Beginner's Guide for Attracting and Keeping Top Talent

There is a growing number of professionals across the world who are searching elsewhere for their next opportunity. Learn here how to attract and keep top talent in your company.

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The Energy Outlook Report informs us on the significance of investing in talents and people, the relevance of Safety and Health and accountability in the sector, and the value of empowering local talent.

As the number of people jumping to different companies begins to affect the day-to-day operations of businesses, much is being said about the “war on talent.” Companies recruit actively and strive to outperform their competition by offering more attractive salaries and benefits packages. At best, this solution will only last a limited period. By taking such reactive actions, businesses place themselves at the whim of external factors. They would have a far more significant and long-lasting influence on their workforce by improving their internal personnel management processes instead.

A better answer to the talent deficit is to look inside and plan forward, rather than looking outside. This means implementing best practices in recruitment and retention that are effective for both the short and long term. The process requires making incremental changes, relying on company strengths, and also applying some practical steps. It may not be glamorous but it is not rocket science either. However long it takes to make company changes, it will be effective.

Many companies agree that they cannot compete with the salaries of their competitors when it comes to attracting and keeping skilled workers. They are forced to resort to lower-priced temporary labour, which in the long run makes them uncompetitive. They also have to deal with the employee turnover or poaching that this causes. Companies cannot afford to pay all their employees well and retain them for long, so they hire at the bottom. This is costly to both the company and the employee, who may look elsewhere if he or she cannot be satisfied with a meagre salary.

Such unproductive action also affects productivity. The sooner companies adapt to the changes in the market and focus on the competence of their existing employees, the better. This is not to say that experienced and highly qualified employees should not be in demand. In fact, the opposite is the case. They are in high demand precisely because they are strong, dedicated, and can be depended upon.

When businesses understand that all employees have different values and attitudes, they will be able to develop their people accordingly. This involves regular “open” and “informal” communication between managers and their employees, as well as an acknowledgement of their unique personalities and talents. This helps them build strong, efficient and happy teams and lays the groundwork for a continuous improvement of their organizational performance.

Talent Management is about so much more than paying people more. To attract, retain and develop top-notch talent, it is about building a culture that makes its employees feel valued and capable of making contributions that build a company’s success. This involves constantly searching for and maintaining employees with the right skills and attitude.

This approach makes a company more attractive to a much wider talent pool, and it does not lead to a “war on talent” that hurts rather than helps a company’s survival.

Miron Richter is an expert on “human resources” at EKU’s

Myers School of Public Health, “The Bloomberg School”. He holds a Ph.D. in labour and employment relations and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences.

To get things started, he recommends the following essential tactics.

Understand the Fundamentals

When it comes to recruitment, the most successful efforts begin with understanding the fundamentals: the recruiting procedures and talent sources. Getting them to work for you is the next step.

One global tech company was in fierce competition with other companies for technical talent and was experiencing difficulty retaining applicants during the hiring process. They had far too many interviewers engaged, resulting in long recruitment cycles and a negative applicant experience. We assisted them in discovering their weaknesses and provided some suggestions. Even simple process changes, such as preparatory meetings or panel interviews, resulted in a significant reduction in time and increased applicant satisfaction.

You may also use executive search firms for getting talented people to your company.

It is also essential to establish strategic planning that identifies and targets the pipeline for critical positions. The results of a recent study revealed that 30 percent of businesses had not established any kind of strategy at all. By taking more focused measures to seek out prospective employees from other sectors, particularly for operational and back-office positions, energy firms may improve their sourcing efficiency and effectiveness.

A frequent shortcoming of employee referral programs is the promotion of recommendations across the board, rather than focusing on particular positions or levels of the organization. Referral programs targeted at workers who are most likely to be linked to the target profile may provide much more significant results for your business. When combined with customized incentives, targeted referral programs may have an immediate effect.

Provide Compelling Reasons to Stay

Does your company provide compelling reasons for employees to stay? The cost of staff turnover varies but often ranges between 20% and 100% of yearly pay, if not more, based on the location. This cost is much higher in the energy sector, where developing critical technical skills takes years of investing. It pays to prioritize retaining essential personnel.

Inadequate internal progression is a common cause for employees leaving – especially among early-career professionals, who often face high expectations and limited growth opportunities. Consider expanding your development, job shadowing, as well as rotation possibilities. Try to remove traditional obstacles like time-in-job limitations. Strengthen your professional development and internal mobility initiatives.

Consider methods to advertise internal employment openings more effectively. Additionally, make it simple for internal talent to identify and pursue these opportunities. One of our customers is currently enhancing its systems and technologies to facilitate internal career advancement and retention. The new approach makes it simpler for the business to identify inside talent and for internal applicants to advance their careers.

Additionally, you may boost retention and internal recruitment by building talents that your company will need in the future. Early in a career, cross-training and job rotation may help develop transferable skills. A firm can strengthen its pipeline of future talent by emphasizing highly adaptable skills and abilities, such as problem-solving agility, which enable workers to thrive in various positions. Employees with a diverse set of talents are better equipped to adapt to changing company requirements, enabling them to become the next leaders.

Make a Strategy

Talent acquisition and retention intervention will be successful only if it is coordinated with other talent initiatives and remains focused on particular business imperatives. Most leading businesses create an integrated personnel strategy that considers each program’s contribution across the employment lifecycle to business objectives.

A comprehensive personnel strategy consists of priority objectives and strategies for recruitment, training, development, performance management, retention, and succession planning. Begin by developing a clear set of business objectives for the whole personnel lifecycle. This reveals any gaps and identifies areas for development.

Acquisitions and mergers are a critical component of the energy industry’s development strategy, highlighting the necessity of an integrated personnel strategy. If a business’s primary objective is acquisition yet the company is already suffering from retention, attracting and engaging candidates may become an ever-growing problem.

The capacity to attract and retain top talent is entirely dependent on thoughtful internal changes, a strategy, and follow-through. Develop strategic planning that is tailored to the jobs you need to remain competitive. Simplify the recruitment process to decrease the time required to hire. Strengthen skills development by providing employment options that provide compelling reasons for individuals to stay. Most of all, think comprehensively with “people-orientated” initiatives that support a coherent personnel strategy linked with your organization’s strategic objectives.