Workflow 4
Talent Acquisition
Full-cycle recruiting, varied by employee type
Illustrative current-practice design
This is one worked example of how the process is commonly run, not a standard and not advice. Timings, thresholds and percentages are illustrative. Verify anything legally sensitive against local law and your own counsel.
Use it as a complete starting point, then adjust it for your company's strategy, culture, workforce, jurisdiction, collective agreements, technology, risk appetite and future-of-work direction.
Content last reviewed 28 July 2026.
Philosophy
Recruiters hunt rather than wait. The hiring manager owns the decision and delivers the offer; TA owns speed, structure, and the quality of the slate.
Cadence
Continuous, against the approved workforce plan
The steps
- 01
Requisition and intake
- Hiring manager raises the requisition in the ATS once headcount is approved
- HRBP validates the role against the approved plan and budget
- Recruiter runs an intake call: success metrics, non-negotiables, deal-breakers, the compelling story, panel and decision timeline
- 02
Posting and sourcing
- Internal posting live for 5 business days; internal applicants screened within 72 hours
- External launch: LinkedIn and specialist boards for technical roles, general and local boards for frontline roles, industry sources for regulated roles
- Active sourcing via LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, referrals, community networks
- Referral trigger goes out the same day as posting
- Diverse slate: at least two qualified candidates from underrepresented groups before anyone advances
- Weekly update to the hiring manager: volume, sourcing momentum, market insight
- 03
Screening
- Applications screened within 72 hours
- 30-minute phone screen: must-have skills, availability, compensation fit, cultural alignment
- Shortlist of 3-5 candidates with brief profiles to the hiring manager
- Fewer than 3 qualified after 21 days: escalate sourcing strategy, add tools or agency support
- 04
Interviews
- Tech, 3 rounds. Technical screen, technical panel (coding + system design), hiring manager
- Frontline roles: 2 rounds
- Licensed / investment, 3 rounds. Registration and comp structure, technical knowledge and client philosophy, BU head
- Senior and corporate, 3-4 rounds. HRBP screen, functional panel, CHRO or CEO for VP level, optional psychometrics
- Standardised scorecards in the ATS for every interviewer, then a final decision meeting
- 05
References, offer, handoff
- References and background verification over 5-10 days; registration status confirmed for licensed roles
- Offer approval routing: in-band to TA Manager; above midpoint or small bonus to HRBP + BU Head; large bonus or equity to CHRO + Finance
- Hiring manager delivers the verbal offer personally, not TA
- On acceptance TA triggers onboarding in the HRIS and flags the second-choice candidate as pipeline
Who does what (RACI)
| Step | Responsible | Accountable | Consulted | Informed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requisition validation | HRBP | BU Head | Finance | TA |
| Sourcing and slate | Recruiter | TA Manager | Hiring Manager | HRBP |
| Selection decision | Hiring Manager | BU Head | Panel, HRBP | TA |
| Offer approval | TA Manager | CHRO (above band) | Finance | Hiring Manager |
SLAs to track
Tech roles
45 days
Frontline roles
21 days
Licensed roles
35 days
Senior roles
60 days
Application screen
72 hours
Stress tests
Hiring manager goes silent
Escalate to HRBP at the 48-hour mark.
Top candidate declines
Silver medalist list activates; decline reason documented to inform comp and brand.
Background check issue
Conditional offer language plus legal consultation before any withdrawal.
30+ days, no qualified tech candidates
Bring in agency or RPO and re-test whether the job description is realistic.
Mid-year role addition
Emergency approval required before recruiting starts; internal candidates get priority consideration.
Future-of-work considerations
- Skills-based screening in place of degree and tenure proxies
- Published ranges where transparency rules apply
- AI-assisted sourcing and scheduling with human decisions on selection
- Bias and explainability checks on any scoring tool
- Distributed and global hiring changing the assessment panel