The dynamism of the labour market demands that employers continue to design and implement strategies that will ensure they enhance their ability to attract and retain top talents.
Research has shown that for organisations to succeed in this challenging economic situation, there is great need to attract top talents who can revolutionise the way business is done with limited resources.
A cross section of respondents itemise the following as critical to attract top talents;
Top Employer Brand: The perception of the organisation in the labour market goes a long way to determine the extent to which it can attract and retain top talents.Employers with this understanding often engage external consultants to certify them as top employers. This helps portray the employer as the employer of choice.
Company Structure: Top talents are very concerned about the structure of a company. A large number of active and passive job seekers averred that they will not consider working for an organisation without proper structures even if they pay at above 50 percentile of the market. Organisations should ensure they develop and implement strategies to ensure they are properly structured in all ramifications. Systems, processes and policies should guide day to day engagements and not an unwritten set of rules that emanate from a subjective management composition of individual perspective.
Employee Development Focus: Research has shown that top talents are concerned about their continued development, hence they will gravitate towards organisations with great people development schemes. While top talents are self-motivated and self-led towards own competency development, they feel organisation should take a chunk of the responsibility to develop their talents. They see organisations with multiple platforms for talent development as ideal places to work. At the interview table, prospective employees need a reassurance that the company has a focus on talent development so they ask questions like; “What is your organisation’s practice on employee development?”
Pay at 50 percentile of Market Rate: The myth that top talents do not consider pay as a motivational factor is still a debated topic. However, companies whose pay position is at 50 percentile of and above the pay market rate attract more top talents than others who play at below 50 percentile of the pay market rate. This factor cannot be considered in isolation, as it works more effectively in combination with other factors that affect the companies’ ability to attract top talents.
In the next episode, we will consider the requirements for the top employer brand certification.
