The war for talent continues. Companies are still grappling to gain a foothold in hiring right talent within a short cycle time, amidst internal and external organizational turbulence. Why? What are those factors causing the hindrance?

Traditional hiring process is time consuming – skills and capabilities required for open requisitions are not whittled down to essentials, candidate application forms are not user-friendly, turnaround time between interview and offer roll out is huge, lack of timely collaboration across Talent Acquisition dyads (hiring managers and recruiters), and lack of timely feedback to candidates. Any or all of these factors negatively impact hiring efficiency, employer brand and talent experience.

Agile methodology is one of the major trends, now being applied to TA process. Prioritization, execution of work in short time-boxed cycles called ‘sprints’, collaboration between cross-functional teams, reviews and retrospectives at the end of each sprint are some of the agile practices that are integrated with the TA cycle.
Applying agility shortens the cycle time, reduces cost, creates positive talent experience with prime emphasis on creating opportunities for talent engagement throughout the Talent Acquisition cycle, and helps strengthen employer brand. Agile talent acquisition espouses cross-collaboration, continuous feedback culture and open communication, thus creating value for employer and candidates.

The traditional process cannot be made agile just by thinking through these. The Talent Acquisition Team needs to develop an agile mindset, follow some key principles, elicit behaviors, and take the following action steps:

• Conduct intake meetings and strategy with key stakeholders and leaders to obtain clarity on open requisitions and whittle out essential skills and capabilities
• Set a goal for talent fulfillment within a short cycle time
• Growth hacking techniques to source, screen and assess talent
• Pay attention to talents’ attitude and their zeal for learning, instead of screening ‘only’ for education and/or experience
• Implement Lean Agile methodology to eliminate inefficiency and deliver higher value
• Participate in sprint ceremonies and operate as a cross-functional collaboration team
• Leverage technology to maximize Talent Acquisition phases and overall process
• Set up metrics and indicators (quantitative and qualitative) and for every sprint evaluate the Talent Acquisition cycle progress
• Develop courage and commitment to collect timely feedback from the hiring team
• Share feedback with candidates on a timely basis
• Practice open transparent communication flow within teams and between candidates and Talent Acquisition team
• Strive toward continuous learning
• Enhance employer brand value by nurturing positive talent engagement experience

Agile talent acquisition fosters hiring agility when lean agile concepts are integrated into talent acquisition process.

Curious to know about Agile talent acquisition process and practices, along with the functionalities and specific roles? Get in touch with us at info@agilepeopleopsframework.com or click here to enroll for (APF CTC)™ or (APF CTSM)™ courses.