Methods used by Organization to Attract Talent

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION

Employee Engagement and Retention

Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition refers to the process or strategy used by an organization for recruitment that focuses on attracting, finding, hiring, growing, and retaining top talents in the organization (Jose, 2019). The best talent acquisition strategies will ensure the organization finds the best talents to fit the current and future roles of the organization. Aligning the organization’s goals to talent acquisition. Considering how the organization will expand or grow in the next one to five years can determine the current and future needs for talents. Talent acquisition focuses on the organization’s long-term goals and should be aligned with the organization’s goals for success. For example, if the company plans to create a new software product in the next year, then HR efforts should focus on attracting talented software coders and developers. The second strategy should be data and marketing to create better acquisition materials. Organizations rely on data to determine their marketing campaigns. The same should be done for talent acquisition. According to Sergio and Rylova (2018) an organization can use data to determine if its talent acquisition efforts are working and improve its processes. Certain questions might be deterring candidates, or even having a time-consuming application process could be discouraging potential talents. Therefore, the organization can establish better and simpler methods for attracting top talents with data analytics. Also, the career pages will be more attractive and appealing to qualified people. Lastly, focus on better employer branding. Potential employees will compare companies and choose the one with better values, work-life balance, and culture. An organization that cultivates a unique employer brand will attract the best talent (Jose, 2019). In the same way, customers pick a product based on the values and brand created by the company, so do potential employees.

Employee Engagement and Retention

Employee engagement is an employee’s emotional commitment to the organization and its goals (Sergio & Rylova, 2018). Employee retention refers to an organization’s ability to prevent employee turnover. The key employee engagement and retention strategies are work-life balance, employee recognition, and training and development. Work-life balance assists in reducing stress and preventing burnout in the workplace. Employees want to have a life outside work where they can relax and focus on other things that are not work-related. An organization can offer paid parental and caregiver leave to assist employees in managing their work and life demands without stress. Employee recognition does not refer to the annual employee review. Recognition should be instant and communicated directly to the employee. When employees are recognized for something they did, they get motivated and aspire to achieve even greater things. Highlighting an employee’s achievements in the organization newsletter or team email will assist in making them feel valued and encourage others to work hard. There should also be a reward system for top-performing employees. Training and development for employees allow the organization to pinpoint the skills and knowledge it wants its employees to have. By guiding the employees towards the skills desired by the organization, employees will be ready to perform different activities in the future, and they will continue increasing their knowledge (Sergio & Rylova, 2018). To increase employee productivity, organizations should encourage employees to partake in different pieces of training that are beneficial to the organization and the employee.

Learning and Development

Learning and development opportunities to attract and retain qualified talent include mentioning learning and development in job advertisements, posting success stories of employees who have benefited from learning and development, and incorporating learning and development in organization culture. Having learning and development information in job postings lets potential talents know that the organization offers opportunities for learning and developing to its employees (Khorrami et al., 2019). Failure to mention learning and development denies the organization an opportunity to market itself to potential talents. Letting potential candidates know how working with the organization in the long-term will benefit them increases the organization’s chances of attracting top talents. For example, the organization can mention the upskilling opportunities available for employees holding the position advertised. Posting success stories of employees who have benefited from learning and development will get potential candidates excited and motivated to join the organization. It is one thing to tell potential candidates the organization offers learning and development, and it is another when the same information is derived from success stories by current employees. The impact of success stories from current employees is more attractive since the potential candidates know for sure the organization does support its employees’ learning and development. Incorporating a learning and development culture in the organization that current employees talk about to others in the industry motivates potential candidates to come work for the organization. For example, when a potential candidate reads about the organization’s job opening and has heard other employees rave about the learning and development culture, they are more likely to apply and put in their best effort when applying for the advertised position. The organization will also attract more potential candidates through its learning culture than advertising for open positions.

Total Rewards

Total rewards strategy is the coordinated effort driven by the organization’s goals developing a workforce motivated towards excellence and growing with the organization using an inclusive and effective rewards package (Khorrami et al., 2019). The strategy focuses on compensation, benefits, wellbeing, recognition, and development. Compensation is the employer’s pay in exchange for their skills, qualifications, efforts exerted, time given, and targets met towards achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. Compensation allows employees to fulfill their physiological needs like buying food, clothing, and a home. Benefits refer to the indirect and non-wage programs offered to employees providing security for employees and their families. Such benefits include medical insurance, house allowance, travel allowance, 401k plan, and dental insurance. These benefits ensure employees are not worried about spending their salary on things like medical and retirement and can focus on work, supporting the organization’s goals. If an employee is worried about their health and their family, they will spend less time focusing on work, reducing their productivity and performance. Wellbeing refers to the accommodation made by the employer to support the needs of the employee as they perform their work. They include diversity, remote work, flexible schedules, and employee assistance programs. Holistic wellbeing motivates employees to work, and it supports the organization’s goals in that performance increases. Recognition acknowledges employees who have performed over and above the employer’s expectations. Recognition motivates the employee and other employees to perform better so they can also be recognized. Development is the investment by the employer in the employees by promoting the learning and development of employees. Investing in programs that hone the skills and competencies of the employees for the sake of short and long-term careers increases employees’ productivity since they have the requisite skills.