

Another feature you should prioritize in your software search is artificial intelligence (AI). AI-enhanced systems are helping recruiting teams automate manual tasks and write job descriptions and messages to candidates in seconds. AI enables teams to work smarter and shift their focus back to their people. AI can also help you source a huge pool of candidates who fit your requisition, as well as resurface past applicants you might want to consider.

Whether you need a brand-new ATS or your old system needs an update, you’ll want to ensure your software can support any of your new talent acquisition efforts. Be sure to choose an ATS with proven results that can grow with your company.

Read more about AI in HR software.

3. Define Your Employer Brand

A strong employer brand tells potential employees exactly what they stand to gain from working at your company and the kind of work environment to expect. Defining your employer brand also helps you understand how your company is perceived by potential, former, and current employees. Even if they don’t get hired or no longer work there, an accurate employer brand leaves a lasting good impression.

“Employer branding is a logical process of building the relationship between an employer and its current and future ideal employees,” explained ClearCompany Director of Talent Acquisition, Brian Abraham. “Your employer brand is the state of this relationship: good, bad, or indifferent.”

Your organization might be fast-paced and agile, or more process-oriented and methodical. Either way, communicating those values through your employer brand helps you appeal to candidates who would thrive at your company. On the other hand, applicants and employees can be left feeling confused and frustrated if you misrepresent your organization in order to make hires.

4. Improve the Candidate Experience

Did you know that 75% of employees say part of the reason they accepted their job was due to a positive candidate experience? Today’s job seekers want transparency, honesty, and communication around the talent acquisition process. But unfortunately, more candidates than ever are reporting bad experiences with hiring processes, which include:

• Little or no communication from recruiters
• Waiting weeks to hear back after applying
• Getting ghosted after screenings and interviews
• Too many interviews that drag out over weeks

Candidate experience starts from the time a potential candidate sees your job posting and continues until an offer letter is signed. The job description should be clear and thorough while avoiding biased language, and the application should not be too time-consuming. You can use your AI-enhanced ATS to help write inclusive job descriptions.

Throughout the interview process, your recruiting teams should stay in touch with candidates and clearly communicate what to expect. After an offer is extended and signed, kick off the new hire onboarding process right away for a seamless transition from excellent candidate experience to engaging employee experience.

5. Recruit and Promote Internally

Recruiting and promoting internally is a hugely beneficial talent acquisition strategy. Internal candidates are more engaged, the hiring process is faster, and associated costs are lower. Not to mention, internally promoted employees are 70% more likely to stay at your organization long-term. Even lateral moves within a company increase retention, with those individuals 62% more likely to stay.

We found even more evidence to bolster the relationship between internal hiring and retention. According to a study from the University of Minnesota, internal hires tend to be both higher-performing and more likely to stay on at their company. Conversely, high-performing external hires are more likely to leave.

When you recruit and promote internally, not only are you boosting engagement and motivating your employees, but you’re helping retain their unique skill sets. Their skills combined with their knowledge of the company means many of your current employees could well be the perfect candidates for many of your open roles.

🌟 Revamping your talent acquisition strategy doesn't have to be daunting. Check out our blog for 7 effective steps to refine your recruitment process and engage top talent.

6. Leverage an Employee Referral Program

An employee referral program is an excellent way to expand your talent pool and bring in new candidates. Referred candidates are four times more likely to be hired and can save businesses more than $7,500. They’re also more qualified, better-fit candidates: 48% of companies say their top candidates are referrals.

Not to mention, their retention rates are also much higher than average. 46% of referred employees stay at the company for three or more years, compared to 14% of job board hires.

Referrals seem almost too good to be true, but there are even more advantages to a referral program. Employee referral programs are an excellent way to reach active candidates: 71% of job seekers use referrals in their search. Referred employees tend to be hired much more quickly and often settle into their positions more quickly thanks to their connection to your company.

Employee referral programs often include monetary incentives, for example, a bonus awarded after the referral has been in the position for 90 days. Offering an incentive is a good idea since it results in higher-quality referrals. Whether you start a referral program or reevaluate your existing program, be sure to spread the word among employees. Ensure your HR team tracks important referral hire metrics to compare to other candidate sources, including time-to-hire, retention rates, and hiring costs.

7. Onboard Every Employee

No talent acquisition process is complete without a structured onboarding process. Onboarding sets new hires up to succeed in their roles by giving them a strong foundation for their career at your company. It can increase retention by up to 50% and improve engagement throughout the entire employee journey.

Onboarding programs should last at least 90 days and involve several check-ins with managers. Taking the time to help employees settle into their new role, ask questions, meet their colleagues, and learn how your company operates is worth it. Those employees become more loyal, engaged, and even produce better work —everything you need for a capable workforce that crushes business goals.

Leading Talent Acquisition Software With AI

With the right tools and proven techniques, you can tap into reliable candidate sources, hire them faster, and turn them into loyal employees. ClearCompany’s Talent Acquisition software has all the features you need for a modern, competitive strategy:

• AI-Enhanced Candidate Sourcing: Use AI to source candidates from a vast pool of over 800 million global professionals and resurface past candidates who match the new requisition’s requirements. Prioritize outreach to focus on best-fit candidates.
• AI-Assisted Content: Write job descriptions, candidate messages, and offer letters in seconds and take advantage of hands-off recruiting with Virtual Recruiter, our career site chatbot that engages job seekers, screens candidates, and even schedules interviews.
• Automated Workflows: Easily automate manual tasks, send outreach emails to your talent pools, and nurture top candidates with automation.
• Candidate Experience: Offer an unmatched candidate experience with self-service scheduling, virtual interviews, text and mobile recruiting features, and prompt, personalized communications.
• Built-In Compliance: With ClearCompany Background Checks, e-signatures, and electronic employment verification, compliance is simplified and you can hire with confidence.
• Seamless Onboarding: Make the transition from candidates to new hires as seamless as possible —just change their employment status. With the self-service portal, new hires can complete their paperwork right away and hit the ground running on day one.
• All-in-One Talent Management System: Expand your talent acquisition tool set with software for every stage of the employee lifecycle. Get leading solutions for Performance, Engagement, & Goals, as well as Analytics and Reporting, to build your HR software ecosystem.

Automate recruiting processes, reach more candidates, and engage your new hires for your most powerful talent acquisition strategy yet with ClearCompany. Sign up for a demo of ClearCompany’s AI-enhanced Talent Acquisition software now.