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Thursday, April 19. 2007
War for Talent Goes Global
Recruiting takes on the look of marketing.
by Rick Telberg
On Careers
If you think finding and keeping good people is tough in the finance and accounting business, then you probably haven’t been reading the papers... or listening to clients.
Today, all businesses on a global scale, are reporting labor shortages. The shortage in professional talent is undermining growth opportunities across the globe, according to a survey of nearly 32,000 employers across 26 nations by the Manpower staffing agency. Some 29 percent of employers worldwide say they would be hiring more professionals if they could, and about the same number are also paying higher salaries than a year ago.
Other reports suggest that India, typically considered as the first choice in outsourced professional talent, is facing a looming crisis in talent, which could push the next wave of outsourcing into China. Maybe the world really is flat.
by Rick Telberg
On Careers
If you think finding and keeping good people is tough in the finance and accounting business, then you probably haven’t been reading the papers... or listening to clients.
Today, all businesses on a global scale, are reporting labor shortages. The shortage in professional talent is undermining growth opportunities across the globe, according to a survey of nearly 32,000 employers across 26 nations by the Manpower staffing agency. Some 29 percent of employers worldwide say they would be hiring more professionals if they could, and about the same number are also paying higher salaries than a year ago.
Other reports suggest that India, typically considered as the first choice in outsourced professional talent, is facing a looming crisis in talent, which could push the next wave of outsourcing into China. Maybe the world really is flat.
The problem is worse in the United States. Here, half of the employers surveyed said they’d hire more people if they could, and 38 percent said pay scales are rising because of it.
While the survey findings are encouraging to those seeking new or better positions, the news should serve as a wake-up call for employers to work harder to retain their existing professional employees and develop innovative ways to recruit top talent.
"The shortages are only going to get worse as more people reach retirement age," said Jonas Prising, President of Manpower North America. "The companies with the strongest employer brands will be the big winners in the competition for talent. They will be able to attract and retain top people with appealing work environments, and salary and benefits packages that reflect the contemporary world of work."
Speaking of “brands,” have you noticed that acquiring and keeping talent is looking more like marketing every day?
"Candidates are in a very powerful position — organizations need to think about hiring as a competitive practice if they want to attract the best people," said Scott Erker, senior vice president of Development Dimensions International, a human resources consultancy. In a DDI study, more than half of all staffing directors say they are finding fewer qualified professional candidates compared with two years ago.
The DDI study says companies must incorporate marketing strategies, such as branding into recruitment campaigns, to increase the likelihood of reaching and connecting with their target market. "Right now, there is a significant gap between what candidates want and what employers think they want. That's dangerous for organizations because many don't understand the motivations of the candidate sitting right in front of them," Erker said.
How bad is it?
According to a study from benefits provider MetLife, it’s so bad that more than half of all employers say keeping key workers happy, challenged and motivated is becoming more important to U.S. businesses than controlling costs.
Overall, employee retention was identified as the most important priority by more than half of employers polled, with retailers (62 percent) and the service sector (59 percent) placing an even greater emphasis on the need to retain people.
So, employers beware, you’re probably running out of time if your new hires have been with you for six months or more. According to talent management firm Kenexa a vast majority of new hires get itchy for a new job after six months, and by 12 months, the honeymoon is forgotten.
[First published by the AICPA]
While the survey findings are encouraging to those seeking new or better positions, the news should serve as a wake-up call for employers to work harder to retain their existing professional employees and develop innovative ways to recruit top talent.
"The shortages are only going to get worse as more people reach retirement age," said Jonas Prising, President of Manpower North America. "The companies with the strongest employer brands will be the big winners in the competition for talent. They will be able to attract and retain top people with appealing work environments, and salary and benefits packages that reflect the contemporary world of work."
Speaking of “brands,” have you noticed that acquiring and keeping talent is looking more like marketing every day?
"Candidates are in a very powerful position — organizations need to think about hiring as a competitive practice if they want to attract the best people," said Scott Erker, senior vice president of Development Dimensions International, a human resources consultancy. In a DDI study, more than half of all staffing directors say they are finding fewer qualified professional candidates compared with two years ago.
The DDI study says companies must incorporate marketing strategies, such as branding into recruitment campaigns, to increase the likelihood of reaching and connecting with their target market. "Right now, there is a significant gap between what candidates want and what employers think they want. That's dangerous for organizations because many don't understand the motivations of the candidate sitting right in front of them," Erker said.
How bad is it?
According to a study from benefits provider MetLife, it’s so bad that more than half of all employers say keeping key workers happy, challenged and motivated is becoming more important to U.S. businesses than controlling costs.
Overall, employee retention was identified as the most important priority by more than half of employers polled, with retailers (62 percent) and the service sector (59 percent) placing an even greater emphasis on the need to retain people.
So, employers beware, you’re probably running out of time if your new hires have been with you for six months or more. According to talent management firm Kenexa a vast majority of new hires get itchy for a new job after six months, and by 12 months, the honeymoon is forgotten.
[First published by the AICPA]
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I am seeing endless articles about companies that are seeking high talent accountants, but am personally not getting responses from hundreds of job applications. So, I am not sure if the issue is that companies are seeking high talent accountants, finance people and business people, or if the issue is that companies are seeking very specific skill sets and are not settling for anyone who is not an exact match for the salary they want to pay. Responding to a job advertisement by resume is difficult if the company knows what it wants but the applicant is unsure, and responds with the best information available, perhaps too much, perhaps not exactly worded correctly. Several accountants that I know are voicing the same thoughts: if companies are having so much trouble finding staff, why are so many high level accountants/finance people not finding jobs?
I am a CPA with over 20 years of experience, with a Masters' Degree in accounting, but have only received a response from about 5% of my applications. There is a disconnect here. I have never been involved with any restatement companies, scandals or legal issues. I am over 45 years old. My salary requirements are not low, but not unreasonably high, either. I am not seeking a $150,000 salary. I do have a professionally written resume.
You should check into your sample companies in more depth, because there is another reason companies cannot find good talent: I suspect they want a resume that exactly corresponds to their personal vision (not printed but mental concept) of the person they want to hire, and do not want to pay for the skills. They want to keep the salary at the bottom of the scale, but want top of the scale efforts. For low salaries, most of us are not willing to do top of the scale work, such as travel, legal risk and exposure, extensive overtime, systems implementations, and just plain cleaning up someone else's mess, (the last person could not do the job, but was willing to take the low salary.)
I am a CPA with over 20 years of experience, with a Masters' Degree in accounting, but have only received a response from about 5% of my applications. There is a disconnect here. I have never been involved with any restatement companies, scandals or legal issues. I am over 45 years old. My salary requirements are not low, but not unreasonably high, either. I am not seeking a $150,000 salary. I do have a professionally written resume.
You should check into your sample companies in more depth, because there is another reason companies cannot find good talent: I suspect they want a resume that exactly corresponds to their personal vision (not printed but mental concept) of the person they want to hire, and do not want to pay for the skills. They want to keep the salary at the bottom of the scale, but want top of the scale efforts. For low salaries, most of us are not willing to do top of the scale work, such as travel, legal risk and exposure, extensive overtime, systems implementations, and just plain cleaning up someone else's mess, (the last person could not do the job, but was willing to take the low salary.)
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