Virginia Human Resources Today - Summer 2008 - (Page 29)

By Genevieve Roberts Tactics for Winning the Talent War percent, forcing companies to actively recruit passive job seekers. The war for talent is not new, but it’s intensifying every day, as the talent pool continues to shrink. But how bad is it, and what are companies doing to win the war for top talent? Forty-three percent of HR professionals surveyed by SHRM indicated that demographic shifts of skilled workers would have a “major impact” on their organizations. Fourteen percent feel the need to radically restructure to compensate. And 48 percent felt the need to develop better retention strategies. s rate es st rategies. tegies Fewer College Graduates Although more men and women are entering college, the number of graduates is dropping. In 5 to 10 years, competition for college-educated talent will tighten dramatically. Immigration Constraints Since 9/11, skilled foreigners are being denied entry in record numbers. H-1B v isas issued for highly skilled H 1B visas issued for high ly ski lled visas ssue isa ued ig y k i l d ill workers have shrunk from 200,000 work r have sh u n f ro workers have sh r un k from 200,000 k hr 0,000 per year in 2001 to 65,000. Ou r share 2001 per year i n 2001 to 65,000. Our share e ea 65,000 Ou shar 5,000. ha r of overseas travelers si nce 2000 has overseas travelers si c 20 0 has f versea r eler since 2000 as e ea lers 000 dropped 0 percent. drop ed 20 percent. roppe ercent e The Challenge Understand i n what driv Understa nd ing wh t d r ives the r Understanding what drives the curan h rent abor h t g r nt labor shortage helpf ul: rent labor shortage is helpful: bor elpf u p Aging Wor orce Aging Workforc Aging Workforce n Baby boomers will ex the workBaby boomers w il l ex it t he worky oom rs i exit h o force practically fo c prac t ca ll en masse—79 mi ll ion force prac tica l ly en masse—79 million ac lly s e—79 mill ion l within years. U.S. unemployment within 10 ye r U.S unemploy me w ith in 10 years. U.S. unemploy ment hn S employm rates ontin rate cont n e roppin (fro rates cont inue dropping (f rom 4.6 perrates continue d ropping (from 4.6 perin o r cent 4.3 percent 2006) cen i n 2005 to 4. perc n cent in 2005 to 4.3 percent in 2006) 2005 rcen 2006) 0 with rg i n i hovering around w h Virginia hov ring at arou d 2.7 with Virgi nia hoveri ng at arou nd 2.7 i ound Winning Tactic Winning Tactic Winning Tactics ctic tics Grow u Ow Grow Your Own Grow Your Own Reta in l n Ret i n talent by assessi ng vacancies, Retain talent by assessing vacancies, sses i n ses a ancies s selecting talent with potent l, and sel ctin ta le select ing ta lent w it h pote t ial, a nd elect n ith it potential, e , grooming r u cess example, groomi ng for success. groomi ng for success. For example, a min i r e ample, p ﬁ rm t hat is expanding its technological that is expandi ng its technolog ical ha xpa nd i ng ts e no g ca l ndi products ay ee p d c ts may need to ll engi neer ing produc ts may need to ﬁ l l engineering gi neer n i r and marketing jobs, which means that recruiting processes, compensation levels and hiring techniques may need revamping. Select employees who have potential for movement. For example, Toyota reports that only “10 percent of job applicants pass screening tests that include team-building exercises” because it believes this attribute has helped build a great company. Once employees are targeted for potential roles, assess where they are against a competency model and create agai nst competency agai nst competency model and create i p el n an individualized development plan a i nd iv idua lized d e pmen plan n ividuali ze development zed m to max im ize thei r potent a l includmaximize their potential includto max imize thei po entia incl d x eir ing mentoring, training, researching, ing mentor ing, t ra in ing, res a rchi ng, n mentorin n n rain ng re inin esea ch i g temporary assignments to new departtem orar assignmen temporar y assign ments new depar temp a sign m partments, a nd, of cou rse, lea rn ing from course, learning f om ments nd, ments, and, o e, e n ing from mistakes. mistakes. ista kes takes. Growing your own is a n i nvestment, Grow ing you own is an investment, w n your vestme tmen but it beats recruiting from scratch, but t beats recru it ing from scratch eats ecruit n u itin m scratch, r ch, particularly for leadership. Even Harpart icula y r e er ip v pa rt ic ularly for leadership. Even Ha ra t ular l Harvard University is touting the slogan va rd Universit y is touti ng t he sloga n a d niversit ity touting h loga o g g “Don’t Hire Great Leaders, Make Your Great Leaders, Make Your “Don’t D nt a aders ers, ake Yo r r k Own” in its 2007 Financial Times ad. Own Ow Ow n” i n 07 Financial Times ad. 7 Finan i Time d In 5 to 10 years, competition for college-educated talent will tighten dramatically. 29

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Virginia Human Resources Today - Summer 2008

Virginia Human Resources Today - Summer 2008 Contents 2008 State Council Officers and Directors President’s Message: Treasure Hunt Hire the Best, Keep the Best Legalislative Update: Legislative Roundup 2008 Conference and Expo Preview Virginia Universities Score Big at the Southerst Regional HR Games! Retention: A Strategic Approach The Top Ten Best Practices for Retention Employee Recognition and Retention Tactics for Winning the Talent War Your SHRM Southeast Regional Team Index to Advertisers Advertisers.com

Virginia Human Resources Today - Summer 2008

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