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The
War For Talent: Yes
that’s what is next on the menu so do you have the appetite?
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• Latest
research predicts a shortage of 1 million skilled workers by 2020.
• By the year end, for every 2 workers leaving the workforce, only 1 will
enter.
• 2.6 new jobs are expected to be created for every person entering the
workforce.
• Younger workers are now bosses of the older workers.
This is the situation in the battle field are you ready????
The most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be
talent: smart, sophisticated business-people who are technologically
literate, globally astute, and operationally agile.
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Talent
really does matter – for example “top software developers are more
productive than an average software developer not by 10x, 100x, or even
1000x … but 10,000x” Nathan Myhrvold, former Chief Scientist, Microsoft.
The war for talent is fierce, no body is taking prisoners; and is likely
to become more so with the massive number of employees retiring in the
next five years. Top organizations no longer want the tag of “employer of
choice” they are adopting to more rigorous strategy of attracting and
retaining the right employees through branding.”
Traditional workforce planning is being replaced by talent strategies and
skills gap analysis. Once they determine the gap, it becomes clear what
talent they need to hire, to layoff, or to develop or transfer internally.
One can no longer sit and relax if things are working smoothly, its time
we followed Murphy’s Law “if everything is working perfectly it invariably
means that you have overlooked something” yes, this is the kind of
skepticism that will keep you and your company afloat in this fierce
battle, where no one is ready to grant an inch.
Now is the time that one has to shake up the whole organization; filter it
and separate the “go getters” from the “flatters”. For if you allow
yourself to be flattered (read: fooled) then tomorrow when your company
faces the crunch you’ll be the least flattered. When you set out in search
for these talents remember; you’ll not find them strolling in the corridor
of popularity in the contrary you’ll find them alone… working away. It
will be your job to make them a part of the workforce without hurting
their productivity.
Traditional marketing policies have to be adapted to make your
company attractive to the right kind of people. You being a “successful”
company may be attractive to your clients but it does not convey to your
employees how much of that success are you ready to share with the people
who are helping you to achieve it. Your employees need to view you as a
place of” continuous learning, work-life balance, personally-fulfilling
roles and innovative reward and recognition programs.
The amount you invest in selling yourself to your clients has to be
complemented equally in terms of money and energy for selling yourself to
your employees. It’s not very far away when you’ll need to hire HR
managers with marketing skills…. Yes you can laugh, but so did the world
when they were first informed that the world is round…
Some recruitment effectiveness strategies include
• Employment branding Build your image in such a way that you your
company becomes a must have in any respectable CV. Better still your
company’s name should be the differentiating point between an average and
an outstanding CV.
• Ongoing
recruiting, not stop-start You have to recruit keeping the future in
mind and not the just the present scenario. This means making recruitment
an ongoing process and not a one off process.
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Nurturing
relationships with strong candidates, even though no jobs for them are
currently available.
Work keeping in mind that there’ll be a tomorrow. So if you spot a
potential candidate, hang on even if you can’t offer something on the
moment. Make them feel that the loss is yours and get them back at the
first possible opportunity.
• Referrals
–This is particularly effective with Generation “Y”ers. They do
everything through leveraging their networks. They are always connected –
using mobile phones, text messaging, instant messaging, blogging or email.
Encash on this, and share the dough.
• Realistic
job previews Don’t promise something to candidates which you know the
job won’t provide. This is not just in respect with payments but also
about the challenges that the job offers. some thing which is genuinely
good may flop because you over hyped it.
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• Managers
trained in interviewing : Interviews are no longer just about asking
questions to the candidate it’s; about judging the candidate’s potential.
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• Selection
criteria – Can they do the job? (Competencies) Will they do the job?
(Motivation) Can we offer them what they are looking for? (Cultural Fit)
these are the fields in forms marked with “*” the answers are COMPULSORY.
It will be on these answers that will decide that the candidate is in or
not.
• Rapid
response and follow up – Hard to hire skills are in high demand
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Most candidates will not get jobs But they might
be current or future customers, hence the importance of handling
the rejection process effectively. Get feedback from candidates
who weren’t selected; even their feedback is important.
The battle field is ready; the swords are drown the fight is on. So be
prepared remember that the fight is not meant to be easy. “Resources
are scarce” we have heard that since ages; now is the time that we do
something about it. So check your arsenal (read: policies). Prepare you
battle cry and fight for tomorrow as if there is no tomorrow.
Contributing Authors: Sajiri Chidgupkar & Monimoy
Sen Gupta, HR Students - IMED ( Bharti Vidyapeeth University)
monimoy@gmail.com
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