SHL Talent Measurement, CEB partnered with People Matters in 2013-14 for a year-long industry initiative to bring together talent acquisition (TA) professionals from various organisations in different industries in India to share best practices and understand contemporary developments in the function. A significant number of TA leaders who came together to participate in the events, half-day meetings, and webinars noted that while they have all the right intentions to bring about positive business impact, oftentimes their organisational rigidity, the lack of tested ideas, and the limited opportunity to learn from other industries hinders their momentum to change. The thoughts and practices shared during the course of the year brought to light the increasing importance of the talent acquisition function as a part of HR’s strategic contribution to the business. Beside leading edge talent acquisition tactics and thought leadership, the increasing influence of market drivers such as social media will drive organisations to alter their traditional way of looking at talent acquisition. This whitepaper attempts to bring together these leading-edge paradigms, not just in principle but also in the form of actual practices that companies have adopted to impact their respective business goals through talent acquisition.