Aberdeen Talent Acquisition Report

Talent Acquisition Strategies
Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take Center Stage

July 2008
Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

Center Stage
Page 2
Executive Summary
A competitive talent acquisition program is crucial to attract and retain
skilled workers. But a shortage of skilled talent in the workforce, and
changing demographics within the organization, is making it increasingly
difficult to align the skills on hand with the business at hand.
That is putting greater pressure on finding so-called passive candidates in
the market. It is also forcing organizations to better assess how they screen
applications for the right fit in the organization, to be sure the right people
are being brought on board.
Research Benchmark
Aberdeens Research
Benchmarks provide an indepth and comprehensive look
into process, procedure,
methodologies, and
technologies with best practice
identification and actionable
recommendations
This report, a compilation of survey responses from 620 organizations

(representing all sizes, industries, and geographies) provides a roadmap for
organizations that desire to implement an effective talent acquisition
program, and a system to effectively manage the program. It examines the
Best-in-Class strategies to use talent acquisition as a key recruiting and
retention tool.
Best-in-Class Performance
Aberdeen used four key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class
companies:
Quality of hire
Overall program satisfaction of hiring managers
Time-to-hire
New hire retention
Competitive Maturity Assessment

Survey results show that the firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance
shared several common characteristics:
89% foster close collaboration between hiring managers and

recruiters
79% actively use the corporate web site as a tool for showcasing
the organization's culture and job opportunities
76% prescreen candidates for technical competencies
74% have a strong understanding of which applicant sources provide
the best quality candidates
Required Actions
In addition to the specific recommendations in Chapter Three of this
report, to achieve Best-in-Class performance, companies must:
"We identify good candidates

who stand out at conferences exchanging business cards,
giving them a specially made
brochure on careers with our
institution, continuing ongoing
correspondence with them,
sending information about our
institution, identifying their skill
sets and interests, and sending
targeted vacancy
announcements on positions of
interest."
~ HR Director, Texas
University
Assess the performance of new hires at specific intervals the first

year of employment
Communicate current and anticipated job openings with existing staff
Market through new means (e.g. social networking sites)
2008 Aberdeen Group.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................... 2
Best-in-Class Performance..................................................................................... 2
Competitive Maturity Assessment....................................................................... 2
Required Actions...................................................................................................... 2
Chapter One: Benchmarking the Best-in-Class ..................................................... 4
Aberdeen's Analysis................................................................................................. 4
The Maturity Class Framework............................................................................ 5
The Best-in-Class PACE Model ............................................................................ 6
Best-in-Class Strategies........................................................................................... 7
Chapter Two: Benchmarking Requirements for Success .................................... 9
Competitive Assessment......................................................................................11
Capabilities and Enablers......................................................................................12
Chapter Three: Required Actions .........................................................................17
Laggard Steps to Success......................................................................................17
Industry Average Steps to Success ....................................................................18
Best-in-Class Steps to Success ............................................................................19
Appendix A: Research Methodology.....................................................................21
Appendix B: Related Aberdeen Research............................................................23
Figures
Figure 1: Top Pressures for All Organizations....................................................... 4
Figure 2: Metrics Used to Determine Quality of Hire......................................... 9
Figure 3: Utilizing Assessments in Recruiting .......................................................14
Tables
Table 1: Top Performers Earn Best-in-Class Status.............................................. 6
Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework ....................................................... 6
Table 3: Strategies for Improving Recruitment Efforts ........................................ 7
Table 4: The Competitive Framework...................................................................11
Table 5: The PACE Framework Key ......................................................................22
Table 6: The Competitive Framework Key ..........................................................22
Table 7: The Relationship Between PACE and the Competitive Framework
.........................................................................................................................................22

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Chapter One:
Benchmarking the Best-in-Class
Aberdeen's Analysis
If job seekers sometimes feel that hiring managers wouldn't know a good
candidate if they saw one, they might be right. At least that is among the key
findings of Aberdeen Group's latest research on talent acquisition strategies.
Unfortunately, the picture isn't new. In the June 2007 report, The Global War
for Talent, Aberdeen reported that a large number of companies "either
don't know or don't measure how often they hire their top choice. Laggards
(the bottom 30% of organizations according to performance with talent
acquisition efforts) are focused primarily on current staffing needs, yet they
are 60% more likely not to be able to address current skills needs."
Fast Fact
Anecdotal evidence reveals that
if an organization can't properly
assess if it is hiring the right
people, it may often not be and that can put hiring
managers into a cycle of
constant turnover and rehiring.
Fast forward to 2008 and the message is more of the same. Indeed, when
organizations were asked for this report to select from among 24
capabilities they have in place currently to support their talent acquisition
efforts, the second lowest cited response was "clearly defined metrics to
measure the quality of a new hire." At the same time, managers cited quality
of hire metrics as the number one capability they would like to put in place.
Clearly there is a major disconnect for hiring managers in terms of
practicing what they preach.
Top Pressures are Shortage of Talent, Skills

There is one clear overriding need that is driving organizations to invest in
talent acquisition programs skills. An over-whelming majority of survey
respondents cite competition for skilled labor and a shortage of desired skills
as top pressures on talent acquisition. Yet, they have a difficult time measuring
the quality of talent when it comes through the door. In fact, other leading
pressures driving interest in talent acquisition pale in comparison in terms of
the percentage of companies citing them as top concerns.
Figure 1: Top Pressures for All Organizations
100%
88%
83%
80%
60%
40%
20%
14%
11%
Globalization
Compliance
requirements
0%
Competition for
skilled labor
Shortage of
desired skills
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2008

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The Greatest Internal Challenge is Workforce Planning

In addition to external pressures, organizations face their own internal
struggles when it comes to effective talent acquisition. The top challenge,
according to survey participants, is future workforce planning cited by
46% of all organizations.
This comes as no surprise, since workforce planning goes hand-in-hand with
talent acquisition, addressing the skills and labor needs of the organization in
the short term and long term future, as well as the present. Workforce
planning is also a tough nut to crack for many organizations, since it requires
an effective method for estimating industry and market conditions, as well as
business and staffing needs, down the road.
In addition to workforce planning demands, other top challenges that
organizations seek to address with their talent acquisition programs are:
Workforce turnover (36%)
Quality of job hires (35%)
Inability to reach (or connect with) ideal job candidates (30%)
Time to fill job requisitions (26%)
Obstacles in the Way

The task of managing a talent acquisition program is getting especially
difficult, as competition for highly skilled workers intensifies, and more job
candidates slip through the cracks of traditional recruiting methods. This is
forcing a major revamping of how organizations find the workers they need
and convince them to come on board. According to anecdotal evidence
from organizations interviewed for this report, adding to the challenge for
many organizations are:
A lack of required HR resources
Inadequate applicant tracking processes
Confusion on how to find so-called passive applicants
A disconnect on how younger workers need to be courted
Lack of programs that cater to the flexible work needs of "retired"

workers or those that prefer part-time employment
The Maturity Class Framework

To measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of a talent acquisition
program, Aberdeen used four key performance criteria to distinguish the
Best-in-Class from Industry Average and Laggard organizations, including:
Quality of hire
Overall program satisfaction of hiring managers
Time-to-hire
New hire retention (within first year of employment)

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Table 1: Top Performers Earn Best-in-Class Status

Definition of
Maturity Class
Mean Class Performance
Best-in-Class:
Top 20% of
aggregate
performance scorers
Improved quality of hire on average by 32%

Increased overall satisfaction of hiring managers on
average by 31%
Shortened time-to-hire on average by 22%
Improved new hire retention (within first year of
employment) on average by 21%
Industry Average:
Middle 50% of
aggregate
performance scorers
Improved quality of hire on average by 5%

Increased overall satisfaction of hiring managers on
average by 5%
Shortened time-to-hire on average by 3%
Improved new hire retention (within first year of
Laggard:
Bottom 30% of
aggregate
performance scorers
Reduced quality of hire on average by 7%

Decreased overall satisfaction of hiring managers on
average by 8%
Increased time-to-hire on average by 11%
Worsened new hire retention (within first year of
The Best-in-Class PACE Model

Using a talent acquisition program to achieve corporate goals requires a
combination of strategic actions, organizational capabilities, and enabling
technologies, as illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework
Pressures
Actions
Capabilities
Enablers
Competition
for skilled
labor
Shortage of
desired skills
Enhance company
brand and reputation
in recruiting market
Proactively search
for and communicate
with potential
candidates
Market through new
means (e.g. social
networking sites) to
reach passive
candidates
Understanding of which applicant sources

provide the best quality job candidates
Creating or improving a data repository of
desirable active and passive job candidates
Defined common behaviors and / or attitudes of
top performers
Defined common skill sets of top performers
Obtain feedback from new hires on the
recruiting process
Well-crafted process to obtain feedback from
the hiring manager
Corporate marketing and recruiting work
together to improve employment branding
Background checking
tools
Applicant tracking tools
Company career portal
Employee referrals
tracking tools
Assessment tools for
knowledge and skills
Online learning portals
Assessment tools for
attitude, and / or
behavioral attributes

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Best-in-Class Strategies
Hiring managers are learning that effective talent requisition efforts require
a new way of approaching the recruiting process. This includes greater
emphasis on the company's brand as a recruiting tool, and the use of new
Internet-based technologies. The reasons are clear, according to survey
participants: to increase the organization's appeal as a best place to work,
and to connect with passive job candidates (those potential hires that are
not actively job searching).
Table 3: Strategies for Improving Recruitment Efforts
Best-inClass
All
Others
Enhancing company brand and reputation in recruiting

market
35%
38%
Proactively searching for and communicating with

potential candidates
32%
37%
Marketing through new means (e.g. social networking

sites)
30%
29%
Emphasizing strategic workforce planning
29%
31%
Improving candidate pre-screening
26%
23%
Strategy
While the high level strategies that organizations are adopting are similar,
Best-in-Class organizations are placing greater emphasis on ensuring
collaboration between hiring managers and recruiters on what skills,
attributes, and attitudes are desired in a candidate, cited by 89% of Best-inClass companies.
In addition, Best-in-Class organizations are more aggressive at
communicating job openings and job role needs with current staff. This is
especially important, since employee referrals are cited as the top source
for finding desirable talent (a focus of 82% of the Best-in-Class). The Best-inClass are also more likely to use the corporate website as a tool for
showcasing the company's culture and opportunities (cited by 79% of the
Best-in-Class).
Other top strategies and capabilities of Best-in-Class include:
Use of email and other communications to promote the company,

cited by 78%
Pre-screening candidates for technical competence, cited by 76%
Understanding of which applicant sources provide the best quality

candidates, cited by 74%
Mapping desired skill sets against job applicants and candidates, cited
by 71%

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"Employees are encouraged to

inform management about any
high quality potential
employees they may meet
through family, friends,
community groups, schools, or
work contacts (trade shows,
meetings, etc.). Since the
employee knows the culture,
they "pre-screen" candidates by
recommending only those
whom they know will be a
good fit."
~ Business Unit Director, US
Manufacturing Company
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Aberdeen Insights Strategy

When a human resource manager at a leading global evangelistic
organization in Washington DC wanted to improve her results at
locating passive job candidates, she followed her own personal calling.
"This is more a personal initiative: I created a contest for the most
LinkedIn connections in my client group to encourage them to create
their profile and invite their network. Now the network is growing by
itself as people get more and more connected," the manager says.
But it does not take a religious experience to see the path to new and
effective recruiting methods. It does take creativity and a willingness to
explore new options.
Interviews with hiring managers for this report reveal a mind shift in how
talent will be located and lured in the coming years. All agree that Web
2.0 technologies and online employer branding efforts will be the two
most important elements of a talent acquisition strategy.
The bad news is that most hiring managers have little experience with
such technologies (25% of all organizations have used Web 2.0
technologies in any capacity for recruiting). The good news is that they
realize it, and plan to change that picture, interviews with managers
reveal. It's an attitude adjustment is vital if an organization is to remain
competitive in finding and keeping talent in a rapidly changing recruiting
market.
In the next chapter, we will see what the top performers are doing to
achieve these gains.

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Chapter Two:
Benchmarking Requirements for Success
A successful talent acquisition program involves far more than deciding what
skills and attributes are needed from candidates and finding new sources for
them. It also involves the ability to measure and assess how well new hires
perform in their roles during the first year on the job. This is where quality
of hire is really determined.
Determining the Quality of New Hires

In order to measure the quality of recent hires, organizations need to have
processes in place to determine what level of performance the new
employee should be at in three-month, six-month, and nine-month time
frames, measure the candidate against those milestones, and evaluate any
gaps in performance that need to be addressed.
Fast Facts
75% of all organizations cite
employee referrals as the
most successful recruiting
activity
69% of all organizations cite
online job boards as the
second most effective means
of recruiting
How well an organization is able to measure performance on the job of new

hires, and use that information to improve the recruiting process will play a
major role in the success of the talent acquisition program.
Figure 2: Metrics Used to Determine Quality of Hire
100%
81%
80%
69%
65%
56%
51%
60%
52%
39%
40%
44%
38%
20%
0%
Time-to-productivity
Retention rate of top

performers
Best-in-Class
Average
Candidate's first
performance review
rating
Laggard
Case Study Dick's Sporting Goods

Dicks Sporting Goods, Inc. is an authentic full-line brand name sporting
goods retailer with 322 stores in 34 states. The companys HR team was
looking to improve the recruiting process to better handle the companys
fast-paced growth. They worked with the solution provider to identify
three main areas to be addressed: increasing applicant flow during masshiring events, creating a paperless new hire process, and integrating
technology to incorporate more efficiency in their recruitment efforts.
continued
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Weve been growing for a long time, but the last three years have been
especially challenging to find and acquire talent, explains Ann Vieheller,
senior director of talent acquisition for the company. This will become
even more important as we get bigger.
Dicks Sporting Goods needed this new hiring technology to work in
tandem with new store openings, existing stores, corporate, distribution
centers, store management, and campus recruitment efforts.
The company has traditionally faired well with retention We dont
have a lot of turnover, Vieheller says but the company needed help in
assessing quality of hire and in employment branding. This included
processed to measure performance at 30, 60, 90, 180 and 360 day
intervals, she says. It also involved an aggressive survey process of new
hires to determine that the company was living up to its promises as an
employer.
We wanted to be sure that new hires felt they were getting the training
they needed, that they enjoyed the work environment, and that the job is
what they were expecting it to be, Vieheller says.
Several recommendations from the provider were implemented. First, a
clear outsourcing process for hourly employees involved in new store
openings was needed. Second, a phased approach deploying a tool that
would allow each of their recruiting functions (new stores, existing
stores, corporate, store management, and on-campus) to promote job
openings to internal and external candidates while capturing candidate
data in a central database. Finally, full HRIS integration allowing Dicks
Sporting Goods to feed requisition data into the tool, and then back to
their HRIS upon hire.
The solution provider developed a project schedule that spanned 24
months. In the first 12 months a new process for sourcing hourly
employees was implemented and managed, career sites were developed
for corporate, on-campus, store management, and internal / external
referrals, and the recruitment tool was integrated with their HRIS. The
second 12 months focused on managing the process for sourcing hourly
employees and implementing career sites for two large distribution
centers as well as existing stores.
The companys web site received a lot of attention, Vieheller says. We
had a very passive web site. They helped us totally revamp it, to make it
interactive. The first year was spent figuring out the brand message we
needed to be sending. The second year was spent in making it more
exciting so that it pops.
continued

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By working closely with the new store openings team, the volume of
qualified applicants increased by 25% while keeping a tight lid on
budgeting and labor. New locations had achieved a 99% on-time store
opening rate. With the new system, every opening was precisely tracked
and media ROI reports found unseen patterns in applicant behavior,
which enabled Dicks Sporting Goods to hire more precisely with less
waste. By the end of 2007 all stores were recruiting online. At that time,
by using a full ad hoc reporting system and an HR evaluation system, they
had a transparent, reportable and accountable recruitment process.
Competitive Assessment
Aberdeen Group analyzed the aggregated metrics of surveyed companies to
determine whether their performance ranked as Best-in-Class, Industry
Average, or Laggard. In addition to having common performance levels, each
class also shared characteristics in five key categories: (1) process (the
approaches they take to execute their daily operations); (2) organization
(corporate focus and collaboration among stakeholders); (3) knowledge
management (contextualizing data and exposing it to key stakeholders);
(4) technology (the selection of appropriate tools and effective
deployment of those tools); and (5) performance management (the
ability of the organization to measure their results to improve their
business). These characteristics (identified in Table 4) serve as a guideline
for best practices, and correlate directly with Best-in-Class performance
across the key metrics.
Table 4: The Competitive Framework
Best-in-Class
Process
Average
Laggards
Understanding of which applicant sources provide the best

quality job candidates
74%
66%
52%
Defined common behaviors and / or attitudes of top

performers
58%
Knowledge
48%
36%
Defined common skill sets of top performers

54%
43%
31%
Creating or improving a data repository of desirable active

and passive job candidates
62%
Organization
46%
35%
Corporate marketing and recruiting work together to

improve employment branding
53%

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49%
33%
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Best-in-Class
Technology
Performance
Average
Laggards
The following enablers are being used to enhance the

recruiting process:
83% background
78% background
74% background
checking tools
checking tools
checking tools
71% applicant
66% applicant
60% applicant
tracking tools
tracking tools
tracking tools
66% employee
50% employee
45% employee
referrals tracking
referrals tracking
referrals tracking
tools
tools
tools
66% company
50% company
45% company
career portal
career portal
career portal
55% assessment
49% assessment
34% assessment
tools for
tools for
tools for
knowledge and
knowledge and
knowledge and
skills
skills
skills
53% online
34% online
39% online
learning portals
learning portals
learning portals
51% assessment
41% assessment
28% assessment
tools for
tools for
tools for
attitude, and/or
attitude, and/or
attitude, and/or
behavioral
behavioral
behavioral
attributes
attributes
attributes
Top three metrics used to measure the quality of hire:
81% time-to 65% time-to 51% time-toproductivity
productivity
productivity
69% retention rate 56% retention rate 39% retention rate
of top performers of top performers
of top performers
44% candidate's
52% candidate's
38% candidate's
first performance
first performance
first performance
review rating
review rating
review rating
Capabilities and Enablers
Based on the findings of the Competitive Framework and interviews with

end users, Aberdeens analysis of the Best-in-Class reveals that the degree
to which an organization succeeds with a talent acquisition strategy depends
largely on how well job role needs are defined, applicants are matched
against those definitions, and performance is measured once a candidate
comes on board.
This is especially important in order to retain workers once found, and to
be able to hire from a position of growth rather than from a position of
replacement. Essential ingredients of a successful talent acquisition strategy
that produce top results include the proper mix of process, organizational
knowledge, technology, and performance measurement.
"We re-connect with new grad

RN's who declined our offer
two-plus years ago. They are
always surprised and pleased
when they hear from us."
~ HR Manager,
US Healthcare Organization
Process
A vital part of a successful talent acquisition strategy is in knowing where an
organization obtains the best quality job candidates, so that priority can be
given to expanding and managing efforts from those sources. As indicated
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earlier, the top source for desired talent is referrals from current
employees.
This makes sense, since current employees know both the individuals they
refer, and the culture and work ethic of the organization. Existing
employees can predetermine if an associate is likely to have the necessary
background and skills to succeed in a job, to know the individual's work
style, and to predict if they would fit in well with the employer's corporate
culture.
The good news is that a majority (74%) of Best-in-Class organizations
understand this, and routinely assesses the recruiting results obtained from
all of the various media and outlets they use, including the top source of
employee referrals. Critical to the process is the ability to map desired skill
sets against job applicants and candidates, a capability currently cited by 63%
of the Best-in-Class.
Having found potential hires, the Best-in-Class are also far more aggressive
in pre-screening candidates to ensure they are the right person for the job.
This includes prescreening candidates for technical competencies (cited by
70% of Best-in-Class) and for cultural fit (cited by 63% of Best-in-Class).
Organization
In addition to looking outside the organization, success with a talent
acquisition program requires inward action and reflection. Bringing new
employees on board will be of little value if they don't want to stick around.
In response, Best-in-Class organizations are putting more emphasis on
career development, leadership training, and flexible work environments.
The goals are to be more attractive to potential hires, and more caring of
existing staff.
Indeed, a top priority for Best-in-Class organizations is to promote career
development and professional growth opportunities in recruiting campaigns
(cited by 68% of the Best-in-Class).
Also important is the effort to be responsive to individual worker needs.
While such workplace benefits as flexible schedules, telecommuting and job
sharing are not practical for all organizations, they are becoming more
commonplace. Currently, 51% of Best-in-Class organizations indicate they are
promoting flexible job schedules as a cultural benefit to help lure candidates.
Aiding in all of the aforementioned steps is the greater emphasis that Bestin-Class organizations place on fostering collaboration between line
managers, marketing, and recruiting, to ensure that all are promoting the
same message of the company as a best place to work.
Knowledge Management
As discussed previously, organizations use a variety of metrics to measure
the effectiveness of their talent acquisition strategy. These include such

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metrics as improvements realized in quality of hires, shorted time-to-hire,

and new hire retention.
An important enabler in that process is a central repository for collecting
and storing talent acquisition data, where everyone in the organization that
needs access to it can have that access and can analyze and model the data.
Talent acquisition data should include defined common behaviors and
attributes of top performers, and defined common skill sets of top
performers.
An equally important, but less tangible, metric is the feedback that
organizations get from exit interviews. Currently, 83% of Best-in-Class
organizations indicate that they conduct exit interviews with those leaving
the organization on their own accord. But the percentage drops to 55%
with regard to employees that are terminated. This gap represents a lost
opportunity for many organizations to gain potential insights on why an
employee failed, or where the organization may have failed the employee.
Technology
Not surprisingly, a strong majority of all organizations use background
checking tools and applicant tracking tools. The Best-in-Class are 50% more
likely than Laggard organizations to use employee referral tracking tools.
This is an important distinction, given that employee referrals are the
primary source for obtaining desired talent.
Despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of all organizations use skills
assessments in the recruiting process, the Best-in-Class are 56% more likely
than all other organizations to understand the measurable impact of their
use. Still uncommon is the use of assessment tools for attitudes and
behavioral attributes, despite the fact that there is growing interest in
prescreening candidates for these traits (see information presented in
Chapter Three).
Figure 3: Utilizing Assessments in Recruiting
50%
40%
30%
39%
37%
25%
35%
38%
27%
20%
10%
0%
Measuring the impact of
We use assessments in
We do not currently use
assessments used in
the hiring process but have assessments in the hiring
evaluating candidates is
difficulty determining the
process
central to our overall hiring business impact from their
process
usage
Best-in-Class
All Others

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Regarding integrating data from talent acquisition into other talent

management systems, Aberdeens research uncovered that even the Best-inClass have a long way to go. Talent management systems that are most
frequently integrated with talent acquisition include onboarding, employee
performance management, and learning and development (each cited at 18%
or 19% among the Best-in-Class). However, over the next 12 months, this
should change dramatically as most cited systems that organizations plan to
integrate are onboarding (cited by 45% of the Best-in-Class) and succession
planning (cited by 40% of the Best-in-Class). This planned integration also
reinforces how Best-in-Class organizations are looking to understand and
affect quality of hire as well as plan for longer-term workforce
requirements.
Not surprisingly, software tools that allow for succession planning and
workforce analytics are the technologies that are most planned investments
by Best-in-Class organizations (50% and 41% respectively) over the next 12
months. This is followed closely by software tools that ascertain the
competencies of top performers to hire people with like traits (39%).
Performance Management
Among the most telling statistics from the recent talent acquisition survey is
the percentage of hires that organizations indicate were the top choice for
the job role in 2007. One-third of all organizations participating in the
survey either don't know that percentage, or don't measure it. However,
forty-four percent (44%) of Best-in-Class organizations, indicated that they
hire their top choice more than 75% of the time compared to 31% of the
Industry Average and only 18% of Laggard organizations.
Based on this information, not surprisingly, the majority of all organizations
(63%) indicating that their talent acquisition strategy is only somewhat
effective. Views on the performance of talent acquisition systems are also a
mixed bag; with only 43% of all organizations indicated they are somewhat or
very satisfied with their system for managing the talent acquisition program.
This ranges from 55% for Best-in-Class organizations to 30% for Laggard
organizations.

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Aberdeen Insights Technology

Anecdotal evidence from this report reveals that hiring managers and
recruiters see Web 2.0 technologies as increasingly important in talent
acquisition strategies. This includes electronic job boards, community
profile sites such as Face Book, chat sites, blogs, and wikis.
Despite the recognition of the value of such recruiting tools, however,
little is being done with them currently.
When survey respondents were asked what their organization's
experience is with Web 2.0 technologies for finding and contacting
potential job candidates, responses indicated:
20% have no idea what the organization's practices are

13% have no awareness of these technologies
12% are familiar with the technologies, but don't know how to
use them in the organization's talent acquisition strategies
20% are just beginning to explore the technologies in order to
evaluate them for use
9% have not used Web 2.0 technology but plan to do so
14% occasionally use Web 2.0 technologies for candidate search
11% actively use Web 2.0 technology for candidate search

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Chapter Three:
Required Actions
Whether a company is trying to move its performance in talent acquisition
from Laggard to Industry Average, or Industry Average to Best-in-Class, the
following actions will help spur the necessary performance improvements:
Laggard Steps to Success
Identify top performer attributes. In order to be successful in

attracting and retaining top talent, an organization needs to identify
just what it means by that: what are the common attributes and
attitudes among the company's top performers that make them
successful in their roles, and a good fit within the organization's
culture. This is an area where Laggard organizations are clearly
deficient. Only 36% of surveyed Laggard organizations have clearly
defined these traits, making it especially challenging for Laggard
organizations to pursue more of these types of individuals. In
contrast, 58% of Best-in-Class organizations have identified the
common behaviors and attributes of top performers, and 48% of
Industry Average organizations have done so.
Define top talent skills. In addition to knowing the best

attributes of top performers, an organization also needs to know
what the common skills are of top performers. This includes
industry-related knowledge, business skills, and technical skills.
Again, Laggard organizations do a poor job in this area, with only
31% of surveyed Laggard organizations citing this as a capability they
currently possess. In contrast, 54% of Best-in-Class organizations
have clearly defined the skills of top performers in their ranks, while
43% of industry Average organizations have done so.
Measure the quality of hire. Beyond identifying desired skills and

attributes in the current staff, an organization must be able to do
the same with new hires. This means having a system in place for
measuring quality of hire how well, and how quickly, a new
employee performs at a desired level and successfully assimilates
into the organizational culture. Unfortunately, Laggard organizations
do an abysmal job in this respect. Only 12% of surveyed Laggard
organizations have clearly defined metrics for measuring the quality
of hire. The story is not much better for Industry Average
organizations (cited by 22%), or even among Best-in-Class
organizations (cited by 37%).
Collect candidate data. A top pressure driving organizations to

focus on talent acquisition is competition for available talent.
Organizations therefore need to have an efficient means for
capturing data on available talent. This requires creating or
improving a data repository of desirable active and passive job
candidates, so that the data is available to everyone in the

www.aberdeen.com
Fast Facts
20% of all organizations are
just beginning to explore the
use of Web 2.0 technologies
as a means of locating and
communicating with passive
job candidates
14% of all organizations
occasionally use Web 2.0
technologies in their
recruiting efforts
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Center Stage
Page 18
organization that needs it, and can be analyzed accordingly. Laggard

organizations do just a bit better in this regard, with 35% citing this
as a capability in their talent acquisition system. The situation
improves among Industry Average organizations (with 46% citing
this capability), and significantly improves among Best-in-Class (cited
by 62%).
Industry Average Steps to Success
Brand as a team. Survey data and anecdotal evidence reveal that

the most successful recruiting efforts are those in which everyone
plays a role in promoting the organization as an employer of choice.
To succeed in this effort, corporate marketing and recruiting need
to work closely together, to ensure the right branding message is
being delivered. Only half (49%) of Industry Average organizations
are ensuring that marketing and recruiting are working together in
this fashion. The picture is not much better among Best-in-Class
organizations, with 53% citing this capability.
Identify best candidate sources. Organizations should focus

their recruiting efforts on those methods that yield the best results.
The key word here is "best" results. That starts with analyzing the
number of desirable candidates that are found, and hired, from each
of the various sources being used, as well as the amount of time and
revenue spent with each. Two-thirds (66%) of Industry Average
organizations are performing such evaluations of the best sources
for finding desired candidates. That capability increases to 74%
among the Best-in-Class. As discussed earlier, the best source for
finding desired talent is current employees. Organizations should
therefore be proactive in communicating new job openings with
current staff.
Be proactive about passive candidates. Hiring managers

complain of a shortage of talented workers in the job market. So it
is important to broaden the search pool. That means finding and
engaging talented professionals that are not actively seeking new
employment. So-called passive job seekers are obviously not easy to
locate, but they represent an important part of a successful talent
acquisition strategy. Hiring managers need to be trained in how to
locate and communicate with passive job seekers, something they
have probably had little experience with. Industry Average
organizations do a poor job in this regard, with only 16% citing this
as a current capability. Twice as many Best-in-Class organizations
(32%) have this capability currently.

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Insight Passive Candidates

An important source for desired talent is the pool of so-called passive
candidates. These are the potential hires that are not actively seeking a
new job. Passive job candidates have always been elusive, as confirmed by
hiring managers interviewed for this report. And certain traditional
methods of seeking them out continue to be among the top activities that
recruiters use to locate passive candidates. These include attending
conferences, trade shows, and user group meetings where professionals
are likely to gather that match the skills or experiences needed.
Increasingly, however, organizations are turning to the Internet to find
passive candidates, through Web 2.0 technologies. Indeed, the third most
commonly cited activity cited by organizations for finding passive
candidates is visiting social networking sites (preceded by employee
referrals and industry events).
"We haven't done anything

especially creative. We are
beefing up our employee
referral program where we
believe there is good
opportunity for passive
candidates."
~ HR Manager. US Information
Technology Services Firm
Follow through with candidates. Human resource professionals

are often the point contact with job candidates throughout the
interviewing process. But line managers can play an important role
in managing the process as well, by following-up with candidates
after the initial interview to answer questions or offer additional
information about the job or the company. Only one-third (36%) of
Industry Average organizations indicate that line managers are
involved in follow-through with candidates. That percentage
increases to 48% among Best-in-Class organizations.
Best-in-Class Steps to Success
Explore new marketing outlets. Attracting, and keeping, talent

is made easier when an organization is perceived as an employer of
choice, according to both anecdotal evidence and data from
Aberdeens survey. Simply advertising job openings doesn't
accomplish that promoting the company culture and
opportunities does. Organizations should look for new mediums
and outlets in which to brand themselves as rewarding places to
work. That includes the use of banner advertising online on job
boards, chat rooms and community sites, search engine marketing,
pod casts, and video. Only one third (33%) of Best-in-Class
organizations are currently doing this.
Begin onboarding efforts earlier. An important process in

making new employees feel like part of the organization, and in
instilling satisfaction on the job, is onboarding. Traditionally,
onboarding starts with the date of hire. But companies are
increasingly recognizing the value of starting the process even
earlier. This requires that line managers, recruiting, and human
resources work together to better manage a new hire while they
are still in the interviewing stage. The good news is that half of Bestin-Class organizations (52%) have adopted this strategy currently.

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Obtain manager input. In order to ensure that recruiting efforts

have achieving desired results, it is important to get feedback from
managers on their experiences and satisfaction levels with new hires
into their departments. Organizations should therefore have a wellcrafted process for obtain manager feedback on the processes.
Currently, 50% of Best-in-Class organizations cite this as a
capability.
Solicit new hire feedback. Ultimately, the best measure of how

effective an organization's recruiting efforts are is how the process
is viewed by those that have gone through it. Hiring managers
should solicit feedback from new hires on their thoughts and
suggestions about the process. Currently, 51% of Best-in-Class
organizations are seeking this feedback.
Aberdeen Insights Summary
Two-thirds (66%) of all organizations indicate that they will increase their
talent acquisition efforts over the next 12 months. That will put even
greater pressure on current efforts to find and retain talent.
There are clear lessons in the survey data on which organizations will be
more successful in those efforts, and those lessons center around clearly
defined goals and expectations from a talent acquisition strategy. The key
to success is that an organization has clearly defined common behaviors
and skills of the top performers on staff. This will enable hiring managers
to seek the skills and attitudes in job candidates most likely to match
those behaviors.
New hires should be interviewed after the job offer, to obtain feedback
on the recruiting and hiring process, to make improvements to the
process as needed.
Clearly defined metrics should be in place to measure the quality of new
hires as they meet milestones through the first year on the job, to
evaluate how well they perform to expectation, and fit in with the
company culture.
Hiring managers and recruiters need to be trained in the use of new
technologies to find passive job candidates. Such workers can be a vital
source of talent and expertise, but have traditionally been invisible to
recruiting efforts. That must change, and talent acquisition programs
need to embrace new means and methods of engaging elusive, but vital,
talent in the workforce.
Finally, the entire organization should work together to collectively brand
the company as a best place to work. Recruiting should be seen as a staffwide function, not just the role of human resources. This is especially
important, since current employees are the most likely source for
desired new talent. If there truly are plenty more where they came from,
employees must have the desire not just the ability to help
employers make contact.
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Appendix A:
Research Methodology
Between June and July 2008, Aberdeen examined the use, the experiences,
and the intentions of more than 620 enterprises regarding their talent
acquisition initiatives.
Aberdeen supplemented this online survey effort with interviews with select
survey respondents, gathering additional information on recruitment
strategies, experiences, and results.
Responding enterprises included the following:
Job title / function: The research sample included respondents with

the following job titles: senior management (CEO, COO, CFO,
CIO, CTO, president) (4%); vice president (VP, SVP, EVP) (10%);
director (27%); manager (30%); others (29%). In terms of functions
in their respective organization, the majority of respondents (79%)
were in human resources (including recruiting, talent management,
training and organizational development). Other functional areas
represented operations (5%), and sales / marketing (5%).
Industry: The research sample included respondents from a variety
of industries. Telecom, hi-tech and IT (including software, hardware
and services) represented 13% of the sample, followed by consumer
durable goods (8%). Aerospace and defense represented 4% of the
sample.
Geography: The majority of respondents (88%) were from North
America. Remaining respondents were from Europe (6%), AsiaPacific (5%), and Middle East / Africa (1%).
Company size: Twenty-seven percent (27%) of respondents were

from large enterprises (annual revenues above US$1 billion); 43%
were from mid-sized enterprises (annual revenues between $50
million and $1 billion); 30% were from small businesses (annual
revenues less than $50 million.
Headcount: Thirty-seven percent (37%) of respondents had over

2500 employees; 14% had between 1000 and 2500 employees; 22%
had between 250 and 1000 employees; 27% of respondents came
from companies with less than 250 employees.
Study Focus
Responding HR executives and
practitioners completed an
online survey that included
questions designed to
determine the following:
The degree to which talent
acquisition technologies are
being utilized to track and
communicate with active
candidates and engage
passive candidates
The effectiveness of the
existing talent acquisition
program and system.
Current and planned use of
recruitment technology to
aid in talent acquisition
activities
The metrics used to
determine the quality of
hires
The study aimed to identify
emerging best practices for and
to provide a framework by
which readers could assess
their own talent acquisition
capabilities.
Solution providers recognized as sponsors were solicited after the fact and
had no substantive influence on the direction of this report. Their
sponsorship has made it possible for Aberdeen Group to make these
findings available to readers at no charge.

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Table 5: The PACE Framework Key

Overview
Aberdeen applies a methodology to benchmark research that evaluates the business pressures, actions, capabilities,
and enablers (PACE) that indicate corporate behavior in specific business processes. These terms are defined as
follows:
Pressures external forces that impact an organizations market position, competitiveness, or business
operations (e.g., economic, political and regulatory, technology, changing customer preferences, competitive)
Actions the strategic approaches that an organization takes in response to industry pressures (e.g., align the
corporate business model to leverage industry opportunities, such as product / service strategy, target markets,
financial strategy, go-to-market, and sales strategy)
Capabilities the business process competencies required to execute corporate strategy (e.g., skilled people,
brand, market positioning, viable products / services, ecosystem partners, financing)
Enablers the key functionality of technology solutions required to support the organizations enabling business
practices (e.g., development platform, applications, network connectivity, user interface, training and support,
partner interfaces, data cleansing, and management)
Table 6: The Competitive Framework Key

Overview
The Aberdeen Competitive Framework defines enterprises
as falling into one of the following three levels of practices
and performance:
Best-in-Class (20%) Practices that are the best
currently being employed and are significantly superior to
the Industry Average, and result in the top industry
performance.
Industry Average (50%) Practices that represent the
average or norm, and result in average industry
performance.
Laggards (30%) Practices that are significantly behind
the average of the industry, and result in below average
performance.
In the following categories:

Process What is the scope of process
standardization? What is the efficiency and
effectiveness of this process?
Organization How is your company currently
organized to manage and optimize this particular
process?
Knowledge What visibility do you have into key
data and intelligence required to manage this process?
Technology What level of automation have you
used to support this process? How is this automation
integrated and aligned?
Performance What do you measure? How
frequently? Whats your actual performance?
Table 7: The Relationship Between PACE and the Competitive Framework

PACE and the Competitive Framework How They Interact
Aberdeen research indicates that companies that identify the most influential pressures and take the most
transformational and effective actions are most likely to achieve superior performance. The level of competitive
performance that a company achieves is strongly determined by the PACE choices that they make and how well they
execute those decisions.

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Appendix B:
Related Aberdeen Research
Related Aberdeen research that forms a companion or reference to this
report includes:
Workforce Collaboration and Web 2.0: Improving Productivity by

Facilitating Knowledge Transfer; June 2008
Managing Employee Performance; May 2008
RPO: The Ins and Outs of Recruitment Process Outsourcing; March 2008
All Aboard: Effective Onboarding Techniques and Strategies; January

2008
The Global War for Talent: Getting What You Want Won't Be Easy; June
2007
Information on these and any other Aberdeen publications can be found at

www.aberdeen.com.
Author: David Weldon, Research Analyst, Human Capital Management

Practice, david.weldon@aberdeen.com
Since 1988, Aberdeen's research has been helping corporations worldwide become Best-in-Class. Having
benchmarked the performance of more than 644,000 companies, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to provide
organizations with the facts that matter the facts that enable companies to get ahead and drive results. That's why
our research is relied on by more than 2.2 million readers in over 40 countries, 90% of the Fortune 1,000, and 93% of
the Technology 500.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted
marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of HarteHanks (Information Opportunity Insight Engagement Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the
strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com
or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com
This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies
provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless
otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be
reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by
Aberdeen Group, Inc.

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Talent Acquisition Strategies

Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take Center Stage

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

This report, a compilation of survey responses from 620 organizations

Competitive Maturity Assessment

89% foster close collaboration between hiring managers and

"We identify good candidates

Assess the performance of new hires at specific intervals the first

2008 Aberdeen Group.

Telephone: 617 723 7890

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

2008 Aberdeen Group.

Telephone: 617 723 7890

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

Top Pressures are Shortage of Talent, Skills

Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2008

2008 Aberdeen Group.

Telephone: 617 723 7890

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

The Greatest Internal Challenge is Workforce Planning

Workforce turnover (36%)

Quality of job hires (35%)

Inability to reach (or connect with) ideal job candidates (30%)

Time to fill job requisitions (26%)

Obstacles in the Way

A lack of required HR resources

Inadequate applicant tracking processes

Confusion on how to find so-called passive applicants

A disconnect on how younger workers need to be courted

Lack of programs that cater to the flexible work needs of "retired"

The Maturity Class Framework

Overall program satisfaction of hiring managers

New hire retention (within first year of employment)

2008 Aberdeen Group.

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Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

Table 1: Top Performers Earn Best-in-Class Status

Mean Class Performance

Improved quality of hire on average by 32%

Improved quality of hire on average by 5%

Reduced quality of hire on average by 7%

The Best-in-Class PACE Model

Understanding of which applicant sources

Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2008

2008 Aberdeen Group.

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Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

Enhancing company brand and reputation in recruiting

Proactively searching for and communicating with

Marketing through new means (e.g. social networking

Emphasizing strategic workforce planning

Improving candidate pre-screening

Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2008

Use of email and other communications to promote the company,

Pre-screening candidates for technical competence, cited by 76%

Understanding of which applicant sources provide the best quality

2008 Aberdeen Group.

"Employees are encouraged to

Telephone: 617 723 7890

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take

Aberdeen Insights Strategy

2008 Aberdeen Group.

Telephone: 617 723 7890

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Employer Branding and Quality of Hire Take