Businesses are only as strong as the individuals leading and working across the organization. Talent is one, if not the most essential, of the key ingredients for building a successful company. However, finding and landing the best candidates given the large talent pool in today’s business climate continues to become a bigger challenge.

No matter your organization, talent acquisition companies can help you look for the right people for your needs.

Cost of the talent search

Companies tend to waste more than money searching for new talent to join their organizations, often employing methods that are inefficient uses of company resources. These include the time of busy HR and hiring managers, money spent directly on searching tools or commissions, and potentially even the reputation of the company if the hiring process is conducted in an unprofessional manner.

For example, one of the least productive methods of recruitment is unnecessary posting on job boards, which tend to have very low success rates of matching individual skills with the requirements of open positions.

Another questionable but all too common practice is sourcing for talent when not necessary, such as those for entry-level or general labor positions that don’t require a specialized skill set or those that may not even be critical to business needs.

Finally, many companies fail to ask specific questions regarding job skills that can help determine how suited potential candidates are for the desired role. Even when companies do have assessment tests in place, as many as 88 percent of employers allow applicants who fail an assessment test to continue their application.

There are always exceptions where an individual applicant may impress when given a second chance, but what then is the point of having such screens in the first place if they are not fulfilling their intended purpose?

Bridging the gap

Given the tangible and intangible costs associated with the talent search, all businesses may want to consider alternative solutions. Talent acquisition companies can help bridge the gap between the employee and the employer.

These four main advantages provide a compelling case to consider for your recruiting efforts.

Increased productivity

Whether you are an HR professional or a hiring manager from inside a specific business function, there is an endless number of tasks that could be better served within your core function. It is important to remain involved in the overall recruiting strategy, especially at later stages of the process.

Instead of trying to take a stab at finding a needle in a haystack, relegating the task of sifting through resumes and identifying the best talent is a task best left to recruiting experts.

Wider reach

Consider that the average job opening attracts 250 resumes, with only four to six candidates brought in for interviews. This presents a serious hiring conundrum, as a large volume of applicants is more likely to bring in more talented workers, while also increasing the cost to process so many hopefuls.

One effective strategy is putting up job postings in the appropriate channels and networks, while also being able to quickly process such large volumes of resumes or applications.

Experienced talent sourcing professionals have the skills to utilize modern recruitment methods to best connect with an expanding workforce. Beyond that, professional talent acquisition consultants provide familiarity and expertise in navigating the  tools of Web 2.0, such as social networks, blogs and newsgroups.

This ability to scout and research individual skills and professional accomplishments prior to the first interaction offers a tremendous leg up during the process of identifying the best talent for your team.

A streamlined approach to assess competency

Not all organizations take the same approach to hiring, and the results will show. Even though companies with more mature talent acquisition strategies typically have higher average cost-per-hire metrics, the quality of candidates is worth a slightly higher initial investment.

These higher costs are the result of nontraditional methods of talent sourcing, including more extensive assessment tests to validate and compare talent. Initial application tests provide insight into each applicant, a basis to standardize and even rank candidates, and ultimately used as a basis for employee development when the right individual is hired.

Process management

To overcome the logistical challenges of talent sourcing and recruiting, a robust management approach is necessary from the beginning to the end of the hiring process. For example, are you wondering when is the best time in your organization’s development to begin working with a talent acquisition firm? For startups, the earlier, the better.

An external agency will assist in the process of identifying the needs of a growing company to hire the right individuals for open positions. There is also the “sunk cost” risk for organizations that stick with traditional but inefficient recruiting methods.

However, certain process management strategies apply to all companies. Some initial steps to take include estimating a headcount forecast across the entire organization and prioritizing which roles need to be filled versus which roles would be nice to have.

When working with an external team of talent professionals, there should be clear communication and active collaboration to succeed.

Investing in your organization’s future with the assistance of a talent acquisition company may not always be cheap, but it is very likely to be the most cost-effective way to hire the right people for the job.

If you are ready to begin your recruitment efforts but lack the capital to move forward, contact Reliant Funding.