5 Key Differences Between Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

Talent acquisition and recruiting are often considered synonymous—and while both have a unique role to play in the hiring process, there are many key differences that set them apart.

1. Approach

Recruitment and talent acquisition share a similar objective of hiring the right people for your organization. But here’s where they diverge—talent acquisition is a continuous process that is used even when there are no vacant positions. It involves segmenting your workforce, creating a strategy, branding, and using metrics and analytics.

Recruitment is more of a short-term, tactical process that happens when open positions become available at your company. Recruitment processes include sourcing, screening, interviewing, evaluating, selecting, and hiring.

2. Strategy

Your HR strategy influences both talent acquisition and recruiting, but will look different when applied to each process. Since recruiting is dependent on open positions, your strategy will revolve around targeting the best places to immediately source top talent. You might encourage employee referrals or announce the available positions on your company website, social media accounts, and job boards. 

On the other hand, your talent acquisition strategy should be aligned with your overall business growth strategy. You can start by identifying your end goals and business metrics. This will help you build a pool of talented candidates aligned with your strategy.

3. Planning

When recruiting, you can narrow down your focus to the immediate job requirements and specific qualifications needed to fill a vacant position, then look for a suitable candidate. 

With talent acquisition, however, it’s critical to start planning long before a position falls vacant. Talent acquisition professionals must research and learn about the functions of each department. They must also have a strong understanding of the necessary skills and level of commitment needed to be successful in them.

Certain positions will also require specific behavioral qualities, which is why DISC personality assessments are becoming an essential recruitment tool in hiring the most effective candidates.

4. Nurturing

Recruitment does not always require you to develop relationships with potential candidates. Your first interaction might be when you're inviting them for an interview. 

Talent acquisition requires you to establish a relationship with your talent pool right from your first interaction. If you're reaching out to a potential candidate on LinkedIn, using a sales automation tool to look up their profiles can help you nurture them by setting up recurring emails. Automating workflows like this can ensure that your talent acquisition and nurturing processes are ongoing.

5. Metrics and Analytics

As mentioned earlier, recruitment is a reactive process—which means its success can be challenging to measure because there’s always a chance that the person you hire won’t perform well in their role.

Since talent acquisition is a proactive and continuous process, it’s easier to measure its effectiveness based on metrics like employee performance and turnover. Other benchmarks you can measure are the number of potential candidates you attract, the effectiveness of your nurturing process, and the quality of talent you have in your pool.

When it comes to talent acquisition and recruiting, offering competitive benefits will not only help you attract top candidates, but also retain them. Check out our recent blog post to learn how wellness benefits can support your hiring efforts.

To read more from Axelle Dervaux, head over to ClicData.