We surveyed 597 talent leaders to find out exactly what organizations are prioritizing in 2017, and uncover the key challenges and concerns that are keeping recruiters up at night.

We’ve broken down 5 key takeaways from the report here, but for anyone who wants to get their hands on all the data…

Get the State of Talent Acquisition 2017 Report

 

1. Proactive beats reactive

82% of recruiters see proactive recruiting and talent pooling as the answer to a hiring market that grows more competitive every year.

Instead of relying on job applications, companies are looking to engage passive candidates long before they even think about applying, adding them to talent pools or pipelines for the future.

Talent pooling therefore ranks as the single biggest priority for talent professionals this year, with 32% of recruiters named it as their top focus area.

2. Recruiting tech stack is changing

With sourcing expected to become the most important source of hire in 2017, companies are being forced to change their technology stack.

Currently, most organizations rely on spreadsheets to run their sourcing operation and lack the ability to talent pool effectively. This is set to change in 2017 – 40% of companies have allocated budget to purchase a Talent CRM this year.

3. Companies are backing brand

“With the ever-present skills shortages, having a good employer brand (perceived or real) is crucial for a company to enable them to attract, hire and retain the talent they need.” – Andy Headworth, Head of Sirona Consulting

Candidates don’t just apply to jobs anymore, they apply to talent brands. They care more than ever about your EVP and company mission.

This is reflected in heavily in where companies plan to invest resources this year. Employer branding is set to be the number one investment priority in 2017.

Companies currently favour social media as the best channel to build their brand and attract new talent but, with social networks becoming increasingly crowded, we expect recruiting teams to take a more diverse approach in 2017.

4. Talent marketing is king

Talent attraction ranks as the top challenge for recruiting teams this year – in an age where candidates are behaving increasingly like consumers, companies need to use marketing tactics to build relationships with candidates before the application.

Relying on the best candidates to apply organically is no longer a recipe for success.

Email is the top channel that companies are using to engage with candidates and build relationships, but social media comes in a close second.

5. Measuring success

Our report shows that time to hire still ranks as the most important metric when it comes to measuring success. We expect proactive recruiting and talent pooling to help organizations make significant improvements in time to hire over the next 12 months.

Given the priorities of talent teams this year, metrics around talent pipeline growth and diversity are also likely to grow in importance.