A recruitment expert on the 5 areas enterprise leaders are overlooking when building their teams

It is no secret that the heart of your business’s success lies in its people. However, over the last few years, finding and securing the right people for the job has been a constant challenge. Competition is fierce, and with limited resources, the challenge can feel overwhelming to solve.

We’ve worked with countless enterprise leaders on establishing and growing their hiring functions and have collected our thoughts on the five areas that leaders may be overlooking when building their recruitment model. Whether you’re a new leader or a seasoned one, these are challenges we’ve solved many times before. Read on to find out how you can overcome these hurdles and get ahead.

1. Integrating AI

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there about artificial intelligence (AI) and how businesses are using the technology. Whether leaders like it or not, it’s shaking up the talent acquisition (TA) function. To be able to harness that power, the right integration is needed.

Many existing technology providers are incorporating this AI into their product suites, while new market entrants spring up weekly, too. Coupled with generative AI being used to write job ads and job descriptions, reformat CVs, or draft email templates, talent leaders now need to make serious decisions about how and where they integrate AI into their function.

To maximise the benefits and mitigate the drawbacks of integrating AI in your talent function, invest in AI tools that align with your organisation’s goals and values, address algorithm bias, prioritise data security, and provide adequate training for your team to harness AI’s potential effectively. AI can significantly enhance talent acquisition, but its success depends on careful planning and responsible implementation.

2. DEIB strategies versus actions

Following on from the recent publication of gender pay gaps and International Women’s Day, it’s obvious that there is still a long way to go for some organisations when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). Don’t forget, though, that DEIB goes beyond gender. In today’s competitive global market, a well-defined DEIB strategy is not just a bonus; it’s essential.

While many companies focus on setting diversity targets, a genuine commitment goes beyond mere numbers. Too often, “strategy” is mistaken for “targets”, but the targets are meaningless without tangible and practical initiatives in place to attract, hire, and retain diverse talent. True change arises from taking action. This could be through revamped recruitment processes, mentorship programs for underrepresented groups, or unconscious bias training. Remember that the single biggest influence on hiring diversity is the hiring manager who holds the final decision. A DEIB strategy shouldn’t be about ticking boxes but about nurturing a culture where everyone, regardless of background, feels valued and can excel.

3. Contingent workforce management

Contingent workers – contractors, independent consultants, service providers, and temporary workers – are steadily growing as a proportion of the average enterprise’s workforce. The flexibility to respond to market dynamics, rapidly adjust resourcing, control labour costs and harness specialised talent for specific projects or skills gaps are all contributing to this growth. On average, they make up more than 20 per cent and as much as 50 per cent of the workforce in some enterprises. We’ve seen companies that have even built targeted contingent-permanent workforce split into their workforce planning and monitor this regularly.

How are you going to attract, onboard, manage, pay, offboard, redeploy and optimise that contingent workforce of yours, though?

Getting a handle on this is a complex and tough task for most TA teams. Often, responsibility is delegated to hiring managers, and from there, things become largely invisible to the TA.

That’s where a managed service program (MSP) comes in. It’s a program to wrap up all that activity, overseen by contingent workforce specialists on your behalf, as an extension of the TA function. The added bonus? Procurement often sees the MSP as a good thing for them, too. Teaming up to create your business case for MSP can dramatically boost your chances of expanding TA’s own sphere of influence on the entire workforce.

4. HR and TA collaboration

Your talent acquisition team should be highly collaborative with your HR business partners (HRBP) – united by a common goal to collectively meet the people-related needs of their shared internal customers. The specialist knowledge of these internal peers is invaluable to each other when harnessed correctly. Think about the value in proactively talent pipelining for flight risks or succession plans. Or, similarly, alerting HRBPs when the hiring market shifts to ensure workforce planning expectations can be recalibrated or the right compensation and benefits are being set.

Collaboration with your HRBPs is crucial for successful hiring. It begins with open communication channels, where regular meetings and discussions facilitate alignment on business goals and departmental priorities. You can also collaborate on items like employer branding and diversity and inclusion initiatives. As well as the onboarding experience and ensuring that recruitment efforts reflect the organisation’s culture and values. This partnership creates a cohesive approach that aligns talent acquisition with the organisation’s growth and success.

5. Setting the right KPIs for TA managers

Key performance indicators (KPIs) may seem like an obvious one, but if you aren’t sure what these may look like for your TA function, you’re going to be in a spot of bother. Clear objectives are a must for any team member to not only help them but also to help you as their manager.

How you choose to measure, report on and describe the performance of your talent function will shape the way others do, too.

Legacy KPIs and metrics like cost per hire and time to hire can stifle development and investment in talent acquisition teams because, in order to show improvement, you essentially have to become cheaper and faster. All things being equal, inflation alone is going to make the first half of that equation a serious challenge.

In this scenario, where does the value of hiring the best possible person at the right time and within budget factor in? Make sure you use a range of performance indicators that help you show business leaders the health of TA’s performance, as well as more detailed metrics that will enable you to pinpoint issues and identify opportunities as quickly as possible. Unsure where to start? Try asking hiring managers what impact a great hire has on their part of the business versus a poor one. This should provide great inspiration on how to show the impact of a high-functioning TA team.

Ultimately, when it comes to hiring, it’s a zero-sum game

Navigating these topics can be complex, but with the right knowledge to tackle even the toughest of challenges effectively, you can feel confident as a people leader that your TA function is on the path to being extraordinary.

People challenges? Process problems? Tech pains? Brand battles? Our services are designed to solve your specific pain points across the complete talent attraction and management spectrum.

If you could use some help with one or more of these areas, reach out – we can help. You can also check out our A-Z Hiring Guide for Enterprise Leaders here.

Cameron Robinson is the head of enterprise at Talent Solutions.