12 Talent Acquisition Strategy Template Steps

The Josh Bersin Company recently published its Talent Acquisition at a Crossroads study, which highlighted many disappointing statistics: 

• Only 32% of HR executives get involved in strategic workforce planning 
• 42% report their company lacks any workforce plan at all 
• 60% of talent acquisition leaders name skills shortages as their top issue 

Talent acquisition isn’t something to keep on the back burner. Attracting and retaining top-tier talent is crucial for the success and growth of any organization. Our guide explains how HR leaders can create a talent acquisition strategy template to streamline their hiring process and attract the best candidates. 

What is a talent acquisition strategy template?

A talent acquisition strategy template allows leaders, HR teams, and recruiters to design a clear plan to attract and develop talent. There are two activities involved in creating your talent acquisition template: 

• Plotting what the ideal talent acquisition process looks like for your organization 
• Documenting your strategy so it acts as a blueprint for future talent management efforts 

5 steps to a successful talent acquisition process

Work your way through the steps below to design the perfect hiring process. If necessary, customize the steps to match the needs and preferences of your organization. 

1. Kickstart your talent acquisition strategy with a needs analysis

Begin by understanding the composition of your current workforce. Conduct a thorough analysis of your organization’s current talent pool, including their skills, experience, and qualifications. This identifies your current workforce’s strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to plug any gaps. 

As part of your analysis, assess the following skills and competencies: 

• Technical skills: The skills and knowledge required to perform a specific job can be acquired through education, training, or experience in a particular field.
• Soft skills: Interpersonal skills are the personal attributes that enable individuals to communicate, collaborate, and work well with others effectively.
• Leadership qualities: Skills that identify certain employees with the development potential to become future leaders within your organization.
• Adaptability: The skillset to thrive in a shape-shifting work environment. 
• Industry knowledge: The blend of skills and competencies specific to your industry, which may include certifications, licenses, or specialized training.

2. Source top talent 

Once you’ve identified the type of talent you need, consider the following methods to attract qualified candidates to apply for roles at your organization: 

Publish a compelling job listing 

Many job seekers will initially come across your company when they view your job ads on one or more job boards. Make sure the ads provide all the information potential candidates need and that the wording presents your company in a positive light. 

Set up an employee referral program

Employee referrals work on the basis that your existing employees probably know other talented professionals who could thrive in your organization. Offering them an incentive to source candidates for your roles can save on recruiting costs and improve the hiring quality, as your team members have already pre-vetted the talent. 

Example: Crown Estate communicates its employee referral program using a six-page PDF. This document includes a detailed commission scale based on the referred candidate’s job level. 

Use social media 

Social media platforms like LinkedIn can attract thousands of applicants to join your talent acquisition funnel. Hiring managers can post job openings publicly by providing a job description and application form. Alternatively, you could use LinkedIn’s search function to comb through relevant profiles and directly contact top talent. 

Create a company careers page 

Your company website could include a dedicated page or portal for job seekers to list your current vacancies and give them a flavor of what it might be like to work with you. For example, the Benepass Careers page includes the following: 

• Our company mission and values
• Insights into our company culture 
• Employee benefits, perks, and flexible work arrangements  
• How we work 

Attend job fairs and networking events 

Elevate your employer brand by attending in-person events in your industry, including graduate and career fairs. These face-to-face interactions allow you to promote your organization’s culture, values, and job opportunities directly to potential candidates. It also lets you connect with potential hires and establish a positive impression of your company. 

3. Screen candidates from your talent pool 

A successful talent acquisition strategy should include access to an existing talent pool. These candidates may include: 

• People who have previously applied to your organization 
• Employee referrals 
• Candidates from previous job fairs or networking events 
• Passive candidates you’ve sourced through social media or other online platforms

Ask talent pool candidates to complete a quick survey to rule themselves in or out of the running for a specific position. For example, you might ask questions related to experience, qualifications, availability, or geographic location to narrow down the pool and focus on suitable candidates.

4. Design your hiring process 

Once you’ve sourced potential candidates, create a structured, consistent, and inclusive hiring process to give all candidates a fair chance. Clearly communicate expectations and timelines to candidates throughout the process, and describe how you manage some of the following activities: 

Reference checking 

Verifying candidate credentials and confirming their fit for the role is an important part of the hiring process. Contact previous employers, colleagues, or mentors to gain insight into a candidate’s performance, skills, and work ethic. 

Skills assessments

Instead of relying solely on old-fashioned resumes, consider automating the initial screening process with skills assessments based on cognitive or numerical tests. These can save time and provide more objective data to evaluate candidates’ abilities.

Interviews  

Talent pool interviews can occur in person, on the phone, or via video conferencing tools like Zoom or Teams. These interviews allow candidates to showcase their communication and interpersonal skills, which are essential in any role.

5. Follow a tried-and-tested onboarding process 

Once you’ve extended job offers and signed contracts, it’s time to support your employees in ramping up to become quickly productive. Your onboarding could include: 

Preboarding 

Before your new hire’s first day, provide a welcome pack with information on your company, its history, culture, and values. 

First-day orientation 

Give new employees an overview of their role within the organization, introduce them to coworkers or team members, and provide any necessary log-ins, resources, and documentation needed to start effectively. 

Job-specific training 

Provide new employees with job-specific training to help them understand the scope of their role, its responsibilities, the systems and workflows they’ll use, and any development training they should take. 

7 steps to document your effective talent acquisition strategy

Follow the steps below to document your repeatable recruitment process. This will serve as a template you can follow or tweak depending on how your talent acquisition strategies change due to changing business goals or market changes. 

1. Design your existing talent acquisition strategy template

If you already have a formal or informal talent acquisition strategy plan, capture and document the following to build your template:  

• Each workflow
• The methods or platforms you use to source candidates
• Your screening criteria
• The steps involved in onboarding new hires 

2. Engage with key stakeholders

Stakeholder input ensures your decisions are informed and that your templated strategy aligns with your organization’s broader objectives. Consult with department heads, hiring managers, and employees to gather insights and feedback on what works well and what doesn’t. 

3. Define your objectives and key results (OKRs)

Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your talent acquisition strategy. 

Example: We want to decrease our time-to-fill rate by 25% in the next six months.

Other objectives might include reducing cost-per-hire, increasing the diversity of your talent pool, or enhancing candidate experience. Clearly defined OKRs with corresponding talent acquisition metrics will guide your efforts and measure your success.

4. Standardize the components of the strategy

Build standardized templates for each stage of the talent acquisition journey, such as interview questionnaires or assessment rubrics, to create a level playing field for candidates across all hiring activities. 

5. Lean on technology

You might use a paper-based approach or use work management software to map out your recruitment processes. 

Similarly, talent acquisition software or applicant tracking systems can streamline and automate various aspects of the process. For example, some solutions provide candidates with automated feedback on their skills test scores or send notifications to hiring managers when a candidate submits a work sample. This type of automation saves time and resources, while providing an enhanced candidate experience. 

6. Share and train

Once your template is set, conduct training sessions to ensure everyone understands how to use and follow your standardized procedures. Stakeholder buy-in and proper training are the key to a successful implementation.

7. Monitor and adjust

How will you know if your talent acquisition strategy is a raging success? Loop back to your OKRs and metrics and monitor them over a predefined period.

Example: You might measure time-to-hire over a year. 

Collect feedback from new hires and hiring managers to identify any pain points in your recruitment funnel. Be prepared to tweak your strategy to regularly improve how you attract and welcome new candidates to join your ranks. 

Boost your talent acquisition efforts with Benepass

Talent acquisition is easier with Benepass. Our modern platform allows employers to set up flexible benefits incentives to entice top-tier talent. 

We offer a full range of:

• Pre-tax benefits including Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Commuter Benefits 
• Perks programs include Lifestyle Spending Accounts and stipends for wellness, professional development, and family and childcare. 

Benepass achieves a near-perfect score of 4.9 out of 5 with the G2 software user community. Here’s how one enterprise user describes our platform:

“Our company used Benepass to give employees the ability to purchase work-from-home equipment such as desks, stationery, etc. The process is identical to using your credit card, with purchases listed in the Benepass portal right away, complete with the option to upload the receipt. IF there were any problems or hiccups, customer service proved to be very friendly and would sort things out in a timely manner. Overall I can only highly recommend Benepass.”

Ready to welcome high-caliber talent to join your crew? Book a free Benepass demo today or contact sales@getbenepass.com to connect with a benefits specialist.