Just under a third of senior executives believe employee retention and training are the two main talent management concerns their industry will be facing until 2020.
This research was conducted by Robert Half, a specialised recruitment consultancy, which found that 31 per cent of senior executives hold the opinion that employee retention and training are the two main talent management concerns.
Larger businesses (35 per cent) are more concerned about talent retention than small and medium-sized businesses (29 per cent).
The ‘war for talent’ has intensified over the past 12 months as unemployment has been at low levels. Also 29 per cent of senior decision-makers say that talent attraction is a concern for the next year.
Under half (44 per cent) of chief information officers (CIO) feel the need to upskill existing employees. The technology sector are looking for skills such as strategic planning, problem-solving and interpersonal and communication skills, as they complement the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Areas such as finance and financial services biggest talent management concern is the need to improve workplace productivity (33 per cent and 37 per cent respectively).
Matt Weston, managing director, Robert Half UK said:
Skilled professionals today are often deciding between multiple competing job offers. This is creating a talent dilemma where businesses can get into a salary bidding war to attract these professionals, but this won’t always be enough to retain them. Businesses that align their job role, company mission and organisational culture with their desired candidate are more likely stand out in the hiring process – the key here is to offer a purpose-driven career choice.
Offering a competitive remuneration package and a range of employee benefits will aid both attraction and retention efforts. However, attracting and retaining an engaged workforce will ensure that productivity is maintained in the next 12 to 18 months.
Robert Half conducted this research in January 2019 by asking 700 senior decision-makers in businesses.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
