The Article Summary Failure to hire the right employee can be very costly to a business. Studies indicate that turnover costs can amount to 200% of a companies’ annual wage bill or $8,000 for every leaving staff (Employee turnover – A Critical HR Benchmark, Employment Policy Foundation, 2002). This is not all – it is even more costly to retain an employee in the business for long. Therefore, businesses must strive to hire the right employee they need. High turnover expenses are reflective of the tactical method of staffing- where employees are merely replaced without considering their strategic suitability to the business. To achieve high performance, businesses should practice strategic talent acquisition. This implies streamlining talents with the strategic objectives of the business. To do this, the business first identifies the core competencies it requires in order to fulfill its mandate (Watterson Jr, Aldridge & Associates Inc). This is followed by employee screening using the right tools to minimize chances of misfit while at the same time standardizing staffing processes within the business as a whole. There are four steps to strategic talent acquisition. First, the business analyzes its jobs and identifies their critical competencies i.e. the knowledge, skills, and attributes which will enable the business to achieve its mission. Businesses require a myriad set of competencies and traits necessary for success. Skills, innovation, and creativity are some key pointers of employee performance. Other indicators include initiative, teamwork, and leadership as some traits that characterize high performers (How Bell Labs Creates Star Performers, Harvard Business Review). Secondly, the business determines the mechanisms of measuring the required traits and abilities of prospective employees. The business can use techniques such as competency models and behavioral or competency based interviews towards such. By reengineering an employees’ bio-data, a business may be able to predict their suitability for future roles. Thirdly, the business establishes the right staffing team. The team should be equipped with the skills to be able to gauge a prospective employees’ competence, ability and fit by asking the right questions. The hiring team must unearth and ensure the prospective employee has the desirable traits needed for the job. Finally, the business should adopt its cultural brand as a tool of talent acquisition. By creating a strong cultural brand, employees will be inspired and motivated to identify with the organizational way of doing things. Only the employees with the right attributes will be attracted to the business. To be successful in strategic talent acquisition, the business should train its staff to conduct all the above steps since only one component does not guarantee success. This will help the business avoid the main risk in staffing – that of misfit or hiring the wrong employee for the job. By adopting the strategic best fit policy, the business avoids common pitfalls in staffing such as stereotyping, biases, order effects, and non-verbal expressions. Reflective Summary I definitely agree with the above article content. This is bec