Description
The challenge of talent management has two faces. First is how to find new people and second is how to retain the present workforce.
Challenges of Talent Management
The challenge of talent management has two faces. First is how to find new
people and second is how to retain the present workforce. Each of the
challenges has to be tackled in the most efficient way possible so that the
organization can achieve its objectives.
The First Challenge - Where to find new talent?
All the organizations are finding loads of business opportunities and
consequently, their revenues are growing at a rapid pace. The increasing
business opportunities has necessitated that these organizations go in for
massive recruitment. But, the question is where to find the best talent
which is able to fit the job description and also adjust to the organization’s
values and norms. If we scan the environment, we find there is a shortage of
skilled workforce that can be employed.
Some of the possible reasons that have led to the shortage are: -
Demographic Constraints:
This is a common problem faced by many of the developed
countries, where a large chunk of its population is nearing the age of
retirement or is over 50 years. USA, Germany and Japan are facing the same
problem. All these countries will see a decline in their workforce and talent.
In the coming years, they will see a great shortage in their skilled
professionals.
Existing Educational System:
The graduates and the postgraduates that are being churned out of
the universities are found to be ill-equipped to handle the challenges of the
workplace. They are mostly equipped with only the theoretical aspects of
the issues and lack the application part. The educational system is faulty and
does not take industry needs into consideration, resulting in a mismatch
between industry requirements and educational preparation.
Cost Factor:
Recruiting new employees is becoming tougher and tougher in the
developing countries, where the HR department has to sort out thousands
of applications for a handful of jobs. Finding right person for the right job
becomes a very difficult process. It also involves very high cost to conduct
the recruitment and selection process for such a large population of
applicants.
Attracting the Best Talent:
This is another challenge. As was the case in the past, the best
available talent is not just motivated by the name and fame of the
organization. Not any more. They have a new set of motivators like -
challenging work, conducive work environment and freedom from
bureaucratic structure.
The Second Challenge - How to retain the existing employees?
Gone are the days when a person would join an organization in his mid-20s
and would work till his retirement in the late-50s. Today the young
professionals hop jobs, especially during the first 4-5 years of their work life.
Though the Indian service industry is basking in the light of outsourced jobs
from the developed countries, they also cannot ignore the fact that the BPO
industry is also facing one of the highest attrition rates, in fact never heard
before in India, of around 35%.
It is a fact that it’s the people that add value to organizations. It is also a
fact that humans are a restless species who, unlike the immovable Banyan
Tree, cannot stay rooted in one place. People need to move on for one
reason or another, and the organization stands to lose.
Let us look at some of the reasons behind the massive attrition rates: -
1. Gap between organizational values and goals and the personal values
and goals is one of the major reasons of the attrition rates. If they go
parallel, there is no way both would be satisfied and inevitably, the
organization would lose out on a talented employee.
2. Working environment is another major factor. Employees in the
knowledge era demand creative and a democratic work environment.
Failure on the part of the management to provide such an
environment will result in a talented employee leaving the
organization.
3. The competitive world has made sure that there is high work pressure
on the employees of any organization. This has led to psychological
problems like stress, and in extreme situations, total burnouts. It also
leads to other health related problems.
4. Movement for higher salary is also common among the younger
professionals. There is no shortage for organizations who are looking
for talented employees and who are ready to shell out a hefty salary
for a talented person. Other lures like better job opportunities, higher
posts and overseas assignments are also major factors in the attrition
rates.
5. Not taking proper care during the recruitment and selection process
and not taking proper care to fit the right person to the right job also
breeds dissatisfaction among the employees.
6. Bad or opaque policies from management on issues of succession
planning and promotion, appointments for senior positions also is a
major factor which makes the organization lose out on the talented
employees.
7. The professionals have different aspirations at different times of their
career. During the initial years, they have good salary and foreign
assignments. Next on the list is working on cutting edge technology.
More seasoned professionals look for learning opportunities. So
employees tend to move to those organizations which provide them
with means to fulfill their aspirations.
Retaining the present employees is of the foremost importance to the
organizations because; the company would have already incurred heavy
costs in the form of training and development. Now if the organization has
to look for a replacement for the employee who has left, it involves a lot of
costs like - hiring costs, training costs and the induction costs.
Also it takes some time for the new employee to adjust to the new work
environment. During this time the productivity of the employee will be low.
The HR department will have to fit the new employee into a proper role in
the organization. Apart from causing the company a monetary loss and
breaks in their day-to-day operations, attrition contributes to knowledge
transfer, which is a great loss and adversely affects business.
doc_791210716.docx
The challenge of talent management has two faces. First is how to find new people and second is how to retain the present workforce.
Challenges of Talent Management
The challenge of talent management has two faces. First is how to find new
people and second is how to retain the present workforce. Each of the
challenges has to be tackled in the most efficient way possible so that the
organization can achieve its objectives.
The First Challenge - Where to find new talent?
All the organizations are finding loads of business opportunities and
consequently, their revenues are growing at a rapid pace. The increasing
business opportunities has necessitated that these organizations go in for
massive recruitment. But, the question is where to find the best talent
which is able to fit the job description and also adjust to the organization’s
values and norms. If we scan the environment, we find there is a shortage of
skilled workforce that can be employed.
Some of the possible reasons that have led to the shortage are: -
Demographic Constraints:
This is a common problem faced by many of the developed
countries, where a large chunk of its population is nearing the age of
retirement or is over 50 years. USA, Germany and Japan are facing the same
problem. All these countries will see a decline in their workforce and talent.
In the coming years, they will see a great shortage in their skilled
professionals.
Existing Educational System:
The graduates and the postgraduates that are being churned out of
the universities are found to be ill-equipped to handle the challenges of the
workplace. They are mostly equipped with only the theoretical aspects of
the issues and lack the application part. The educational system is faulty and
does not take industry needs into consideration, resulting in a mismatch
between industry requirements and educational preparation.
Cost Factor:
Recruiting new employees is becoming tougher and tougher in the
developing countries, where the HR department has to sort out thousands
of applications for a handful of jobs. Finding right person for the right job
becomes a very difficult process. It also involves very high cost to conduct
the recruitment and selection process for such a large population of
applicants.
Attracting the Best Talent:
This is another challenge. As was the case in the past, the best
available talent is not just motivated by the name and fame of the
organization. Not any more. They have a new set of motivators like -
challenging work, conducive work environment and freedom from
bureaucratic structure.
The Second Challenge - How to retain the existing employees?
Gone are the days when a person would join an organization in his mid-20s
and would work till his retirement in the late-50s. Today the young
professionals hop jobs, especially during the first 4-5 years of their work life.
Though the Indian service industry is basking in the light of outsourced jobs
from the developed countries, they also cannot ignore the fact that the BPO
industry is also facing one of the highest attrition rates, in fact never heard
before in India, of around 35%.
It is a fact that it’s the people that add value to organizations. It is also a
fact that humans are a restless species who, unlike the immovable Banyan
Tree, cannot stay rooted in one place. People need to move on for one
reason or another, and the organization stands to lose.
Let us look at some of the reasons behind the massive attrition rates: -
1. Gap between organizational values and goals and the personal values
and goals is one of the major reasons of the attrition rates. If they go
parallel, there is no way both would be satisfied and inevitably, the
organization would lose out on a talented employee.
2. Working environment is another major factor. Employees in the
knowledge era demand creative and a democratic work environment.
Failure on the part of the management to provide such an
environment will result in a talented employee leaving the
organization.
3. The competitive world has made sure that there is high work pressure
on the employees of any organization. This has led to psychological
problems like stress, and in extreme situations, total burnouts. It also
leads to other health related problems.
4. Movement for higher salary is also common among the younger
professionals. There is no shortage for organizations who are looking
for talented employees and who are ready to shell out a hefty salary
for a talented person. Other lures like better job opportunities, higher
posts and overseas assignments are also major factors in the attrition
rates.
5. Not taking proper care during the recruitment and selection process
and not taking proper care to fit the right person to the right job also
breeds dissatisfaction among the employees.
6. Bad or opaque policies from management on issues of succession
planning and promotion, appointments for senior positions also is a
major factor which makes the organization lose out on the talented
employees.
7. The professionals have different aspirations at different times of their
career. During the initial years, they have good salary and foreign
assignments. Next on the list is working on cutting edge technology.
More seasoned professionals look for learning opportunities. So
employees tend to move to those organizations which provide them
with means to fulfill their aspirations.
Retaining the present employees is of the foremost importance to the
organizations because; the company would have already incurred heavy
costs in the form of training and development. Now if the organization has
to look for a replacement for the employee who has left, it involves a lot of
costs like - hiring costs, training costs and the induction costs.
Also it takes some time for the new employee to adjust to the new work
environment. During this time the productivity of the employee will be low.
The HR department will have to fit the new employee into a proper role in
the organization. Apart from causing the company a monetary loss and
breaks in their day-to-day operations, attrition contributes to knowledge
transfer, which is a great loss and adversely affects business.
doc_791210716.docx