Why Talent Acquisition Is Changing the Gig Economy
Talent acquisition is vital in any business. Lately there has been a growing war of talents in several sectors. Staffing services is a $185 billion industry. Think about that for a minute. The recruitment process is essentially a science and good recruiters have an eye for talent.
The goal of recruitment is to find the right candidate for a position. The focus of talent acquisition is to get someone who fits the culture besides having the experience and skills.
Recruiters pay close attention to the candidate’s perspective on the company culture. Does the candidate look at the big picture?
Hiring the right person
Focus is what differentiates recruiting from acquiring talent. While recruitment focuses on now and here, talent acquisition focuses on getting the right fit in the long-term. The candidate is considered to have been acquired and not recruited because they are there for the long-haul.
Think of it as trying to improve your odds of winning a lottery. Clearly, this involves learning how odds work and criteria that can get you that winning combination for the lottery. It’s more like a puzzle to be solved and requires an instinct for getting the right numbers.
Similarly, hiring the perfect person requires learning from past mistakes and using better assessment to ensure you have the right person for the job.
Competitive advantage
Employees are the biggest assets in any organization as they make all the difference whether the ship sinks or sails. This calls for having the right people who can steer the company or business through the tough times when productivity dips. Talented acquisition makes sound judgments and motivates other employees. They also help the business manoeuvre the competitive market to steer the company back to profitability and increased revenue.
Having the right people means the business gains a competitive edge as they use their skills to ensure everything is going according to plan. They increase workplace productivity and you rise above the competition.
Investing in the future
Talent acquisition is about looking towards the future. Senior management may not be there, maybe due to retirement goals and others leave for new opportunities, but the right person sticks with the business. They ensure you hire suitable replacements for employees who have left.
Talent acquisition aims to fill vacancies with candidates who have the experience and skills to one day become managers and senior managers. It’s not all about getting a candidate to fill a position.
Therefore, the hiring process is rigorous because of their huge potential to one day run the company.
Save money and time
Effective talent acquisition saves both money and time. Recruitment is quick and easy, but talent acquisition involves a lot more. However, the effort is worth it considering the fact that it saves the business from spending more money and time on training someone who is there for the long term.
How Do You Know You Have the Right Candidate?
- Culture fit
Assess the candidate’s values if they line up with that of the business or company. If it doesn’t then they are not the right people. Therefore, it’s vital that those in charge of hiring understand the company values and culture because it’s an important consideration in the hiring process.
Having a better understanding of what to expect or what to look for during a talent acquisition gives you an edge to picking the right candidates. Hiring managers should integrate talent acquisition in their interview process.
- Character and skills
Assess the candidate’s character and skills to determine whether they can fit in properly with the company requirements and can preserve the existing harmonious relationship. An overly aggressive, abusive, or boastful person may create frictions that affect business productivity.
You need a good fit that can handle the job but is also a team player and gets along well with others.
- Communication and style
Assess their communication in relation to the company culture. Do they express themselves legibly, audibly and coherently? Personality and other soft skills reveal a lot about a person. Do they look like someone who can abide by the company policy or can compromise the business secrets or security. What is the candidate’s outlook like?
Gig Economy and Talent Acquisition
Employment and hiring trends are seeing a slow and steady shift towards outsourcing. The gig economy has plenty of contract workers and freelancers who are essentially taking on essential tasks in businesses. This is a cordial relationship born of necessity when recruiters fail to get the right fit candidates.
Almost half of the companies expect gig workers to play a big role in the workforce in the coming years. These companies include multinationals, small businesses, and start-ups. Industries are increasingly buying into the idea.
The merits of a gig employment is that people will be figuring out how to split their time to make the arrangement work.
Gig workers are independent contractors, contract firm workers, temporary workers, online platform workers, and on-call workers entering a formal contractual agreement with a business or company to provide services on its behalf.
Basically, gig workers are a contingency workforce. The new normal will render a top-down model that most organizations use futile. Here time is vital and hiring decisions are made quickly.
It is the expectation that active social media networks will be at the forefront in recruiting or work as a blended collaboration to defy the current hierarchical structures. The gig economy will depend on technology to fuel its growth.
For a great Talent Acquisition, team management is essential. Make sure to check our guide to the team management for startups.
