Comment
By Simone Lockhart
The term "war for talent" was first coined by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company in 1997. In the McKinsey Quarterly, Hankin foresaw that companies were about to become “engaged in a war for senior executive talent that will remain a defining characteristic of their competitive landscape for decades to come".
Fast forward to 2021 and most would argue the battle is still as fierce. And as we exit the pandemic are we entering a new combat zone, as companies compete to attract and retain the people and skills to aid recovery, support their new business strategy and return to growth?
It’s also not a battle that is exclusive to senior executive levels. Recent data published by Broadbean found that advertised job vacancies in the first quarter of this year rose across all areas by a total of 20 per cent on the previous three months, yet with just a 6% rise in applications. This tells us that to be on the winning side we’re going to have to fight harder than ever to triumph in securing top talent.
And fight we must! But before we do – we need a plan.
READ MORE: The hybrid recruitment journey has just begun
Firstly, we need to secure our key people and have a retention strategy that ensures we keep the right talent with our businesses. We all know it’s not just about pay, but remaining competitive will be critical because rival organisations will start to make advances with the promise of increased packages to entice your employees into new career conversations.
That said, it’s the overall employee proposition that keeps people connected and how that makes them feel valued across all aspects of their employment is what will make them want to stay. My advice: make sure everyone in your organisation knows what that proposition is and invest the time in talking to your people about your plans for the business, where they fit in and what it means to them. Make it personal as well as letting them know they’re part of a winning team.
READ MORE: Harnessing the power of your staff when hiring
The same is true when looking to attract new talent. Do you have a game plan to target new recruits? Do you really know your competition – their strengths and weakness? Are you working hard to identify and target key talent in the industry and does your employer proposition have the right ingredients to attract people away from their current employer – all of whom will be working hard to keep them? Can you really articulate why you are a great employer and are you promoting this well across all of your attraction routes?
Last, but by no means least: battles are won through the most senior people leading the charge. We must make sure this is a boardroom discussion and the passion for retaining, attracting and developing talent is a priority for everyone in the organisation.
Simone Lockhart is group commercial director of the Taranata Group
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