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Why Keeping Top Talent is the New Business Imperative

There will continue to be a talent shortage in every US industry in the coming years. We know talent is a key to competitive differentiation. We also know that replacing workers is an expensive undertaking. How must industries change their approach to talent retention to keep their best workers on the team?

Talent and Your Business

Today your employees can make or break your brand. Work optimization now requires talent retention strategies, and business leadership is on notice that 2020 will be the year to hire less and retain more.

When talent is scarce, organizations must reprioritize operational expenses and step up to attract new talent and cultivate leadership skills in existing teams. But talent management is now more of a business imperative and less of a line item in the HR budget. Companies must recommit themselves to reskill workers and improve the workplace environment to keep their best workers long-term. How can employers change their approach to retain top talent?

  • Recognize that your employees have options. In a 3% unemployment economy, business leaders should realize the competitive nature of the job market. Workers aren’t even reliant on traditional work structures, seeking out freelancing and start-ups as a viable alternative to corporate structures. From a career perspective, if your job doesn’t fit, employees know that they can make their own from a variety of gig economy alternatives.
  • Use digital resources to improve talent acquisition. Enterprise organizations that fail to go mobile-first on candidate applications will look stodgy and outdated. Use of talent marketplaces, digital staffing tools, and talent agencies can help organizations stay proactive in their approach to finding and soliciting the best that the industry has to offer.
  • Diversity is not only the right thing to do; it will help you attract more candidates. Being transparent, open, and inclusive is a key metric that candidates look for in your approach to doing business. Removing inherent bias from your application process is just as important as making sure your trustee list is diverse.
  • Finally, organizations must work to develop the next generation of skills in older workers. Employees who have been with your organization have valuable historical insight that machines simply do not capture. But these employees can fall behind in next-generation skills required for digital innovation. Business leadership must restructure their workforce to maximize the benefits of these employees while re-training them with the next generation of skills necessary to digitally transform your organization.

The talent shortage won’t go away anytime soon. What strategies will form your hiring goals this year?

Addressing the Ongoing Talent Shortage

The talent shortage of skilled workers shows no signs of slowing. A recent Deloitte Insights study suggests that enterprise organizations are still responding to the workforce shortage by simply increasing their efforts to hire more talent.

The organization conducted a global survey that showed nearly one-third of employees were not satisfied with their jobs. The survey said, “Companies cannot neglect their talent and retention strategies out of a false sense of security that employees have few options in a tight job market.”

Business leadership must recognize the challenges inherent in retaining top talent — particularly skilled technology workers — and work harder to develop the kind of environment where current employees want to stay long-term.