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While none of us can predict the future, we do not need a crystal ball to tell us that as the Baby Boomers retire in the next decade, there will be a mass exodus of talented and experienced employees leaving the workforce. What does that mean to you, as one of the leaders of your organization? Do you see the exodus of the “Boomers” as an opportunity to reduce your labor and health care cost, or, are you concerned that the “War for Talent” will lead to a bidding war with compensation costs spiraling out of control? One thing is certain, organizations that do not begin developing their talent management systems now will be susceptible to being negatively impacted in the very near future.
As a leader, what can you do to minimize the people risk to your organization? You can start by looking at your Human Resources (HR) leadership. Are you confident that your HR leadership is capable of developing and implementing a talent strategy to ensure success? Can he/she articulate the talent strategy successfully to gain support? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you should feel comfortable that a key component of your management team in place. Now what? What HR strategies are critical to the long-term success of a talent strategy?
- Recruit talent incessantly – Top organizations recruit the best and the brightest to join their teams. Even in slow economies, these companies are always looking to upgrade their talent pool. Recruiting is marketing your organization to a different target audience. It is critical to be able to differentiate your opportunities from those of your competition. Social media is here to stay and will only grow stronger in the future.
- Compete for talent – Once you have the talent on board, it is essential to provide reward programs (salary, incentive compensation and benefits) which are market competitive. Unlike the “Boomers”, the next generation of talent does not typically view employment as a long-term contract between the employer and employee. The “playing field” for top talent in the future will be more level than ever before.
- Engage your top talent – Many successful companies have already realized the benefits of employee engagement and regularly survey their employees to ensure alignment of their culture and operations with their employee’s needs. Top companies take this initiative one step further and target their efforts on analyzing the engagement levels of their top performers. Targeting your focus on this group insures that they are aware of their importance and connection to the future of the organization.
- Listen to your talent – In addition to the employee engagement techniques discussed above, it is critical for leadership to routinely meet with all the employees of the organization and front-line supervisors to know what is important to the building blocks of the organization.
If you would like to discuss your organization’s human resources strategy or how to reduce your People Risk by analyzing your employee engagement, please feel free to contact me at 732.395.4251 or asica@thealsgroup.com.