People often use the terms recruitment and talent acquisition interchangeably. But the fact is that both the terminologies are not really synonymous. And this is why we felt the need to get the facts straight and write down the differences between the two concepts for our readers to have a better understanding.
Talent Acquisition is more focused on the strategic side of tougher positions to fill.
Founder and President of LocalWork.com
There are various other postulates and reasoning’s that industry experts have presented to draw a line between the two ways of hiring and selection in an organization. Let’s have a look at the basic definitions of both the concepts. Later on, the blog will throw light on some of the major differences between the two expressions in a more structured and clear way.
What is Recruitment?
Recruitment management is the process of searching for, evaluating and hiring experienced and qualified people to fill an existing vacancy at a company or organization. It usually follows a specific, pre-defined recruitment process that is highly standardized and typically implemented in periods of expansion or due to staff turnover.
What is Talent Acquisition?
Talent acquisition is similar to recruitment in the sense that it shares the same aim of finding the best people to work for your company. But whereas recruitment tends to be a very standardized, reactive process, talent acquisition is all about the long game of your company. It involves a more flexible and dynamic approach from your recruitment team and a broad understanding of the long-term strategic aims of your business.
Now that the meanings of recruitment and talent acquisition are understood, it’s time for explaining the distinction between the two.
Speaking broadly, talent acquisition and recruitment can be distinguished from each other based on the following parameters:
- Recruitment is a subset of Talent Acquisition.
- Recruitment is linear, Talent Acquisition is an ongoing cycle.
- Recruitment is limited to CV, Talent Acquisition looks beyond a resume.
- Recruitment finds employees, Talent Acquisition finds niche specialists.
- Recruitment fills immediate requirements, Talent Acquisition forms long-term bonds.
Here’s a tabular representation that highlights why recruitment process is dissimilar from the talent acquisition procedure:
Different income slabs for different earning categories:
Your tax liabilities are based on how much you earn. Here’s the category that determines who pays how much taxes:| RECRUITMENT | TALENT ACQUISITION |
|---|
| This is an action | This is a strategy |
| This is an aggressive approach. | This is a thoughtful approach. |
| This is a tactical process to fill an immediate vacancy. | This is an ongoing procedure for long-term resource planning |
This looks for employees. | This seeks specialists and leaders. | | This emphasizes fulfilment of the defined eligibility criteria | This focuses specific skill sets, knowledge, and experience. |
| Takes less time, but is costly | Takes more time, but is simple |
Employers use hi-tech recruitment management software with features to automate the all-inclusive steps in the process. Such systems enable faster and better stages of hiring including job opening, JD creation, recruiter assignment, recruiter notification, resume parsing, candidate sourcing, candidate screening, candidate lifecycle management, interview scheduling and organisation, offer letter issuance, candidate engagement, and preboarding.
When we talk about the distinction between talent acquisition and recruitment processes, there are a few elements as follows based on which we can bifurcate the two:
Developing Strategies and Planning
Recruitment is a well-defined process that is followed as per the rulebook. Whereas, talent acquisition requires a lot of planning and understanding of the business.
Dividing the Workforce
While acquiring talent, one must have the understanding of the company’s internal operations, all the skills, experiences, and competencies that each position requires. Basis the insight, the hiring is done. On the other hand, in recruitment management, the process remains the same for everyone. So, the deets of each section of the workforce is not necessary to focus.
Performing Analytics & Deciding Metrics
Recruitment is a part of talent acquisition. So, information needs to be gathered and analysed to do better recruitment. In talent acquisition, the procedure is incomplete without implementing metrics to analyse candidates and improve the quality of hire.
Employer Branding
Branding is an important part of talent acquisition as it sends out a message and makes employees stay for a longer time in the organization. With recruitment, you can skip this step altogether.
Talent Sourcing & Management
Recruitment management is all about posting job vacancies and filling open positions. Whereas, talent acquisition is more of an intricate task that requires performing rigorous research for candidates, building a rapport with them, thereby hiring loyal employees.
Conclusion
It is a lesser known fact that recruitment is just a small segment of the massive processes that add up to form the talent acquisition procedure. However, after going through the aforementioned points, it is clear that the two concepts are different on many levels. Thus, next time someone says recruitment when a strategic planning is going on to onboard an expert for a long term, you know what to do. Throw some facts!