Acquisition

Critical process of identifying needs, attracting, recruiting and selecting the right staff for roles in a firm. This is at the front-end of the firm’s HR practices. 

Identifying needs: 

HR must continually analyse the internal and external environments to determine the human resources requirements of the firm to meet the strategic goals of the business (revenue, market share, profitability). This involves:

• Internal environment: business goals and culture, HR performance, cost containment, specific skills required for future projects, financial resources, projections of revenue and expenses, job design and task design (operational requirements)

• External environment: economic conditions, availability of skilled labour (skills shortage), competition for human resources, legal factors, changes in technology, political / social factors (domestic and international).

Recruitment: 

Process of locating and attracting a pool of candidates for the role; internal and external; advertising for positions on various platforms. 

The reputation of the firm can influence number of applicants for role (desirability of firm).

Selection:

Process of filtering information on recruited pool of applicants; resume, interviews, background checks, referee checks. The best candidate is identified. 

Placement:

Placing or locating the employee in a position that best utilises their skills, experiences and personality to meet business needs.