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Talent Attraction and Employee Retention
Human Resources and the Human Capital Management arena have come a long way in a short period of time in terms of big picture strategic thinking. And that's good news, since the workplace is undergoing rapid change due to technology advancements, labor market shifts, changing generational attitudes toward work and global access to data. Competitive differentiation for today's company is banking heavily on its talent community to take the organization where it needs to go. HR must be on the cutting edge of today's trends and fully understand how various changes are reshaping candidate and employee attitudes. The whole notion of "work" is changing before our eyes. Let's take a look at some relevant employment reputation topics and how they impact a company's ability to attract and retain talent today.
Redefining the Term "Work"
Technology is not only changing the way we work but also the way we attract, hire and manage talent. In the August 20, 2007 issue of Business Week there was an intriguing article entitled "The End of Work As You Know It". This article explained how increased connectivity will change how and where we work. Technology will transform work into a global supply chain of talent-on-demand. Here are a couple of examples they cited.
Office without boundaries.
An executive assistant at Cisco Systems moved to Texas but continued to support her boss in Silicon Valley some 1,600 miles away. Her company set up a 65" high definition, life-size video conferencing screen and placed it precisely in her old office seat. The video screen directly faced her boss. This allowed her to experience what was occurring around the office. She continued to field calls, arrange meetings and do everything else that she did before. She could even overhear her boss's phone conversations and discussions. This allowed her to anticipate the boss's need as if she were physically sitting in the office like before.
On-demand workforce.
LiveOps is a system that uses technology to handle telesales calls in a way that holds little resemblance to a traditional call center environment. Based upon how well they've answered similar calls in the past, its highly automated system routes calls to some 16,000 home agents who are independent contractors. The performance-qualified contractors continue to get new calls directed to them. Those operators who do not perform well do not receive additional routed calls. This all happens simultaneously through a virtual, self-managed system.Just as transparency has impacted the way companies conduct business, workplace transparency has become commonplace influencing the type of information shared in the employment arena. Soon employers more than ever before, will reveal more inside information about their organization to those sitting on the outside. Gone are the days of filtering the data in order to look better. Someone will know the truth and can share it to the online world at light speed.
Job seekers and employees already have access to all sorts of data about your company on the web. They use the Internet to share their own personal workplace experiences with thousands of people in the blogosphere and on a growing number of social networking sites. Technology has taken companies "inside scoop" beyond water coolers.
Search engines like Google or Yahoo are often the first place job candidates go to get details. A simple search can reveal media articles, press releases, blog content and possibly even confidential information like salary levels and other proprietary data.
Candidates tap into blog conversations to gain alternative perspectives about companies. Peer-to-peer insight is viewed as more credible than company-sponsored information. Candidates will eventually go to career or corporate websites but it probably won't be the first place that they go.
Workplace transparency is becoming important because it builds trust with candidates, employees and other stakeholders and builds brand equity. Transparency can give your company an "edge" in its talent recruitment quest and keep employees feeling good about where they work.
Five Microsoft representatives began embracing the concept of transparency when they started posting internal videos online, which candidly revealed their workplace environment and culture. The launch of this site attracted management's attention. Concerns eased after Microsoft began attracting and dialoguing with a significant number of people via their Channel 9 blog. The lesson here is that while much of corporate America is still scrambling to figure out whether it should regulate blogging by its company employees, Microsoft embraced transparency through this new communication model. And because of that, they're developing relationships that will assist their recruitment and retention efforts.
Corporate Social Responsibility
No doubt that you've heard about the benefits of demonstrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) with your employees and the talent community. CSR activities can have impact on your company's workplace reputation.
Studies have shown that employees form impressions of employers based upon corporate citizenship. This is especially true to Gen Y talent. In fact, according to CSR Monitor by GlobeScan, 70% of North American students indicated that they would not apply for a job at a company determined to be socially irresponsible. A 2003 Stanford University study on CSR reputation discovered it also has an effect on an MBA's job choice. MBA grads revealed that they would be willing to sacrifice $13,700 in salary acceptance to work for a socially responsible company.
Workplace Culture
Creating a great workplace requires more than just implementing a set of programs and practices. There are no specific benefits, resources or perks that a company can bring to the table that will act as a silver bullet in attracting and retaining talent. Your employment value proposition must match the wants and needs of your own distinct, unique workforce.
Companies should analyze their current workforce composition and understand what defines their present day culture. Is the culture of the organization contributing to employee retention? Does it act as a talent attraction strategy? Beyond today's workforce planning needs, organizations should also be looking at the type of talent they need to attract in the future. The key is to understand your workplace DNA. Companies that don't get this equation right will have challenges getting people interested in the first place. Worse yet, candidates will join the organization and then leave quickly. Why? Because they can.
If you'd like to discuss these topics further, or seek the consultative services of Shaker in these areas, please email chris.johnson@shaker.com.
