Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Talent hiring and retention

Interesting thoughts by Sullivan in his recent article on employee retention.Folks who are focusing on the monetary aspect of the new job are more likely to quit in near future even if you have hired them at a higher than market levels salaries.

Incidentally, individuals hired from executive search firms can fall into this "money first" category. If they left the last job because an executive search professional presented a "better money" offer, don't be surprised when they leave again when the next executive search professional calls with slightly more money to offer.

This makes me wonder, what is the validity of employee current salary as an indicator of his actual competency level?

Sometimes recruiters and head hunters even create a “Talent vacuum” in the market for certain niche skills. This talent vacuum is especially seen in the Senior and middle managers levels as employees are not always on move and tend to be little reluctant to switch jobs easily. However thanks to the marketing skills of our head hunters and the growing talent crunch one always tends to get what he aspires for.

Growing salary levels for a role create a bigger pressure on current employers and most likely a less competent person (as per the role requirement) will fill the same role at a similar or even higher salary level. This creates a vicious circle in talent market and the salary levels head north due to this trend in war for talent. Talk to any seasoned recruiter today and he will tell you how they moan the fact that majority of decisions regarding change of job has to do with the high pay packages.The focus has sihifted from role and job content to the salary components and benefits,perks which the new job may offer.

As a HR professional you often wonder is this shift due to markert factors ,peer pressure,or just changing times.

How long this will trend will continue?

What about the “hiring philosophy’ ?

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