What is talent management?

Talent management is the ongoing process of building relationships with

employees and assisting in their professional development. This can include
providing advancement or educational opportunities for employees, monitoring
performance and progress and providing opportunities for employees to
maximize their talents. Talent management teams typically:

 Coach and mentor employees to encourage development

 Create and deploy employee development and training programs
 Build hiring and succession plans to encourage talent diversity
 Reward and promote employees who meet or exceed company
expectations

What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is the process of attracting, hiring and onboarding well-qualified
employees. This entails everything from advertising for open positions, crafting a
brand image that attracts the right employees and fostering a positive, innovative
work culture. Talent acquisition teams typically:

 Build a strong brand image and foster trust between the public and
the brand
 Build and manage hiring funnels to make the process more efficient
 Create relationships between the company and other organizations,
such as talent networks or staffing agencies
 Create job applications, process candidates and perform interviews
Talent acquisition vs. talent management
While talent acquisition and talent management are part of the same process,
their duties and purposes differ. Here are some key distinctions between these
processes:

General purpose

The fundamental difference between talent acquisition and talent management is

their purpose. Where talent acquisition focuses on finding qualified, skilled
employees, talent management focuses on keeping employees and developing
their skills.

Talent acquisition professionals may focus on advertising campaigns and refining

the interview process to find the best candidates from a list of potentials. A talent
manager's duties may include building professional development programs to
encourage internal growth and company innovation.

Both processes rely on the skills of the employee and the company's overall
commitment to hiring skilled candidates. To attract the right talent, a business
creates a brand image that's appealing, then focuses on strengthening talent and
catering to employee needs.

Talent acquisition often relies on good talent management because attracting the
right talent is only the first step. Building an employee's expertise ultimately
benefits the business as well because it maximizes employees' technical skills and
how they apply them to the company's needs.
Scope of executive involvement
Another key difference is the involvement of the company executives. While some
executives may take part in the hiring process or even help make it more effective,
the HR department typically oversees the process. Talent management is also part
of the HR department's duties, but a business executive may become more
involved to create an innovative workforce and a line of succession for the
company.

Executives often like to understand who works for them and how they add value to
the company. They can even become official sponsors of talented employees or
those who have great potential. Company executives typically aren't at the
forefront of the hiring process, focusing instead on developing the resources and
talent already within the business.

Operational importance

Talent acquisition and management are both crucial to business operations. The
talent acquisition process is crucial because it ensures the company is hiring the
right people and matching potential candidates' skills and talents with its specific
needs.

This helps make hiring more efficient, reduces turnover and saves the company
money on advertising and other hiring costs. It also helps create hiring pipelines,
which are queues of potential candidates for future hiring needs. This allows the
company to access employable candidates when it needs new talent.

Talent management benefits the company by focusing on creating long-term

employee relationships and maximizing the value that talent brings. This process
helps employees develop their professional skills through education, experience
and training.

A more-experienced, well-educated employee typically provides greater value. If

the company helps employees develop themselves, they may become more loyal,
which can reduce turnover and hiring costs.
Budgeting
Businesses typically allocate different budgets to talent acquisition and talent
management, depending on its current needs and employee goals. For example, if
a company is aggressively hiring to meet expanding business needs, they might
focus more financial resources on talent acquisition efforts instead of talent
management.

If the company is focusing on internal growth and development, they might

allocate more resources to talent management. Some companies create one
budget for both talent acquisition and talent management, but many businesses
provide separate funds for different employment needs.

Processes

Talent acquisition and talent management typically follow different processes. The
act of hiring a new employee differs from managing an employee because it
depends on a funnel. A hiring or talent acquisition funnel typically comprises the
following steps:

 Awareness: The employer notices a candidate and the potential

value they might offer the company.
 Consideration: The company considers the candidate for
employment by reviewing their credentials and experience.
 Interest: The company becomes interested in the candidate,
potentially contacting them or reviewing further credentials.
 Application: The candidate completes a hiring application and
submits their resume for review. Then, they typically participate in a
hiring interview.
 Selection: The company reviews its potential candidates and selects
the best one for the job.

Talent management typically follows a company's unique internal processes. This

might include certain prerequisites before the candidate is eligible for
development opportunities. For example, an employee may need three years of
experience with the company before professional development programs become
available.
What Is Talent Management? (Plus Processes for Effective Use)

Talent management is an important process that allows employers to identify the

right candidates and help them grow professionally and advance their careers.
However, by implementing effective talent management strategies, you can retain
your most talented employees and better meet your organization's objectives.
Breaking talent management down into individual processes can help you better
understand the many areas included in talent management.

In this article, we discuss what talent management is, explore the many processes
involved in talent management, share strategies for effective talent management
and explain the difference between talent management and talent acquisition.

What is the talent management model?

A talent management model is a visual representation of the process that
companies take recruiting, training and developing talented employees. While
there is no standard talent management model, the basic process that companies
follow within the process model is:

1. Planning: This is the first step that involves identifying what human

capital needs the organization has and creating job descriptions
that align with those needs.
2. Attracting: This is the second step that involves posting the job
description to job boards and websites in order to attract a
sufficient number of qualified candidates.
3. Selecting: This is the process of evaluating and interviewing
candidates to find the individual who is best suited for the job.
4. Retaining: This step involves offering growth opportunities,
encouraging professional development and offering rewards
programs and training for more involved positions.
5. Transitioning: This is the part of the journey where the
organization offers retirement benefits, completes succession
planning and conducts exit interviews, all of which are important
transition tools for both the employee and employer.
Strategies for effective talent management
Here are x different talent management strategies you should implement within
your organization:

1. Create concise job descriptions

It's important to create a job description that's clear and concise in order to attract
the best, most qualified candidates for a position. Your job description should
include, at a minimum, the job title, primary responsibilities, required and
preferred skills, salary ad benefits, work relationships and any tools or equipment
that candidates must be qualified to use.

2. Evaluate candidates for cultural fit

You should also take into consideration how candidates will fit into your company
culture. In many cases, you need to use your own best judgment to evaluate
cultural fit. As you screen candidates, take note of the level of passion they express
for the industry and position, the language they use, their tone of voice and the
personal values they share.

3. Offer mentoring and coaching

Employees who receive regular constructive feedback and encouragement are

often happier and more productive in their roles. To keep your team members
engaged, offer constructive feedback on a frequent basis along with an
appreciation for their efforts. Focus on developing a culture of trust between
employees and managers so they know they can come to you or other managers
for feedback and encouragement.

4. Encourage professional development

Employees who are offered the opportunity to grow professionally and challenge
themselves are more likely to stay with your organization for extended periods of
time. Meet with your team members on a regular basis to identify areas in which
they want to grow and improve. Encourage them to look for outside opportunities
to enhance their skills or consider offering training within your own organization
to help your team members grow professionally.
5. Offer a rewards program

Rewards and recognition programs are important for helping employees feel
appreciated, especially when they exceed the expectations for their role. If your
entire team exceeds their goals, you may want to consider offering some type of
bonus. If a single employee performs at a level that exceeds expectations, then
you may want to consider a cash reward or gift.

6. Provide career path assistance

Employees are often more engaged with an organization when they see long-term
professional growth. While it's important to be honest with employees about
future growth opportunities, you should work closely with team members to
identify their skills and strengths and help them develop a career path that they're
interested in.

What is the difference between talent management

and talent acquisition?
Talent acquisition refers to the processes that surround recruiting and selecting
candidates and onboarding new hires. It is essentially a portion of the talent
management process, as talent management includes all the processes within
talent acquisition, in addition to the processes that take place after onboarding,
such as professional development and advancement.

How To Recruit Top Talent for Your Company in 7 Steps

Indeed Editorial Team

Updated February 4, 2023

Recruiting top talent is important in every industry, and in some industries, hiring
qualified people is especially competitive. There are certain strategies human
resource (HR) professionals and hiring managers can use to recruit talented
people. Understanding how to appeal to top talent and move them through the
hiring process may help you increase the number of highly qualified employees at
a company. 

In this article, we explain what recruiting talent means and discuss how to recruit
top talent, including improving company culture and making quick job offers.
What does recruiting talent mean?
Recruiting talent is the act of finding high-quality candidates to hire, either while
working as a recruiter or hiring manager. Organizations generally want to ensure
they have the best workforce possible, and finding, hiring and keeping top
employees can be a complex process. Recruiting talent requires companies to not
only select the best candidate out of a pool but also follow certain practices to
attract the best talent and keep them long-term. This is often a combination of
talent recruiting, talent acquisition and talent development.

How to recruit top talent

Here are steps you can take to recruit top talent, either as an HR professional or a
hiring manager:

1. Create a positive workplace culture

One of the most important parts of recruiting and retaining top talent is having a
positive workplace culture. Current employees may be more likely to refer their
talented friends for positions within the company, which can grow your talent
pool. The high-quality employees you already have can also develop their skills in a
positive workplace, which grows your internal talent.

While a positive workplace culture requires owners and executives to be involved,

HR and managers also play an important role in developing a company's culture.
Having policies to prevent and resolve problems quickly can help create a positive
work culture. Ensuring the workplace is welcoming and free from harassment or
discrimination is another necessary component.

2. Develop effective job descriptions

Job descriptions are often a candidate's first introduction to an open position,

whether a friend sends them the information, a recruiter provides it to them or
they find it on a career page or job site. The job descriptions created for a company
are as effective as possible. While including a list of the role's responsibilities and
qualifications is useful, it's also helpful to include information about what it's like to
work at the company or how a candidate can benefit from working there.
Top talent may be interested in a job description that discusses the basics of the
job and includes relevant information about the company or industry. For instance,
a software developer likely wants to know what training they need, what
programming languages the company uses and what types of software you're
developing. These are all important pieces of information for deciding if a job is a
good fit. Including what makes the company special and how an individual could
thrive and improve the company can make the position even more desirable.

3. Know your best sources for talent

There are many ways to find candidates for open positions, including the
company's career site, job boards, external recruiters and employee referrals. How
a company finds candidates is often unique to each company and industry. In a
highly competitive industry, a company may rely on recruiters and referrals,
whereas a company with a large, quality candidate pool may post job openings
online.

Effective recruiting usually involves targeting several talent sources and

conducting regular analysis of what’s most useful for the company and the areas
in which it could grow. If top talent isn’t applying to the company through its
career site or job boards, you may need to concentrate on recruiting passive
candidates, asking employees for referrals or using external recruiters.

5. Verify candidates' credentials

Once you're ready to make an offer to a candidate, it's important to verify their
credentials. Making sure that the people you hire meet the company’s
qualifications and can perform well is an important step in recruiting top talent.
This might include verifying a candidate’s education and work experience or

6. Make an offer fast

If you have a candidate you want to hire and you’ve verified their credentials,
making an offer fast is important. Many candidates anticipate lengthy hiring
processes, but someone who’s actively looking for work may have other offers or
be interviewing elsewhere. 
Most highly qualified candidates are aware of their qualifications and the demand
for their skills, so showing confidence in them can help them see why the company
you work for is the right fit. Being ready to offer a job to the ideal candidate can
help you fill the position quickly and allow you to be more competitive with any
other offers they’ve received.

7. Stay in contact with quality candidates

If there are high-quality candidates that would’ve been a good fit for the company,
but they either declined your offer or you chose a slightly more suitable candidate,
it's helpful to maintain contact with them. You may find a position that's a better fit
for them, or they might reapply to the company in the future. They may also grow
useful skills over time that could make them more valuable to the company. If you
believe a candidate is the best talent in your industry, stay in contact with them
and find a way to hire them later.