Talent acquisition must continue to transform itself from a reactive and tactical function to one which is proactive and efficient. Taking a proactive approach will enable businesses to source, assess, select, hire, and take on board the best candidates, even in the most competitive environments.

As candidate pools are shrinking and specialist skills are in demand, acquiring top talent is becoming even more competitive and candidates are gaining more control over the talent acquisition process.

It’s not unusual for top candidates to receive multiple job offers with varying benefits packages attached. Candidates are beginning to map out their projected career path and take stock of other factors including company brand, culture and values in order to differentiate between employers. As a result, employers are starting to market their brand and values not only to customers but also new candidates.

From the employers’ perspective, candidate choice is limited and that means they need to widen the talent pool in order to acquire the best fit for their business. Many companies are now latching onto the remote working trend, allowing them to hire employees from further afield and in some cases even abroad. Forward thinking employers are evaluating how remote working can bring a competitive edge to their business.

Streamlined HR technologies are playing an increasingly essential role in this job market globalisation and employers can expect to see greater strides in this area in 2016, as HR technology providers merge human capital management, applicant tracking systems and video interviewing onto one platform.

The talent pool is getting smaller and smaller

Advanced metrics which allow employers to analyse data and predict which candidates will bring the highest ROI are expected to become more commonplace, with larger companies hiring full-time analysts specifically to provide these key insights.

New technologies are also expected to improve processes on the candidate’s end. During the 2000s, talent acquisition has firmly made a move online and there has been a focus on simplifying the applications process and making it as fast and user-friendly as possible.

In 2016, the candidate experience is expected to go one step further. We will soon see the introduction of apps which provide GPS guidance that leads a candidate to the location of their interview and downloadable background data on their interviewers.

The candidate experience became much more personalised in 2015, as companies became more aware of this new breed of candidate, and even more so of the impact of social media and their ability to influence the perception of the company through the interview process.

Customer services and HR saw some overlaps as a consequence. We can expect this to continue into 2016, paving the way for an onboarding process which encourages brand ambassadorship — having employees also reflect the company’s brand on their own work based social media profiles and communicating and involving individual employees in sharing the company’s bigger goals, aspirations and vision.

Are your people prepared to write this on social media?

This feeds into new performance management trends which we can expect to see evolve further in 2016. Many of the big name companies are scrapping outdated performance ranking and review systems in favour of performance management through regular check-in meetings, in-the-moment feedback and ongoing coaching from managers.

This reflects once again the weight given to the experience of the individual and forward-thinking businesses, and will become an essential element of attracting top talent in 2016.

As employees become more recognised as individuals in the workplace, internal talent is gaining recognition as a strong asset. Many employers are now considering that through investing in learning and development, they can develop the skills of existing employees in order to place them in more specialised roles.

The advantages here are that existing employees already understand the business, it improves employee satisfaction and retention, and from an economic standpoint, staffing costs are lowered. Many companies are creating dedicated portals and workspaces where current employees can be notified of new employment opportunities within the company.

As well as this, common talent sources include referrals from current employees — fishing within your own homegrown talent pool and casting the net out to find like-minded people that fit well with your company’s culture. In 2016, we can also expect to see more emphasis on hiring graduates for the long-term with companies continuing to introduce graduate schemes, on-the-job training and provide a clear career trajectory within the company.

Looking at talent acquisition for the year ahead, businesses wishing to stay ahead of the competition should use smart technology, make sure star candidates feel valued, and personalise the process of attracting and onboarding new people. Remembering the people in the internal talent pool will also be critical.