Strategic Human Resource Planning and Talent Acquisition

Posted on Jun 15, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

Key Elements of Human Resource Planning

HR planning is the process of forecasting employment needs. The process involves:

  • Assessing current employment levels
  • Predicting future needs
  • Planning for internal movement
  • Predicting external hiring needs

Even for externally oriented companies, it is more convenient to look internally before seeking external candidates.

Characteristics of Organizations That Attract Recruits

The four general characteristics that attract applicants to organizations are:

  1. Familiarity

    Organizations with a strong brand image have an overall advantage when it comes to recruiting.

  2. Compensation

    People are attracted to organizations that:

    • Pay competitively
    • Offer better and more flexible benefits
    • Help exploit greater opportunities for advancement
    • Assure higher job security

  3. Specific Job and Organizational Traits

    Beyond specific job traits, we must also consider organizational traits. People like working for organizations that have positive reputations, such as being friendly, sincere, kind, and trustworthy. Other important organizational traits include:

    • Innovativeness: Organizations that foster new ideas and approaches.
    • Competence: People want to work for an organization that is successful and well-regarded.

  4. Recruiting Sources

    Organizations use a variety of sources to find job applicants. Some sources are relatively informal, while others are more formal. Some of the various sources include:

    • Job posting
    • Employee referrals
    • Print advertising
    • Electronic recruiting
    • Employment agencies
    • Campus recruiting

Recruiting Sources: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Strategic Linkage

Job Posting

Job posting involves using company communication channels to communicate job vacancies. Job postings should be communicated to as many potentially qualified individuals as possible. This method is most appropriate for organizations adopting internal recruiting strategies.

  • For a Loyal Soldier HR strategy, job postings should be shared with a large number of people to facilitate movement among a variety of positions.
  • For a Committed Expert HR strategy, the posting should be targeted specifically to those who have the expertise needed to move into relatively specialized roles.

Employee Referrals

Employee referrals occur when current employees encourage their friends and acquaintances to apply for positions. Referrals are thought to have at least four primary strengths:

  • Cost-Effective: Referrals represent a relatively inexpensive method of recruiting, though this is sometimes questioned due to bonuses paid for successful referrals.
  • Speed: They are quicker than many other forms of recruiting. Current employees are in continuous contact with potential candidates, eliminating much of the time needed for formal recruiting processes.
  • Higher Quality Hires: People hired through referrals tend to become better employees who are less likely to leave the organization. The informal information shared by employees can also serve as a realistic job preview, which helps reduce employee turnover.
  • Increased Employee Commitment: Current employees become more committed to the organization when they successfully refer someone. Feelings of responsibility make it likely that employees will only refer people they are confident will succeed.

Strategic linkages for employee referrals:

  • For organizations pursuing a Bargain Laborer HR strategy, referrals help the organization inexpensively identify job candidates.
  • Referrals help decrease turnover for organizations with either a Loyal Soldier or Committed Expert strategy.
  • They can also be an effective part of a Free Agent strategy.

Print Advertising

Print advertising, such as newspaper ads, has the potential to reach a very large number of people for a relatively low cost.

  • Newspaper advertising works particularly well for the broad recruiting associated with the Bargain Laborer HR strategy.
  • General advertising in newspapers can also help build a positive reputation for the organization as a desirable place to work.
  • Focused recruiting messages can also be placed in more specialized publications. Advertising in specialized journals is potentially most helpful for organizations that pursue a Free Agent HR strategy.