Cracking the talent management code
Singapore – To attract and retain top talent better, companies simply need to take their cue from high performing competitors and align their talent management strategies with desired business outcomes to see results.
Findings from Watson Wyatt’s 2008/2008 Strategic Rewards study revealed companies that tailor their reward and talent management strategies to specific business drivers tend to have better success in terms of attracting and retaining top talent. Having an integrated approach has led to 20% of respondents “less likely to experience problems attracting critical skill employees” and 18% having less trouble retaining top-performing employees. Similarly, 18% of companies polled are more likely to be in the financially high performing tier.
One running theme these successful companies have is providing a credible employee value proposition (EVP) in their organisations, says Laura Sejen, Watson Wyatt’s global practice director on strategic rewards. This is shown with over 75% of high performing firms reporting they deliver exactly what they have promised to their employees and companies that were unable to live up to their EVP make up 50% of the low performers. Sejen says, “If you don’t deliver on the promise, then you are going to start having issues of trust. The impact on employee engagement and performance, frankly, is huge.”
| Actions taken to combat stress and effectiveness of actions | ||
| ACTION REPORTED | ACTION VIEWED AS EFFECTIVE | |
| Strengthened performance management process | 56% | 52% |
| Improved communications from Management | 56% | 34% |
| Improved availability of training | 51% | 30% |
| Reengineered work processes | 45% | 51% |
| Improved flexible work schedules | 38% | 49% |
Plugging the IT talent gap with training
Singapore – Companies must start investing in the skill sets of their existing or new IT talent hires now to deal with the severe IT labour shortage or risk business success.
With organisations heading into a more customer-centric focus, the lack of experienced IT professionals is straining on their ability to serve customers well. According to the IT Skills Study in Asia Pacific by Kelly Services, 80% of 440 companies polled feel the lack IT talent shortage has a moderate to severe adverse effect on their business. Besides uncompetitive salary packages (40%) and weak talent retention programmes (36%), around 42% of respondents cited the lack of experience amongst their organisation’s current IT workforce as the main driver of the IT talent crunch.
This is not surprising given most of the current IT employee demographics are formed by fresh graduates who are unequipped to meet current business demands. Coupled with the anticipated large numbers of baby boomers retiring soon and constant innovations in technology, existing IT skills are being forced into rapid extinction within two to four years, predicted the study.
While innovation does open up new opportunities for specialised IT skills in the market, it also puts a greater focus on the lack of talent available to take over the roles. Especially in Singapore and many countries in Asia Pacific where IT job market has been very active in the past three years, says Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president for Kelly Services Asia Pacific. “Due to the setting up of IT hubs and regional shared services centres which see a boost in the demand for experienced IT professionals and teams to manage and support these operations.”
Yet companies are not resorting to high wages to lure and retain the best IT talent as they fear it could lead to higher operating margins and wage inflation. Instead, to cope with the shortfall, 70% of respondents said they are looking to poach workers from other companies, 65% said they would train existing employees and 48% would hire and train fresh graduates. Just 20% of respondents would consider hiring foreign IT talent to narrow the skills gap.
Rather than driving up employee costs which may not be effective in the long run, Shantilal suggests companies offer employees opportunities to develop new skills and competencies as an alternative.
However, a high-performing IT workforce requires more than good academic qualifications, experience and technical skills. Shantilal said, “Business or soft skills are just as important for IT professionals in order to succeed in their job.”
