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Model 09 of 74 · Leadership & People

Talent Acquisition Maturity Assessment

Assess how well your organisation attracts, selects, and secures the people it needs.

Pillars & areas

Plan

Know who you need

  1. 01Hiring Demand & Role Definition
  2. 02Employer Brand & Attraction

Attract

Reach the right people

  1. 03Sourcing & Talent Pipelines
  2. 04Selection & Assessment

Select

Choose well and fairly

  1. 05Candidate Experience & Offers
  2. 06Hiring Analytics & Onboarding Handover

Levels

  1. 1Vacancy-DrivenReactive & gut-feel hiring
  2. 2Structured HiringConsistent & measured
  3. 3Talent-MagneticPlanned, fair & sought-after

01 Hiring Demand & Role Definition

Does the organisation understand what roles it needs, and define them clearly before it starts recruiting?

0/4 answered

HP-1How does your organisation anticipate the roles it will need to fill?

Think about whether hiring needs are known in advance from business plans, or whether recruitment mostly starts when someone resigns.

HP-2How is a new or replacement role justified before recruitment begins?

Consider whether vacancies are automatically refilled as they were, or whether each one is a prompt to rethink the work.

HP-3How are the requirements for a role defined?

Look at whether criteria describe what the job really needs, or whether they include habits such as unnecessary degree requirements or years-of-experience thresholds.

HP-4How well aligned are hiring managers and recruiters before a search starts?

Think about whether everyone involved agrees on the profile, process, timeline and decision-makers before the first candidate is contacted.

02 Employer Brand & Attraction

Do the people the organisation wants to hire know about it, understand what it offers, and want to apply?

0/4 answered

EB-1How clearly does your organisation describe what it is like to work there?

Consider whether candidates can find a genuine picture of the culture, work and people — not just generic claims about being a great place to work.

EB-2How are job adverts written?

Think about whether adverts are written to attract the right people, or are internal documents published as-is.

EB-3How open is your organisation about pay and benefits during recruitment?

Consider whether candidates know the salary range before applying, or only find out at offer stage.

EB-4How much do current employees help attract new people?

Look at referral rates and whether employees genuinely recommend the organisation, rather than being asked to share adverts.

03 Sourcing & Talent Pipelines

Does the organisation reach the right candidates through the right channels, and build relationships before roles open?

0/4 answered

SP-1How does your organisation choose where to look for candidates?

Think about whether channels are chosen based on evidence of what works for each type of role, or out of habit.

SP-2How does your organisation approach people who are not actively looking for a job?

Consider whether anyone proactively identifies and contacts potential candidates, or whether the organisation waits for applications.

SP-3Does your organisation build pools of potential candidates before roles open?

Think about whether strong past applicants, alumni and interested people are kept in touch with, or forgotten once a role is filled.

SP-4How are internal candidates considered for vacancies?

Consider whether employees hear about opportunities and are genuinely considered, or whether roles are filled externally by default.

04 Selection & Assessment

Are hiring decisions based on fair, consistent and job-relevant evidence rather than instinct?

0/4 answered

SA-1How are interviews structured?

Think about whether every candidate for a role is asked comparable questions and scored against the same criteria.

SA-2How are the people who interview candidates prepared for the role?

Consider whether interviewers are trained, or whether anyone who is available is asked to join a panel.

SA-3How are final hiring decisions made?

Look at whether decisions are based on the evidence collected, or on the most senior person's preference.

SA-4How does your organisation check that its selection methods are fair and effective?

Consider whether anyone looks at which candidates progress at each stage, and whether people hired through the process actually succeed.

05 Candidate Experience & Offers

Are candidates treated with respect and kept informed, and are offers made quickly and competitively?

0/4 answered

CX-1How well are candidates kept informed during the process?

Think about whether candidates know what to expect and hear back promptly at every stage, including when they are unsuccessful.

CX-2How accessible is your recruitment process?

Consider whether disabled candidates and people with caring responsibilities or other needs can take part on an equal footing.

CX-3How quickly and effectively does your organisation make offers?

Think about how long it takes from final interview to a written offer, and how often preferred candidates accept.

CX-4Does your organisation ask candidates about their experience?

Consider whether feedback is collected from candidates — including those who were not offered a job — and used to make changes.

06 Hiring Analytics & Onboarding Handover

Does the organisation measure the quality and efficiency of its hiring, and ensure new hires start well?

0/4 answered

HA-1What does your organisation measure about its hiring?

Think about whether hiring is managed with data — speed, cost, sources, conversion at each stage — or by anecdote.

HA-2How does your organisation judge whether it made good hires?

Consider whether anyone looks back at hires after six or twelve months to see how they are performing and whether they stayed.

HA-3How is a new hire handed over from recruitment to their first day?

Think about whether there is a gap between offer acceptance and starting, where new hires hear nothing and preparations are left to the last minute.

HA-4How does your organisation manage compliance and data in recruitment?

Consider right-to-work checks, retention of candidate data, privacy notices and consistency with employment law.

Self-assessment report

Talent Acquisition

Answer the questions above and your report builds here: an overall score, a score and target for each area, and the three changes that matter most.

About this model

About the Talent Acquisition maturity model

Every hire is a decision with consequences that last for years. Yet in many organisations recruitment is treated as an administrative task: a vacancy appears, an advert goes out, and whoever applies in time is interviewed by whoever is available. The result is slow hiring, inconsistent decisions, missed talent and avoidable early leavers — costs that rarely show up in a single budget line but are felt everywhere.

This model treats talent acquisition as a business capability in its own right. It looks at how hiring needs are defined, how the organisation presents itself to the people it wants, how candidates are found, how fairly and accurately they are assessed, how they are treated along the way, and whether the organisation learns from its own hiring data. Mature talent acquisition is not about expensive tools or large recruitment teams; it is about making deliberate, evidence-based decisions that are fair to candidates and good for the organisation.

The Talent Acquisition maturity model contains 24 questions across 6 areas, covering the full hiring journey from identifying the need for a role through to a successful start. Each question describes three levels of maturity through concrete, observable practices. It complements the broader People & Talent model by going deeper into how the organisation attracts, assesses and secures new people, and is designed for organisations of any size — from those hiring a handful of people a year to those with dedicated recruitment teams.

Who this assessment is for

  • HR leaders and talent acquisition or recruitment teams
  • Hiring managers who regularly recruit for their teams
  • Founders and leaders of growing organisations where hiring is a bottleneck
  • DEI leads looking at fairness and access in recruitment
  • Operations and finance leaders concerned with time-to-hire, cost-per-hire or early attrition

The three maturity levels

  • Level 1 — Vacancy-Driven: Hiring is triggered by resignations or sudden pressure rather than planned. Job descriptions are recycled, adverts go wherever someone thinks of, and each hiring manager runs their own process. Interviews are unstructured conversations and decisions rest on instinct and personal rapport. Candidates often wait weeks without hearing anything, and nobody knows how long hiring takes, what it costs, or how good the resulting hires turn out to be.
  • Level 2 — Structured Hiring: A consistent hiring process is used across the organisation. Roles are defined with clear, job-relevant criteria before advertising, sourcing uses a planned mix of channels, and interviews follow a structured format with agreed scoring. Hiring managers and interviewers are trained, candidates receive timely communication, and basic metrics — time-to-hire, offer acceptance, source of hire — are tracked and reviewed.
  • Level 3 — Talent-Magnetic: Hiring is anticipated through workforce planning, so pipelines of interested people exist before roles open. The organisation has a clear, honest reputation as an employer, and many strong candidates come through referrals and direct interest. Selection methods are validated against on-the-job performance and monitored for fairness. Candidates — including those who are rejected — describe the experience positively, and hiring data is used to improve every stage of the process.

The 6 areas assessed

1. Hiring Demand & Role Definition

How hiring needs are identified and how roles are defined before recruitment begins. This area looks at whether hiring is anticipated or reactive, whether every vacancy is challenged and justified, whether role requirements are genuinely job-relevant, and whether hiring managers and recruiters agree on what success looks like before candidates are approached.

2. Employer Brand & Attraction

How the organisation presents itself to potential candidates and how attractive it is as an employer. This area covers whether the organisation has a clear and honest account of what it is like to work there, how job adverts are written, whether pay and benefits information is transparent, and whether current employees actively recommend the organisation to others.

3. Sourcing & Talent Pipelines

How candidates are found and how relationships with potential future hires are built. This area examines the choice of sourcing channels, proactive outreach to people who are not actively applying, the development of talent pools for recurring and critical roles, and the role of internal candidates in filling vacancies.

4. Selection & Assessment

How candidates are assessed and how hiring decisions are made. This area covers the structure of interviews and assessments, interviewer capability, the way decisions are reached, and whether the organisation checks that its selection methods predict success and treat all groups of candidates fairly.

5. Candidate Experience & Offers

How candidates experience the recruitment process from application to acceptance. This area looks at communication and responsiveness, accessibility and reasonable adjustments, the speed and quality of offers, and whether the organisation asks candidates — including unsuccessful ones — for feedback and acts on it.

6. Hiring Analytics & Onboarding Handover

How the organisation measures hiring performance and connects recruitment to a successful start. This area covers the metrics used to manage hiring, the measurement of quality of hire, the handover from recruitment to onboarding, and how hiring data and compliance obligations are governed.

How this model relates to other frameworks

This is an original, simplified maturity model and is not derived from or intended to replace any of the following. However, organisations that use this assessment may also find value in these established frameworks:

  • ISO 30414 (Human capital reporting) — guidelines for internal and external reporting on human capital, including recruitment metrics
  • CIPD guidance on recruitment and selection — practical guidance from the UK professional body for HR and people development
  • SHRM resources on talent acquisition — practitioner resources from the Society for Human Resource Management
  • Equality and employment legislation in your jurisdiction — for example the UK Equality Act 2010 or equivalent laws, which set legal requirements for fair recruitment

Frequently asked questions

What is the Talent Acquisition maturity model?

Assess how well your organisation attracts, selects, and secures the people it needs. It is an original, simplified model with three maturity levels (Vacancy-Driven, Structured Hiring and Talent-Magnetic), assessed through 24 questions across 6 areas: Hiring Demand & Role Definition, Employer Brand & Attraction, Sourcing & Talent Pipelines, Selection & Assessment, Candidate Experience & Offers and Hiring Analytics & Onboarding Handover.

How long does the Talent Acquisition assessment take?

Most people finish in 10–14 minutes. Each of the 24 questions has three concrete answer options. Your progress is saved in the page URL, so you can bookmark it and come back later.

How is the score calculated?

Each answer scores 1 (Vacancy-Driven), 2 (Structured Hiring) or 3 (Talent-Magnetic). An area's score is the average of its answered questions, and the overall score is the average of the area scores, so every area counts equally. Scores run from 1.0 to 3.0.

Is my data stored or shared?

No. Your answers are never sent to a server. They are stored only in the page URL, which you control. Copy the link to share results with colleagues, or export a PDF or CSV report.

How should I use the results?

Start with "Where to focus" in your report. It lists the questions with the biggest gap to the target you set for each area, and shows what the next level looks like in practice. For a fuller picture, ask several people from different teams to complete the assessment and compare their links. Differences in perception are often as revealing as the scores themselves.