Talent Acquisition Strategies to Implement Today
30 April 2025
Talent acquisition isn’t just a different badge for recruitment; it’s a strategy designed to meet a business’s long-term needs and goals. Referencing a recent report by Gallup and research from our contacts, we’ll explore what matters most to employees when looking for a new job. From there, we’ll explore the steps to create an effective talent acquisition strategy and attract top talent.
Summary:
Why is talent acquisition important?
Talent acquisition and recruitment: What’s the difference?
What’s involved in the talent acquisition process?
14 Steps to talent acquisition success
The importance of your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Create a talent acquisition strategy that delivers with Pluxee UK
What is talent acquisition?
Talent acquisition - or your talent acquisition strategy - is about nurturing a broad pool of talent with the skills to meet the future needs of a business. The strategy requires an understanding of future business aspirations. Here are some things to consider when creating a talent acquisition strategy:
- New markets the business aims to cross into.
- New or emerging technologies that the business wants to embed.
- How will the ways of working evolve?
- What skills does the business need to help it achieve its growth goals?
The plans you have for your business in the future may require specific skills at set times, and your talent acquisition strategy helps you plot this and set things in motion.
Why is talent acquisition important?
A talent acquisition strategy is about future-proofing your business by onboarding the skills, characteristics and behaviours it needs to achieve its goals. Organisations may approach talent acquisition differently depending on their size.
A small business or start-up is more likely to prioritise immediate needs, with senior leaders involved in the hands-on elements of hiring.
Medium-sized businesses are more likely to focus on brand awareness activities that help them create a wider candidate pool. With larger businesses having the advantage of a pre-existing healthy talent pool, their acquisition strategy will likely prioritise the onboarding process and employee experience to improve employee retention levels.
Talent acquisition and recruitment: What’s the difference?
Hiring and onboarding new employees is as much a part of the recruitment process as it is the talent acquisition strategy. So, what’s the difference between the two?
Recruiting is more about fulfilling an immediate need. A person leaves an essential role, and you recruit someone new to fill it, following the advertising, hiring and interview processes. The recruitment process is responsive, whereas a talent acquisition strategy is proactive, setting the scene for the future of the people strategy within a business.
What’s involved in the talent acquisition process?
Data is your best friend when starting your talent acquisition strategy, and here are some insights you should gather:
- Employee sentiment.
- Brand sentiment and awareness.
- Turnover rates.
- Gender pay gap data.
- Diversity and inclusion.
- Time to hire.
- Absenteeism rates.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but it will help to set the scene and give you a starting point.
If you uncover that your employee turnover rates are high, you have a gender or ethnicity pay disparity, or it takes a long time to fill a role, there are multiple areas to improve before you can start growing your talent pool.
Being able to retain talent is as much a part of your talent acquisition strategy as hiring people, so it’s essential to address the areas that need improving among your current workforce if you’re to attract and retain the talent required for the future.
14 Steps to Talent Acquisition Success
Setting the scene for where you are is vital, and analysing the data to see what may hinder your strategy. However, there are further steps to take, as detailed below.
1. Analyse the data
As already mentioned, analysing the data to define your starting point - your current truth - is vital if you’re going to make changes. You can’t create a talent-attracting employer brand if you use it as a polish - a way to hide the cracks. Real change is vital when the aim is attracting talent.
2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Having a DEI policy has become a right to play, and it’s why reviewing your gender and ethnicity pay gap should be part of your initial analysis. A diverse workforce brings many business benefits, but DEI in name only won’t cut it. Authenticity and transparency are vital.
When organisations rush to meet diversity targets without proper consultation and transparency, it can create division rather than unity.” Kim Rowbottom, HR Director, Pluxee UK
3. Align strategy with business goals
Before you can achieve step 4, you must ensure your talent acquisition strategy aligns with your business goals. From acquiring new market share to embracing new technologies, ensure the skills you plan to hire are precisely what your business needs for sustainable growth.
4. Get business buy-in
You need your senior leadership team to approve your talent acquisition strategy. To be successful, your strategy will require resources and financial investment, especially if your business needs to tackle turnover and absenteeism issues. Create a clear business case with a robust plan for seeing a return on investment.
5. Monitor the competition
You don’t always need to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel. Take a look at what your industry competitors are doing. They’re your main competitors for talent and clients, so if something works for them, it will likely work for you, too. Just be sure to do it better.
6. Define and communicate your employer brand
In our blog, ‘Employee Value Proposition (EVP): What It Is & Why It Matters’, we explain the difference between Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and Employer Brand, the importance of both and how to build a brand that speaks to your desired talent pool.
7. Build a comprehensive EVP
We’ll touch more on what to consider within your EVP when we review and compare our research with Gartner’s. For more information on defining your EVP and its importance, dive into the abovementioned blog.
8. Create and promote your culture
In our blog, ‘Transform Your Workplace Culture: A Practical Guide to Change’, we reveal the winning formula for creating a workplace culture that will be the envy of your competitors. From recognising a toxic culture to the steps to make an authentic change, this blog is your one-stop shop for all things related to workplace culture.
9. Don’t limit yourself to job seekers
It’s fantastic to be in a position where employees seek you out, proactively applying to work with you, but you don’t need to limit yourself to active job hunters. There’s no harm in approaching a passive employee - someone not actively looking for a new role - if they’re right for your business. The worst they can do is say no, but planting that seed may make them consider you in the future.
10. Skills acquisition over qualifications
It’s the norm for an employee to list their degrees and qualifications on their CV. However, your talent acquisition strategy should focus on skills as a higher priority than qualifications. A qualification only tells half the story. Learned and evolving skills are what will propel your business forward.
11. Encourage employee referrals
Your employees are your best advocates. How many of them would recommend a friend to work for you? Encouraging employees to recommend your business via incentives can help put your brand in front of the right people and can be more cost-effective than using agencies.
12. Employee reviews
Encourage employees to review your business on job sites like Indeed and Glassdoor to champion your business as a great place to work. If you were looking at a job advert and saw that the employer had a rating of less than three stars, would you apply for the role? Just like Trustpilot and Google reviews show what clients and consumers think, job site ratings show how employees feel about their time with your business.
13. Streamline the recruitment process
All the great work you do to grow your talent pool will be wasted if your recruitment process is clunky and outdated. Ensure the impression a new recruit has of your business is mirrored from when they first click to apply through to when you share your decision with them. An employee you reject today may be one you’ll wish to reconnect with in the future.
14. Finesse your onboarding process
Once an employee accepts an offer, ensure the onboarding process is as smooth as possible. Even if they’re working their notice with another business, make them feel part of their new team. Consider setting up meetings, so they’re already familiar with them on day one, and always ensure IT is ready from day one.
The importance of your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Gallup released findings from the US, revealing the main things that attracted employed people to new job opportunities. The top four most important attributes were:
- Greater work-life balance and better wellbeing (59%).
- Significantly increasing income or improvements on benefits package (54%).
- Greater stability and security (54%).
- Allowing them to do what they do best (48%).
We took to LinkedIn and ran a poll over two weeks to see what UK employees thought. We asked them, ‘From this list, which option would most attract you to a new job opportunity?’
Here’s how they ranked the four options we gave them:
- Better work-life balance and wellbeing (53%).
- Better pay or benefits (26%).
- The chance to do what they do best (15%).
- Stability and job security (6%).
As you can see, the top two attributes align, making work-life balance, wellbeing, and better pay or employee benefits packages the top reasons an employee would look for a new role.
It’s clear that your EVP is a vital part of your talent acquisition strategy, and we’ll once again point you towards our blog, ‘Employee Value Proposition (EVP): What It Is & Why It Matters’, so you can discover how to make the most of your EVP.
It wasn’t surprising that a better work-life balance is crucial to our employees, as it’s a topic we cover in-depth in our blog, ‘The Importance of Work-Life Balance & How Employers Can Enhance it.’
If you’re looking for more information on employee benefits and perks that matter to your employees, our blog, ‘Everything You Need to Know About Employee Benefits’, should also go to the top of your reading list.
Create a talent acquisition strategy that delivers with Pluxee UK
You now know what it takes to create a talent acquisition strategy that will deliver results for your business, enabling sustainable growth and future-proofing your business.
What’s next?
If you need to consume some more information, then head over to our resources section. We’ve got guides, blogs, podcasts and case studies to help you define what’s best for your people and business.
If you’re ready to build an employee-retaining EVP, then it’s time to request a call or pop over to our product pages to see how we deliver the perks your employees want and the partnership your business needs.
