Need to Retain Employees Cited as Major Challenge

While employers are increasingly driven to find and keep the best employees, the pool of high-performing talent is shallower than ever, according to new research from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Seventy-two percent of companies rank the retention of talent as their fastest-growing issue in 2008, the research reveals.
The Human Resources (HR) agenda in 2008 has a heavy focus on the entire lifecycle of talent management, finds i4cp’s study titled Taking the Pulse. This includes not only the retention, according to the research, but also the engagement, recruitment, and development of high-potential employees across all areas of an organization. In addition to the nearly three-quarters focused on retention, 70% of survey respondents say engaging top talent is growing in importance.
But a number of factors appear to be obstacles to success in these areas, For instance, 44% of respondents rate lack of time as having a high or very high impact on HR’s ability to achieve its goals. In addition, nearly four in 10 respondents cite conflicting organizational priorities, scarcity of workforce talent, and financial resources as factors having a high or very high impact on the achievement of their goal to fill their employers’ ranks with high-potential workers.
Additional factors are affecting the agenda of HR professionals, as well. For example, 75% say the availability of talent is having either a high or very high influence, 50% say so about the overall economic picture, and 51% point to competition as having a high or very high influence.
HR professionals recognize the need to develop competencies that are both broad and high-level, the study finds. Leadership is first among all competencies needing further development, with 55% of respondents ranking it as high or very high in importance. Furthermore, 50% rank change management as a high or very high priority, and 47% say so regarding innovative thinking.
Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional

Originally posted by Candice A