Talent Crisis: New Recruitment with Employee Retention

Unprecedented talent shortages in the IT sector, as well as the need for digital skills, are other areas of concern for companies right now. In the early stages of covid, most people were afraid of losing their jobs and the frustration was greatly reduced. However, as economies begin to open up, backlogs hinder exit. Many have also resigned as a result of reconsidering their life priorities.

Working from home, a necessity in Covid’s time, has now become the job of choice for many people, and employers who want to bring them back to their offices are likely to leave. On the other hand, realizing that business activities are definitely enjoying, almost every sector has started recruiting aggressively. This results in huge losses, long time to fill open roles and skyrocketing costs of acquiring talent.

Driven by Covid, the demand for such professionals has increased dramatically and is expected to touch 150 million over the next five years, according to a LinkedIn analysis. In addition, digital skills have become a prerequisite for virtually every role. Therefore, HR and recruitment heads need to think differently and apply new methods to find resources with the right set of skills.

The starting point of a hiring strategy is to look at the different channels tapped as well as the mix of resources used. Employers who are able to tap talent from around the world and have the environment to help them perform have been able to overcome the talent crisis. Talent according to demand is another method that is being followed to access highly skilled specialists. This approach complements the internal staff and efficiently completes high-impact projects. But the active participation of employer brands on gig platforms and access to quality talent in line with promotional needs will be essential. Employer branding and employee-centric policies have again become central to recruitment strategies. Companies that previously relied on employee referrals to recruit candidates have reactivated these internal channels for their talent needs.

In addition to hiring from external sources, many employers are actively working to improve the staff based on the needs of different roles. Instead of looking for green pastures for employees elsewhere, providing them with learning and growth opportunities that will lead to more attractive compensation will be most helpful in retaining employees and avoiding hiring. Adopting digital platforms like Skill Alpha enables companies to map current skills against potential roles and chart a custom learning journey toward aspiring roles.

Thus, tackling the talent shortage situation requires a strong focus on acquiring talent as well as retaining through skill enhancement and creating a conducive work environment. Those involved in recruitment need new skill sets to succeed in their roles. They need to be able to adapt to the needs of the industry, develop influencing skills, work with data and its analysis, and enhance networking skills. Those involved in retention should be able to continuously map employees’ expectations and create innovative talent development models to meet business needs.

The author is the chairperson of Global Talent Track, a corporate training solutions firm.