Firms Still Fight Global Talent War
HR executives in Australia are not alone in their struggle to attract qualified people as the global talent war rages on.
The struggle to recruit and retain talent continued right through the recession in Australia, Europe and China – and affects small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) as much as larger ones. The war for talent never really went away despite the deepest downturn since the 1930s.
These are the key findings of a major survey of 2,642 HR professionals from organisations employing 50 to 2,500 people in eight European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the UK), China and Australia - “HR Challenges and Solutions for SMEs: Winning the War for Talent Through Automation and Outsourcing”, published by ADP ES International, the global HR outsourcing provider.
Challenges
The HR professionals surveyed were asked to list their most important challenges, issues or problems. Overall, 33% (41% in Australia) mention “hiring qualified people/difficulties filling key employee positions”, 27% (in Australia 32%) “problems retaining qualified people” and 24% (33% in Australia) “developing managers and employees with high potential.”
Why did the recession and more specifically in the European countries their expansion in higher education not have a bigger impact? The report offers four possible reasons:
- The ageing workforce
- Growth of the knowledge economy
- Rigidities in the labour market
- Changing attitudes of younger people
Solutions
Ways in which companies are tackling these problems are through management development (“growing your own”) and the use of social networking technology for recruitment.
By far the most popular solution chosen by HR executives was to automate administrative processes to free up resources to focus on the search for talent. Many companies also expect to outsource HR functions in the next year or two.
The report adds: “In searching for the best solutions, they stress the importance of integration between systems and services for different HR functions. As HR executives, their concerns start and end with the search for talented people to give their organisations a key competitive edge. But along the way they need better information and slicker processes.”
Andre Rampat, director and co-founder of Corporate Leaders, comments: “small and medium-sized companies historically have a harder battle for talent due to their size and more limited HR resources. As a result, the more agile their core HR processes and systems are, the more time and resources can be freed to deal with the main challenges”.
Summing up the report, Mark Benjamin president of ADP ESI, says: “Defining what is the ‘right approach’ to solve the challenges, whether this is through outsourcing, automation, delegation of tasks to line management and employees, engaging external consultants or adding HR staff, turns out to be as individual as the needs of the organisation that the HR function serves.
From years of experience we know that transformation of HR takes time and it is critical to understand all the options available to decide which is right for you.”
Click here to download the report.
About ADP
ADP provides comprehensive payroll and HR services to organisations of all sizes, across all industries. For over 35 years ADP’s solutions have helped Australian clients manage their internal processes efficiently and accurately, allowing them to focus on core competencies and achieve their strategic goals while minimising risk.
ADP Employer Services is part of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP), with nearly $9 billion in revenues and about 550,000 clients, it is one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. Leveraging over 60 years of experience, ADP's easy-to-use solutions for employers provide superior value to companies of all types and sizes.