The War for Talent

Start thinking of your employees as your first customers. Your people are your biggest opportunity as well as your greatest risk.

The war for talent is a term coined by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company in 1997. It refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees.

Currently Nearly 2 in 5 CEO’s fear their businesses will be unviable within a decade because of the struggle to find talented workers and the need to adapt to technological change. The pandemic, a workforce shortage and remote working has employees reconsidering their priorities. People are searching for roles that offer better work-life balance, align with their values and companies where they feel heard, valued, and empowered.

In Larry Fink’s 2022 letter to shareholders, he describes the war for talent and the organisations who can keep their employees engaged will be the ones who prosper.

“Workers demanding more from their employers is an essential feature of effective capitalism. It drives prosperity and creates a more competitive landscape for talent, pushing companies to create better, more innovative environments for their employees – actions that will help them achieve greater profits for their shareholders. Companies that deliver are reaping the rewards. Our research shows that companies who forged strong bonds with their employees have seen lower levels of turnover and higher returns through the pandemic.”

Impact on Business

Struggling organisations need to start asking the tough questions to survive and thrive. Do you know why your top performers decided to leave over the last couple of years and do you know why some of your most ‘highly engaged’ have re-evaluated their relationships with your company, reducing their efforts to simply match their job descriptions? Until you address these questions it will be difficult to compete and attract top talent.

Winning the War for Talent will positively impact your company’s culture, employee retention and bottom-line results. Leaders who choose to keep their head in the sand and think they have the upper hand due to the tightening of job availability in certain markets will find themselves on the losing end – remember that according to McKinsey’s Great Attrition article 1/3 of employees quit without another job.

Challenge & Opportunity

Start thinking of your employees as your first customers. Talent is in the driving seat, and they will continue to demand better treatment. Below are some considerations as you plan your strategy in winning the War for Talent:

• Build and maintain a positive company culture and hire people who can enrich that culture
• Remote and hybrid work is here to stay
• Healthy work-life balance – and please do not refer to your company as a ‘family’
• Flexibility for the employee and employer
• Solid Leadership – hire and promote managers for the right reasons (look beyond tenure and top individual performers)

The future’s bright for companies that embed good behaviours in their organisations and culture. The ones that listen, respect and empower their employees will be in much stronger positions to recruit and retain top talent.

The war for talent is real. Will you be on the winning side?

Nicole Vaughan, CEO & Founder of myCandr