Bersin by Deloitte Research: Innovative Approaches to Talent Acquisition - including Marketing Know-How - Deliver Major Recruitment and Business Performance Gains

As competition for top talent intensifies globally, organizations look to new strategies and technologies to create a compelling candidate experience

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Bersin by Deloitte

Sep 17, 2014, 08:13 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bersin by Deloitte today announced new research that shows organizations with innovative talent acquisition strategies – including a savvy marketing approach – realize significant recruitment and business performance gains. Summarized in a complimentary WhatWorks® market brief, the findings and related maturity model appear in Bersin by Deloitte's new industry study, High-Impact Talent Acquisition: Key Findings and Maturity Model.

Recruiters are now being asked to think and act more like marketers, the new research shows. Social media and mobile technologies have changed the way the talent acquisition function develops candidate pools and sources talent. As competition for top talent intensifies globally, organizations increasingly seek new social and mobile strategies and technologies that can also deliver a compelling candidate experience, according to additional new research from Bersin by Deloitte, Talent Acquisition Systems 2014: The Definitive Guide to Hiring Management Software.

The high-impact talent acquisition study also shows that organizations with mature talent acquisition strategies on average are 30 percent better than peers on business outcomes, including the ability to meet or exceed customer expectations, create new products and services faster than competitors, and meet or exceed financial targets.

"The race to find high-quality job candidates grows increasingly intense in today's highly competitive global talent market," said Robin Erickson, Ph.D., vice president, Talent Acquisition Research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Our research shows that talent acquisition leaders need to embrace technology like never before, adopt modern approaches to sourcing, and achieve metrics that are often hard to measure – such as hiring manager satisfaction and 'quality of hire' – all while maintaining strong partnerships across the organization and staying aligned with business strategy."

The high-impact talent acquisition research, involving nearly 300 U.S. organizations, yielded additional important insights for business leaders. The research shows that:

Developing strong relationships with hiring managers is the top driver of talent acquisition performance. Effective hiring manager relationships drive smarter hiring decisions and increased productivity, as well as greater visibility of talent acquisition as whole in the organization.
Candidate pool development is the second most influential talent acquisition performance driver. Developing robust candidate pools should be top of mind for recruiters, who are tasked to provide "just-in-time" candidates, as well as talent solutions for the future. Good recruiters know not only where to find the talent they seek but also understand how to engage, nurture and sustain communications with prospective targets over time.
A strategic social media campaign is a key differentiator for companies at the highest level of maturity. Mature organizations embrace the opportunity to leverage social media both as a recruiting vehicle and as an outlet to promote their employment brand, even going so far as to higher strategists to "curate" social media content.

The increased use of social media to source candidates, the use of social profiles and references in the application process, and of video and audio in candidate applications and interviews are among the new applications of technology highlighted in Talent Acquisition Systems 2014: The Definitive Guide to Hiring Management Software. Also summarized in a complimentary WhatWorks brief, the research shows that increasingly, transactional operations such as approving a requisition, applying for a position, application status tracking, and hiring a candidate are available through smartphones.

"The challenge in digital engagement for talent acquisition leaders is creating a consistent, compelling and contextual way of personalizing and delivering an excellent candidate experience," said Katherine Jones, Ph.D., vice president, HCM Technology Research for Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Today's software increasingly is designed to enhance the candidate's experience as well as make it easier for the recruiter and hiring managers to create and approve job requisitions, and track and compare applicants."

Register to join Robin Erickson for her online webinar, "High-Impact Talent Acquisition Revealed: Key Findings & Maturity Model," at 11:00 a.m. ET/16:00 BST on Sept. 24.

Join Katherine Jones for her online webinar, "Hiring for Keeps: What You Need to Know about Today's Hiring Management Applications," at 2:00 p.m. ET/19:00 BST on Oct. 16.

Those interested in learning more about Bersin by Deloitte or its WhatWorks® membership may email [email protected] or call +1 510 251 4400.

About Bersin by Deloitte

Bersin by Deloitte delivers research-based people strategies designed to help leaders and their organizations in their efforts to deliver exceptional business performance. Our WhatWorks® membership gives Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 HR professionals the information and tools they need to design and implement leading practice solutions, benchmark against others, develop their staff, and select and implement systems. A piece of Bersin by Deloitte research is downloaded on average approximately every minute during the business day. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide use our research and consulting to guide their HR, talent and learning strategies. For more information, please visit http://www.deloitte.com/bersin or http://www.bersin.com.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

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