NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jul 22, 2014) - The Human Capital Institute (HCI), the global institution for strategic talent management, today announced the release of its latest Talent Pulse, a quarterly research eBook exploring the biggest trends and challenges in managing talent. This latest edition explores some of the most timely and important topics in talent acquisition.

As employers continue to face a number of obstacles in hiring qualified candidates for their organizations, HCI's Talent Pulse is designed to provide HR practitioners and decision makers with the insight and best practices to effectively address future challenges in their talent acquisition strategies. The specific topics for the latest Talent Pulse research were determined by a survey of HCI members who indicated that employment branding, recruiting of passive candidates and social media recruitment were their most pressing issues.

To explore these topics, HCI surveyed more than 300 individuals ranging from individual contributors to C-level positions at their organization. In addition to this data, HCI interviewed a number of industry thought leaders and consulted numerous white papers, articles and books to supplement its quantitative data and provide a thorough look at the biggest challenges in talent acquisition today. Key findings from this research include:

• How to engage passive candidates: When it comes to passive candidates, hunting is more effective than gathering. Organizations that make passive candidate recruitment a key part of their talent acquisition strategy, provide a streamlined application process and know who they are targeting have more success in hiring passive candidates.
• Relationships matter: Employee referrals were rated as the most effective method for sourcing active candidates. Although social media for recruiting is used by 72 percent of organizations, only 55 percent of respondents agree that they are able to interact with candidates effectively through social media. The challenge for many is translating the number of followers and "likes" into meaningful relationships.
• Impact of employment brand: Although most organizations believe that a strong employment brand is essential to attract more top talent and increase the quality of hire, less than half of participants perceive their organization as having a strong brand.
  
  

"As competition for top talent continues to heat up, organizations must identify the strategies that can help them be seen as an employer of choice and connect with the best candidates," said Carl Rhodes, HCI's chief executive officer. "Our newest Talent Pulse research explores the issues that are top of mind for members of our community, while offering helpful tips they can implement at their organizations immediately. As a result, they can enhance their talent acquisition strategies and be better positioned to engage the individuals who can make a positive impact on their business." 

A complimentary copy of the latest Talent Pulse can be downloaded from: http://www.hci.org/hr-research/2014-talent-pulse-acquisition.

Additional information can be found in the corresponding webcast, "Talent Pulse Party: 2014 Talent Acquisition Research Results," available at: http://www.hci.org/lib/talent-pulse-party-2014-talent-acquisition-research-results.

About Human Capital Institute (HCI)

HCI is the global association for strategic talent management and new economy leadership, and a clearinghouse for best practices and new ideas. Our network of expert practitioners, Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 corporations, government agencies, global consultants and business schools contribute a stream of constantly evolving information, the best of which is organized, analyzed and shared with members through HCI communities, research, education and events. For more information, please visit www.hci.org.

About HCI Research

HCI is a premier thought leader in the new discipline of strategic talent management with an unparalleled reputation for innovation, leadership and excellence, demonstrated through cutting-edge research and analysis. HCI Research draws from the knowledge of a large network of executive practitioners, expert consultants, leading academics and thought leaders, as well as thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis, to produce insightful findings and recommendations that shape strategy and encourage action across the continuum of talent management. To learn more, please visit: http://www.hci.org/content/research.