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Six Recruiting Trends for 2006
By
Bruce Powell
As
we look forward to 2006, we see the smart companies
have already recruited most of the A-level players and
many of the early-movers have already switched companies.
That being said, it's a long game.
Here
are six recruitment trends you can expect to see during
the rest of 2006:
1.
Scarcity of A-level candidates.
No
news here. Most of the high-caliber performers are gone.
That being said, there are still a few A-level candidates
out there - but they're not actively looking for a new
job and you have to work harder to identify and attract
them. Hiring managers are now using sophisticated tools
to qualify the best candidates and are starting to pluck
top performers from their competitors to build their
teams.
2.
Employee retention and engagement.
Turnover
is a necessary evil in the workplace, but as long as
your people are engaged - meaning they're attracted
to, committed to and fascinated with their work - you're
less likely to lose them. Watch for a lot of companies
to start developing formal employee retention and engagement
strategies.
3.
Headhunters are back.
As
the market tightens up, companies will regularly engage
external headhunters for help attracting top talent
to their firm. Headhunters have the time and expertise
to engage in direct-contact recruiting and can provide
counsel on everything from employment branding to candidate
quality. Many smart companies will begin developing
strategic partnerships with professional headhunters
to give them an advantage in the 'talent game'.
4. Show them the money.
With
a talent shortage looming on the horizon, companies
will open the purse strings to attract top talent. Money
may not retain a top performer and isn't always the
motivating factor around a new job, but it goes a long
way to show good faith in a candidate's value. As A-level
candidates start entertaining multiple job offers, aggressive
employers will start increasing salaries and adding
signing bonuses to the compensation packages.
5.
Hire for fit, train for skill.
Companies
will increasingly look for candidates who are a good
'fit' with the company's corporate culture and subscribe
to its mission and values. The best hires aren't always
the most qualified - but they must fit the company like
a glove and have the potential to grow and become an
invaluable asset to the firm. Hiring new employees who
don't 'fit' is the quickest way to undermine the retention
of your star employees who do.
6.
Strategic human capital planning.
With
the demand for labour through to 2013 exceeding supply
by 35 million jobs, smart companies are already thinking
long-term and shoring up their ranks before the talent
pool of top employees is completely dry. Best practices
in strategic human capital planning include assessing
and refreshing current resources, calculating employee
ROI and engaging in "investment hiring" for
the future - examples all companies should follow.
-
Bruce Powell, Managing Partner, established IQ PARTNERS
as an integrated HR Services company - providing a broader
range of services to help entrepreneurial companies
better manage their people resources. [full
bio...]
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IQ
Insight is published by IQ
PARTNERS Inc.
IQ
PARTNERS helps intelligent companies hire better,
hire less and retain more. Our services include
Executive Search & Recruitment, Qualification
& Assessment, Employee Retention, Career
Management and Contract HR Services. We specialize
in Marketing, Communications, Media, Technology,
Legal and Financial Services, and operate at
the mid-to-senior management level. IQ PARTNERS
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