48
t h e n ew no rma l
| 2 01 2
the war
for
Talent
As expected, attracting and
retaining talented employees
was ranked as one of the top
challenges by Chief Executives.
However, the relative importance
varied considerably across sectors.
Our results suggest that the tight labour
market is the main ‘people’ challenge for
organisations. The loss of key people is
a serious risk, and organisations find it
challenging to attract and retain staff,
develop key skills and plan for succession.
Surprisingly, performance was barely
mentioned in comparison with attraction
and retention. For Not-For-Profits these
challenges are intensified, as their hands
are tied when rewarding staff. There are
difficulties in “creating the ability
to reward staff for excellence within
constrained funding”.
One of the biggest reasons for the skill
shortages is the impending retirement
of baby boomers, leaving gaping holes
in the senior and middle-management
ranks, in addition to the cross-Tasman
exodus, where workers are leaving Kiwi
shores for salaries that are significantly
higher in Australia. The “daily (baby)
boomer retirement from the workforce”
and “a dominance of leaders all within a
range of 10 years in age difference” mean
that care needs to be taken in developing
succession plans.
These observations are supported by
recruitment consultancy Hudson’s 2011
finding that over 50% of workers are
actively or passively seeking other jobs,
meaning that even if they’re not actively
job hunting, they’re certainly thinking
about leaving.
These skill shortages are seen across
the full gamut of geographical areas,
professions and levels (board roles,
senior roles, middle management,
specialist positions and trades), and
according to the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment, will
only intensify. Organisations need
thoughtful strategies for overcoming
these challenges. All is not lost though,
as this is one area where the battle
can be relatively easily fought.
the war for tal ent
0% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
item ]
20%
30%
40%
50%
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item ]
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10%
15%
20%
t highly ranked items ]
ked item ]
0%
5%
10%
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25%
PRIVATE SECTOR
PUBLIC SECTOR
NOT-FOR-PROFIT SECTOR
[ 5
th most highly ranked item ]
[
Outside the 10 most highly ranked items ]
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Outside the 10 most highly ranked items ]
8)
Cultural Barriers
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
PRIVATE SECTOR
PUBLIC SECTOR
NOT-FOR-PROFIT SECTOR
[ 6
th most highly ranked item ]
[
Outside the 10 most highly ranked items ]
[ 5
th most highly ranked item ]
9)
war for
talent
10)
govt led change
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
PRIVATE SECTOR
PUBLIC SECTOR
NOT-FOR-PROFIT SECTOR
[
Outside the 10 most highly
ranked items ]
[ 3
rd most highly ranked item ]
[
Outside the 10 most highly ranked items ]
The challenge is to attract
students into science and
then be able to retain them
in New Zealand.
CEO
| Crown Entity
Younger employees are
proving to be difficult to
motivate and don’t have
a commitment to train
long term.
CEO
| Retail & Consumer
Products Business
key findings //
9:
the war for talent