Hiring as you go can leave businesses at a severe disadvantage in today’s fast paced recruitment landscape. In order to maintain competitiveness and drive business growth you need a strategic approach to hiring. Talent acquisition helps you plan ahead, attracting and onboarding the right hires to drive your organisation’s future growth.
But talent acquisition is toothless without the right tools. Advanced analytics and powerful automation help HR teams better interrogate their hiring data, spot skills gaps and remove the time-drain of repetitive manual administration, allowing them to focus on a more strategic approach to recruitment.
This blog explores why a structured talent acquisition process, powered by the right software is essential for modern organisations to thrive. Ready to find out more – let’s go!
Jump To:
- What is Talent Acquisition?
- Why Use Talent Acquisition Software?
- Understanding the Talent Acquisition Process
- Talent Acquisition vs. Talent Management
- Choosing Your Talent Acquisition System
- The Future of Talent Acquisition
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) “Talent acquisition deals with the strategies, tactics and processes for identifying, recruiting and retaining the human resources a company needs. It includes developing, implementing and evaluating programs for sourcing, recruiting, hiring and orienting talent.”1
In short, talent acquisition helps HR teams identify and meet an organisation’s current and future workforce needs. This is more than simply filling role vacancies; it’s about considering the organisations’ ongoing requirements and building a pipeline of ready talent to meet those needs.
What is talent acquisition software?
With lower skilled job roles attracting on average 506 applications2 per vacancy, it’s simply not possible for HR teams to manage recruitment with spreadsheets and email threads. Talent acquisition software, also frequently referred to as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) is specialist recruitment software that manages and automates the entire hiring process from requisition to onboarding.
Talent acquisition software performs like a central hub, allowing your HR and Hiring teams to manage and oversee every stage of the hiring process, whilst also using the data insights it collects to refine and streamline your process.
Key features and benefits include:
Automated workflows – these guide each vacancy through a set path, triggering job posts, candidate updates, shortlisting and interview slots without the need for manual input.
Centralised candidate database – the software acts as a searchable repository for all your applicants, making it easier to track progress, revisit past applicants and build talent pools for future vacancies.
Effortless collaboration – a unified platform allows colleagues from across your organisation to communicate, share documents, scores and feedback with ease.
Improved candidate experience – a smoother, more consistent, user-friendly and engaging experience provides a better candidate journey and helps strengthen your employer brand.
Advanced analytics – every action, rating and response is captured, turning your hiring activities into clear, usable data. Driving smarter decision making.
Why use talent acquisition software?
Talent acquisition software significantly enhances the talent acquisition process by:
Increasing efficiency– automation reduces manual effort and speeds up time-to-hire.
Improving candidate quality – AI powered features optimise ads and identify candidates with the best skills or most appropriate experience for the role.
Reducing cost-per-hire – the use of automation, improved candidate matching, and AI insights can reduce recruitment expenses and increase retention rates.
Enhanced compliance – built-in features track activity, ensure a consistent process and automate data management.
Understanding the Talent Acquisition Process
The talent acquisition process is made up of multiple stages. Key steps include:
- workforce planning – identifying future needs
- sourcing – finding potential candidates using a variety of platforms including social media, candidate attraction specialists and job boards
- shortlisting/screening -initial review of applications
- interviewing – assessing skills and fit
- offer/approval – negotiations with your preferred candidate/s
- onboarding – integrating your newest hire into the organisation
Technology plays a critical role in each optimising each of these steps. Talent acquisition software automates sourcing by placing ads on pre-approved job boards, streamlines shortlisting using AI powered features, and helps manage candidate communication from application to onboarding. Leveraging this software not only optimises each hiring stage but also improves and standardises the candidate journey.
The increased use of AI in modern talent acquisition recruitment also transforms how businesses source and screen applicants. AI powered tools can analyse vast amounts of data, spotting subtle skills gaps before they become an issue, optimising job descriptions and ads for maximum visibility and automating initial screening for a fair and equitable process. AI tools can even offer a percentage fit-to-role score, cutting shortlisting times (one of the most time-consuming hiring stages) and ultimately lead to better quality hires.
Talent Management Software vs. Talent Acquisition Software
So, what’s the difference between talent acquisition software and talent management software?
Talent acquisition or applicant tracking software focuses specifically on attracting, screening and onboarding new hires. This includes job posting, shortlisting, candidate tracking and interview scheduling.
Talent management software or Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) nurtures and develops existing employees – think payroll, performance management, learning and career development.
Now of course nothing is ever quite that straightforward, is it? Some HRIS also include a module/feature that incorporates talent acquisition. But these more basic tools aren’t as customisable or feature heavy as dedicated applicant tracking software.
Think of it this way – talent acquisition software builds your team; talent management software helps your team grow and keeps them engaged. They work best together. So, if you’re investing in either piece of software, make sure that it fully integrates with any existing tech you’re using.
Choosing the Right Talent Acquisition System
Whether you’re a first-time buyer or an experienced user of talent acquisition systems, knowing what to look for can save you time, money and a lot of future frustration. With technology rapidly evolving, especially with the rise of AI powered products, it’s worth checking if your current software is serving your changing needs.
Some key factors to consider:
- Scalability – Will the system grow with you – look at software that can be customised and adapted to suit your organisation’s growth.
- Integration – Does it play nicely with your existing software? Don’t just think about your HR software – think about communications platforms like Teams and pre-employment checks such as DBS or Right to Work. If it can’t integrate effortlessly – then it’s simply not worth having.
- Ease of use – Is it intuitive for HR teams, hiring managers and candidates? If the system isn’t accessible, people won’t use it.
- AI-powered features – From smart shortlisting and job description optimisation to advanced analytics, check what AI tools are available and how they can help you refine and streamline your process.
- User access and training – how many users are included, how easy is it to add more and what support and training is provided.
- Customisation – how adaptable is the software, will your team be (easily) able to adjust workflows or is the system set? Hiring workflows change for different roles. Flexible software will adapt far better to your unique workflows than a rigid, pre-set system.
Budget is of course important. There’s not an organisation out there that isn’t looking at their bottom line when buying new software – but price isn’t the only consideration. Look at the ROI – consider key metrics such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire and improved retention rates. How would this software impact those metrics?
And lastly, always ask for a demonstration of the software. Until you see it in action, it’s impossible to know if it’s the right fit for you.
The Future of Talent Acquisition & Recruitment
Recruitment is changing. AI powered tools are being widely adopted by HR teams keen to elevate their talent acquisition process. These features are not only improving candidate retention rates by helping teams make better hires, but they are helping to refine the hiring process reducing cost-per-hire and speeding up time-to-hire.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) is now a core pillar of successful talent acquisition recruitment. Embracing diverse talent pools, ensuring a consistent, fair and equitable hiring process is reliant upon using smart software to mitigate unconscious bias and standardise communications.
Business is changing too – there’s a shift towards a skills-based economy that’s compelling HR teams to prioritise skills over traditional job roles – for a more agile and resilient workforce3. Using smart software that can identify skills gaps will help organisations prepare for a more skills-driven approach to their hiring.
Talent acquisition is smart, proactive approach to recruitment which focuses on a skills-based economy and is built on a foundation of fairness and inclusivity. If you would like to find out how our intelligent hiring software can help improve your talent acquisition process, take a look at our candidate attraction page here.
Notes:
1https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/tools/talent-acquisition
3https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/features/how-to-build-a-skills-first-hr-approach/