Recruitment is passé- Talent Acquisition too??.

At the monthly meeting of ERA Hyderabad chapter , we had Mr Suresh Anubolu, the Director Talent Acquisition of Computer Associates, for Asia Pacific and Japan –speaking about “Global trends in Talent Acquisition” .

In an interesting session, he described how challenging it is hire great talent, and enumerated on some of the steps taken by them. Interesting takeaways were

-Recruitment is a transaction, we need to look at Talent acquisition.
-It is no longer about filling numbers, but ‘refilling’ with better hires.
-All employees aren’t equal- the talented employees are often 5-6 times more productive than mediocre performers-and it is imperative to treat them differently.

The session set me thinking- is there going to paradigm shift in hiring required in future?

I was taken back to my MBA classes in the eighties-and the classics of the guru of marketing management Philip Kotler. What I recall, marketing was all about understanding and and satisfying customer needs-and it went beyond sales ( which was just a transaction that involved exchange of services/goods). Marketing emphasised the need for market research, advertising, sales promotion –not just sales.

It gives interesting connotations.

If Sales =recruitment, then is Talent acquisition= marketing management?

Sales promotion = employee referrals?
Distribution= mgmt of recruitment partners

Channel management= management of jobsites/campus hires/walkins/alumni rehire

One is almost tempted to write a thesis..comparing media mix, pricing (compensation)….

Would the future recruitment team- which has in the recent past delinked itself from HR –and is also renamed staffing- growing into a ‘product management function’?? Shouldnt it be extended to branding, market segmentation, positioning….?

In this age..there cant be a better ambassador than a happy employee. Talent management seems more appropriate?