Resources, Tools and Methodologies for Talent Acquisition, Hiring and Recruitment

Introductionproperly groomed" freshers then you should opt for
One needs to have dreams, plans, strategies to beCampus Hiring. This will give you Raw Clay and
successful in any venture. This is a basic requirement.Material that you can mould as per the need and
If you do not know what you want, where you wantculture of your organization. You need to plan your
to reach and how you want to reach (your mode and"Campus Hiring" in a suitable manner to target right
plan for success), you certainly cannot reach there. Intype of people. You need to decide, if you like to hire a
case you are starting a new venture or you areplain graduate or a graduate with some specific
planning to diversify your existing business, you alsotrainings or Management Graduates or Engineering
need to identify the source for your capital (FinancialGraduates etc. If you provide right type of
Backing). You cannot do all these things on your own.atmosphere, culture and processes, chances are that
You need "extra-ordinarily talented" and Highly Skilledyou will be able to retain these freshers, trainees for a
people to help you to reach the goal that you havelong period of time. There are many Business
seen for your organization. For this, you need aMagazines which publishes lists of BEST institutes in
jeweller (the talented, matured and exceptionally skilleddifferent categories, locally, nationally and internationally.
HR Professional) to identify such DIAMONDS for you.6) Recruitment Consultancies
It is one of the key role of a HR Professional toMost of the time, even recruitment consultancies also
identify, source, select, HIRE and RETAIN BEST of theuses various job-portals to source talent for their
talent from the market to work for the organization. Ifclients. Hence, it makes more sense, if you buy one
they cannot find talented people from the market thenlogin on any of the relevant job-portal (or more than
they need to groom the right type of people with theone job portal) and if you learn how to use it properly.
right type of attitude and aptitude. In 21st Century, weYou need the help of Recruitment Consultants if you
are in the era of "war for talent". It is becoming difficultare planning to hire a talent through head-hunting for
to get right type of people and retain them. Manysenior profiles and from different geographical
companies are losing their businesses because theylocations; for example, if you are planning to hire
are not able to hire "right type of people"; becausesomeone from international market. Hence, taking the
they compromised with the "quality of the talent". In thishelp of Recruitment Consultants to hire talent for you,
article, we will try to explore and understand differentshould not be your first choice or option.
sources to get "Best of the Talents". Any reference of7) External (Newspaper) Advertisement
HR Department" in this article, means Team of TalentThis is one of the VERY costly source to hire talent.
Acquisition, Hiring and Recruitment.External Job-Advertisement on media (Newspaper,
Different Sources To Get Talented PeopleTelevision, Radio etc), helps you in Branding and
As a HR Professional (Chief Talent Acquisition Officer;Publicizing your company but if not targeted properly
Hiring Manager or Recruitment Head), one should beand managed properly, this is one of the POOR but
aware of all the sources and resources to get best ofCOSTLY source to get suitable talent. You need to
the talents and they should also be aware of as howunderstand and plan properly, what type of people you
to use those resources to the optimum level. You canare looking for, from where you can get those people,
use either or all of the below mentioned tools to getwhich newspaper do they read, how you want to get
BEST talents.and manage these profiles and what you will be doing
1) Existing and "Active" Candidates Data withwith that database or else, you will not be able to get
Companysuitable talent.
This is primary, but if properly used, most important8) Social and Professional Networks & Local
source and tool in the hands of HR Department to getCommunities
right type of people. The HR department gets NThere are few professional and social networks, such
number of profiles every day from different sourcesas LinkedIn, FaceBook, Orkut etc, that you can use to
(including candidates who just drop-in their profiles atget right type of talent (of the listed networks, LinkedIn
the reception. The HR Department needs to maintainis highly recommended). You can also target few
and update this data on regular (if possible on dailyNGO's, Training Institutes and Local Communities to hire
basis). The details and data should be maintained inlow-level, low-cost workers for factories and your
such a manner that one should be able to generate acompanies.
MIS, stating number of profiles in the database, skills of9) Head Hunting (Also called as "Body Shopping")
the candidates (including education and experienceThere is this bread or group of talent, which are highly
level) and status of each profile (if shortlisted or not; ifexperienced, competent with great leadership skills but
interviewed or not; date of interview; result of thevery passive in job market. They are very
interview; if rejected or selected etc). All these profilesexperienced in their domain and industry. Sometimes,
should be considered as "active profiles" for sixthey are also the founder member of the organization.
months from the date they were received in the HRGenerally these are the people working in the capacity
Department of the Company. Any other profile olderof Senior Managers, General Managers, CFO's, CTO's,
than six months, should be deleted and destroyed.CEO's, Vice-Presidents, Directors, Managing Directors
Such profiles are of no use to the company. The HRetc in their present roles. They do not post their profiles
department should be able to use this data to fill theon jobsites. They do not even read job-sections of
existing vacant position with a MOST suitable profile.newspapers. They do not apply for any jobs
2) Employee Referencesopportunity. Only very few of their friends and close
In last decade and a-half, all the companies acrossassociates are in procession of their profiles. They
various industries are facing a BIG challenge to retainneed to be challenged by an opportunity. Such people
the talent in their companies. People are resigning forneed to be head-hunted. Generally, recruitment
various reasons. There is another challenge of FAKEconsultancies are EXPECTED to do this job. This is a
profiles (People are faking about their experiences,way to get the talent when you are looking for rare
salaries etc. Many people are just COPYINGand distinct talent. When you are looking to fill positions
someone's profile and presenting it as their own,like CFO , CEO etc. Here, numbers are not important
without even knowing what they have mentioned in it).but quality is. In a year, you might be able to head-hunt
To handle this, it has become apparent to do15-20 people but they will be of high worth and value.
reference checks. Getting the reference check doneNot everyone can be a "Head Hunter", you need to
in a proper way is very costly.have "special" type of skills to be a "Head Hunter".
Considering the above two scenarios and just toEvery type of sourcing is not called as head-hunting.
counter it, it is important to hire a person through theFor a sourcing to be called as "Head-hunting", this
reference of your existing employee. No one canshould involve "rare profiles"; profiles and skill sets not
present, market and brand your company, market thereadily available in the market.
culture and policies of your company then a happy and10) Talent-Poaching
highly motivated and engaged employee of yourThis, according to some section in the industry, is
organization. Hence, hiring with the reference of yourconsidered as unethical mode of sourcing and hiring.
existing employees is an important source and tool toFor this, you need to understand the business of your
hire and retain Quality Talent.company and also should be aware of the competitor
3) Internal Advertisement (internal Job Posting)companies in your industry. Just target those
Learning is a continuous process. Many people keepcompanies and hire in masses from those companies
on learning new skills, updating their skills and acquiringright from the entry level to senior level. This tactic is
higher degrees by way of distance mode ofusually used to kill the competition. This is like a big fish
education. There by you might have "multi-skilled" andeating the small fish. People across the globe are
"multi-talented" people within your organization. Hence, itdiscussing and debating to ascertain, if the "Talent
become crucial and important to post yourPoaching" is ethical or unethical. No doubt, this is one of
job-requirement, internally for your existing employees.the easiest way to source trained and talented people
By doing so, you will be able to RETAIN good andwithin the industry when you have infrastructure and
talented people.money.
4) Jobsites and Job PortalsDistinction Between Headhunting and Talent Poaching
If the above three sources and methods are usedSome talent acquisition managers as well as hiring and
appropriately, efficiently and to the optimum level,recruitment professionals are confused and are not
hypothetically you do not need to go outside theable to discriminate between the two. Here are few
company to get good people, working for yourdifferences between the two:
company. However, that is actually not possible and1) Headhunting is associated with senior and rare
hence, you also need to look for external sources toprofiles. Talent Poaching is just sweeping and running
get MORE Suitable Talent for your company. Therethrough talent-wealth of your competitor.
are many Job Sites and Job Portals, available in the2) Headhunting is planned. Talent Poaching is targeted.
market and you need to select the BEST one for your3) In headhunting, the intention is to get the BEST
needs. Good Job Portals have huge database ofperson for your organization but in Talent Poaching, the
millions and millions of profiles. You can source aintention is to kill your competitor and the competition.
"Suitable" Talent from that database. You can also4) Headhunting is about getting a person with
post your job requirements on job-portals just to get"Leadership" skills with "Global Exposure". Talent
more relevant profiles. You should learn how to use allPoaching is about "saving the training cost".
the features of your job-portal for its optimumConclusion
utilization.This article is not about "Recruitment Process" or to
You can also have the HR or Job Site of yourdescribe about "Steps involved in Recruitment
company and post your requirements on that site. ThisProcess" but just to share the resources and channels
will also give appropriate branding and advertisementto source and identify talent. I have taken care to list all
to your company and will also help you in managingthe possible channels. I am sure all the readers will gain
the "Candidate Database".from this article.
5) Campus HiringDo share your feedback and give your comments.
In case, you like to hire "knowledgeable, talented and