Re:locate magazine | Recruitment | HR faces global war for talent

Opening the Employee Benefits Summit in Jerez, Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Bureau Chief for The Economist, warned HR and reward specialists, “We are in the middle of a fierce global battle for talent.”

The economic downturn and employee lay offs of the 1990s, the bust of the baby boom and the growth of emerging economies such as India and China are all contributing to a shortage of available talent, he said. “Talent is so rare that people are paying a lot of money for it.”

Wooldrige said that the period during 1990s, when companies cut their workforce to help boost their share price, has led to the death of employee loyalty. Organisations should change their recruitment strategy from a transaction process to one of developing relationships to deal with the shortage of talent, he added. “You need a single company strategy and brand, but you also need to be able to delegate to a local level. It’s the same with reward: it's easy to get reward wrong if you don't take local [conditions and culture] into account.” In addition, he said that employers should make the most of talented ‘non-traditional’ employees, such as part-time workers and older staff.

www.employeebenefits.co.uk

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