When companies offer limited opportunities
Juni Kuntari, Accenture, Senior Manager, Human Performance
Today's "war for talent" is still real but unfortunately, it's being fought mainly in hot spots and on selective fronts. Hence, we risk overreacting at the expense of building a solid defense.
Companies must realize that compensation is neither the main cause, nor the cure, for losing important people.
The principal reasons for the unwanted turnover that emerged, were determined through a survey by the Conference Board and Accenture, in 2001 through interviews with staff workers.
Some of the factors included limited the opportunities workers had within a company; personal growth opportunities in dot-coms and other new companies, uncertain work environment, and poor relations with management.
In that case, what should companies do? The latest strategic weapon focuses on a combination of recruitment and retention.
We see that many companies are investing in new recruitment strategies to address the needs of the day, and they are doing so with some success. These programs include, e-cruiting, shortening the time required for decision making, and focusing on new talent pools.
However, on the other hand, there are some exciting retention strategies emerging. The emergence of retention strategy should actually be one of the most promising new developments for keeping the talent war at manageable levels.
Some of today's emerging retention strategies focus on the kinds of "carrots" that used to be offered only at the executive level. In addition, there is a slew of more qualitative attractions that seem to get the best results.
They include:
* Engaging senior executives to lead corporation-wide programs to increase workers' loyalty, reduce turnover and, in doing so, becoming an exemplary "employer of choice."
* Performance-based compensation which rewards key talent with more of an explicit stake relating to the success of the business.
* More employee ownership through stock, options, or equity participation programs.
* Accommodation of individual needs through flexible work assignments, alternative career paths, and a greater array of work-life choices.
Recruiting and retention strategies alone don't get the job done. Ultimately, a company succeeds by employing the right people in the right jobs at the right time.
Our research indicates that good employment practices lead naturally to ongoing rapid "re-employment" of valuable human resources within a company -- wherever and whenever they're needed.
Some of the re-employment programs that caught our eye were:
* Rapid re-assignment of employees coming off assignments, reducing downtime between projects.
* Automation and redesign of work forecasting, skills databases, and availability tracking
* Comprehensive, internal job postings, and support for career development assignments.
* Self-service tools that enable employees to identify opportunities, and keep information about their availability and skills current.
* Most importantly, employees should be shown how their behavior affects the whole company and are then held responsible for their respective areas. This level of specificity is crucial for their motivational drive.