Article Title: Attracting and Retaining Top Talent – A View from Human Resources
Author Byline: Liz Handlin
Author Website: http://ultimate-resumes.blogspot.com/2008/03/attracting-and-retaining-top-talent.html

About a week and a half ago I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion at a luncheon hosted by the Austin Technology Council. The topic was “Shortage in the Emerging Workforce: Evolving to Attract and Retain Talent” and the panel was comprised of some of the top Human Resource professionals in Austin Texas. The panelists were.

Heather Garcia, Director, ADP Total Source
Natalie Humphreys, Senior Manager Talent Acquisition, Dell, Inc.
Chad Macy, Regional Managing Director, Technisource Division, Spherion Corporation
John Termotto, Americas Staffing Manager, Freescale Semiconductor
Heidi Veselka, Global Human Resource Vendor Program Manager, Flextronics

When it comes to sourcing talented and qualified candidates, recruiters at companies both big and small are getting creative. Online job posting sites are just one source for candidates. Some companies have implemented alumni programs to recruit talent.

A key piece of advice these HR pros offered: Don't pass over seasoned professionals for young blood. Many of my over-40 resume clients want to remove dates of education and drop older experience just so they will appear younger to a recruiter…not only do recruiters see through that right away but just because you are over 40 doesn’t mean you aren’t a desirable employee in this market.

Each panelist brought unique skills and background to the discussion and some fascinating trends emerged:

1.Employees and employers aren’t always in sync about what the other values most

Chad Macy presented some information from a study that Spherion conducted about what employees value most and what employers think that employees value most in an employment relationship.
Not surprisingly, there were some perception gaps.

The study showed that employers believe that employees most value the management climate (good managers). Employees ranked benefits #1 and compensation #2 on their list of what they look for in an employer. Management climate was #4 on the employees list of values. On the other hand, employers in the Spherion study believed that financial compensation is only #7 on an employees list of desires.

Smart employers who want to retain top talent will listen to what employees are really looking for. With that said, several conference participants pointed out that employee’s needs/desires represent a delicate balance that is often in flux. For example, a job in a particularly collegial work environment might outweigh a job with higher compensation with a less desirable working situation.

Without question benefits are important to almost all employees and companies are getting creative about what sorts of benefits they offer. Larger companies may extend opportunities for child education credits, scholarships, or stock ownership. Smaller companies may not be able to offer employees the highest salary, but offering comprehensive health benefits and the opportunity to grow with the company may give small companies a competitive advantage in this tight market.

2.Cutting edge companies are getting creative about retaining employees

ADP Total Source has a robust employee development portal that enables employees to log on and peruse all jobs that they qualify for all around the world. If you work for ADP and you are tired of living in Austin you can look at all the jobs in the entire world that you could transfer to. This system is much more advanced than a simple job posting board because it targets jobs that match the exact qualifications of employees searching the system. ADP would rather retain and relocate a great employee than lose them to another company. Smart.

3. Recruiting through existing and former employees – alumni networks

Dell is building an alumni program that is modeled after Deloitte’s famously successful program. Former employees can log in, apply for jobs, or refer candidates. ADP TotalSource has implemented an alumni program to recruit talent as well.

Freescale, which also has an alumni program, is aggressively creating a global “employment brand” so that when Freescale is mentioned people will immediately think about it as a desirable place to work. That way their employees will be come ambassadors for Freescale and will have a branding message to take to market. I think it’s really smart of an HR department to take a marketing approach to attracting talent and, frankly, it’s about time.

4. Employers are rotating employees within the company in order to make sure that talented employees don’t leave because they perceive a lack of opportunity

Dell is famous for its rotation programs…if you have ever seen a resume for a Dell employee you know what I mean. It seems like Dell employees transfer every few years based on their interests and performance level. This helps the company to keep retention up and employees challenged. Dell apparently fills 30-35% of open positions with internal hires. Bored employees who see little upward mobility look for jobs; those who are happy and challenged are more likely to stay put. Smart.

5. Cutting edge HR departments are trying to become a destination for employees to visit and discuss their career options

One participant in the program likened visiting his HR department to being sent to the principal’s office which got quite a laugh. The HR folks on the panel said that they are trying to change that perception in order to build strong relationships with employees that they can use to help retain top talent. I think it’s high time that HR professionals understood the powerful role they can play in building trust with employees and retaining talent.

6.Some HR professionals have figured out that there are some no-cost things you can do to retain employees.

Heidi Veselka and Heather Garcia both talked about how they welcome and orient new employees. Heather puts a small bag of candy and a note on new employee’s desks to welcome them. Heidi told a story about when her former employer was acquired by Flextronics. She got a call from her boss to let her know that she was a valued employee and while they didn’t know exactly where they were going to put her in the new organization, that she would have a job. That conversation cost nothing but it guaranteed that Heidi would stay with the organization instead of looking for a job as employees so often do during times of change.

John Termotto of Freescale doesn't wait for employees to come to him: he makes a point to walk around his office and touch base with each employee in his department so that, on an ongoing basis, he knows how employees are doing and what they are feeling about their jobs. Simple, free, smart.

The panel discussion was great and I thought the takeaway was a very positive one for employees. If you have desirable skills companies want to hire you and they want to keep you! The trick is to find a company where your skills and personality are a fit for the environment.

Special thanks to Alisha Ring, Carol Dwyer, and Soozie Selfridge of the Austin Technology Council for hosting a terrific event.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.