How Companies Can Respond to a Shortage of Qualified Talent

By Jason Jozsa, Business Development Executive

Addressing the Qualified Talent Shortage

Despite threats of a looming recession, companies are still struggling to hire top talent. Factors like lower college enrollment, rapid wage inflation and the Great Resignation have all led to a qualified talent shortage. While employers do receive many applications for open positions, finding candidates who meet the desired criteria among those applications remains a challenge.

This challenge is increasingly exacerbated by cuts to internal recruiting staff. When a company needs to reduce their workforce, the recruiting department is often the first to be downsized. However, this means that the workers best equipped to sift through incoming applications cannot respond to job seekers in a timely manner. Therefore, by the time they do contact a qualified applicant, that person has often already accepted a job elsewhere.

Despite needing to reach candidates quickly, companies often lack an efficient process for moving applicants through the hiring funnel. This can lead to excess time spent in the interviewing and onboarding phases, which can correlate to high employee attrition.

Streamlining the recruitment and onboarding process is crucial for addressing a qualified talent shortage. For companies that may not have the internal expertise or resources needed to invest in these changes, working with a talent acquisition solutions specialist can make a big difference in finding and retaining the workers they need.

What are Talent Acquisition Solutions?

Talent acquisition solutions cover a range of services designed to help companies manage the entire recruitment process. From sourcing support, to full cycle recruiting, to talent acquisition management and process development, talent acquisition solutions can develop, mange or streamline processes for companies with limited internal resources. This arrangement can be as long- or short-term as the company requires, making it ideal for periods of rapid growth or change.

Many companies are familiar with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) model, in which an RPO provider acts as an in-house recruiter. Talent acquisition solutions operate in much the same way but are more customizable to fit a company’s specific requirements and do not need to own the entire talent acquisition process. Many companies engaged with RPOs are looking to evolve the way they augment their in-house talent acquisition team to support their business needs and have found they have outgrown their current partnership. For larger companies, talent acquisition solutions offer flexibility by taking on aspects of the process and allowing programs to match the ever-changing marketplace.

Working with a talent acquisition solutions partner can help free up internal resources by outsourcing recruitment tasks to professionals, giving employers more time to focus on other business priorities.

When to Use Talent Acquisition Solutions

Businesses should consider talent acquisition solutions when they are experiencing periods of rapid growth that require large-scale talent sourcing, timely response to applicants or want flexibility during uncertain times. During these periods, specialists can step in to help manage the flow of applications and find the right candidates at the right time. One of the biggest benefits of partnering with a third-party vendor is that when the growth period ends, the talent acquisition provider can adjust to fit the demand.

Any industry can benefit from talent acquisition solutions; however, companies that hire cyclically, like hospitality, health care, ecommerce and tax service industries, are uniquely poised to benefit from outsourcing their recruitment process needs during the peak of their hiring cycle. Since their needs are only short-term or seasonal, these companies can reap the advantages of a dedicated third-party talent acquisition partner.

What Does a Talent Acquisition Solutions Provider Do?

Talent acquisition solutions providers are experts in recruiting the right candidates, the right way. The emphasis is not just on getting candidates through the door, but on finding the right skill and culture fit to help ensure a successful hire, all while creating a world class candidate experience.

Because these professionals act as an extension of a company’s internal team, talent acquisition solutions can manage nearly every aspect of the recruiting process, while only being tied to functions that a company wants to outsource.

Enhance Internal Talent Acquisition Capabilities

When an in-house recruitment team lacks the knowledge, processes or bandwidth to effectively reach and onboard new hires, it makes sense to bring in an expert who can introduce new techniques.

Talent acquisition solutions go beyond identifying qualified candidates; a partner can use their expertise to set up processes that look holistically at the management of talent. That may mean facilitating communications with candidates, optimizing and overseeing training and onboarding, enhancing the candidate-to-employee journey, tapping into undiscovered candidate pools and aligning responsibilities for new hires. This approach brings often-needed support to internal talent teams through every step of the recruitment and onboarding process.

Improve Application Review Infrastructure

Applications from candidates who don’t meet the criteria often create a logjam that makes it difficult to find the qualified candidates among them. Talent acquisition solutions can help establish infrastructure to work through a bottleneck of candidates more efficiently, ensuring the right hire isn’t lost to a slow response from recruiters.

Infrastructure improvements can include the implementation of recruitment software, KPI tracking technology or other tools designed to manage the hiring, onboarding and performance of talent acquisition personnel.

Enhance the Candidate Funnel

Effective talent acquisition solutions have access to a deep, nationwide talent pool. This allows them to pull the most qualified candidates from around the country, bringing more skilled applicants to businesses than they would find from only posting a job.

Additionally, talent acquisition solutions with a national reach also possess the appropriate business licenses that apply beyond a company’s geographic region. So, in instances where a company is hiring for remote positions, it’s often in their best interest to work with talent acquisition solutions experts that can legally operate in those markets.

Replace an Internal Talent Acquisition Team

For businesses that cannot or do not want to support an internal acquisition team, talent acquisition solutions can take on that role during hiring periods. More than just matching candidates to roles, these solutions can become engrained enough to truly understand a business’s needs from a high-level perspective and run full cycle recruitment programs accordingly.

Optimize Talent Acquisition Processes

When transactional arrangements are not sufficient, talent acquisition solutions address the complex needs of businesses. For companies looking for ways to improve their recruitment process, specialists can act in a consulting capacity, working with the companies’ internal teams to set up processes that can be used for long-term recruitment success.

Working With a Trusted Talent Acquisition Solutions Partner

It is critical to ensure your staffing or workforce solutions partner is equipped to provide talent acquisition solutions. The level of experience to effectively serve as an extension of an existing team — or operate a company’s talent acquisition process entirely — requires a deep knowledge of recruitment strategies and processes.

A talent acquisition partnership with Aston Carter begins with an analysis of existing recruitment processes. Based on the findings, Aston Carter can recommend a combination of tailored solutions ranging from placing highly qualified professionals to talent acquisition solutions to augment your internal teams. This comprehensive approach to recruitment and talent management makes talent acquisition solutions the right approach for businesses struggling to find candidates and retain employees.

Contact Aston Carter to learn more about our talent acquisition solutions.