Recruitment Is Top Challenge
21 December 2006
Over two thirds of senior HR managers surveyed in the UK see either recruitment or retention as the biggest challenge for next year, according to a new survey from Taleo, the leading provider of on demand talent management solutions. The results are from a survey entitled “2007: The Challenges for HR”, that shows that 37% of respondents see employee retention as the biggest challenge moving into 2007, whereas the concerns of 29% lie in hiring the best talent.
The findings reflect a recent report in The Economist, which highlighted the increasing skills shortages in both established and new economies. Consequently, talent is becoming more difficult to attract and retain. This trend poses particular challenges when HR budgets are constrained. 79% of those surveyed said that their budgets would either remain the same or be reduced in 2007. Better visibility of employees’ skills (37%), and better measurement of HR processes (31%) were seen as the most valuable ways to improve HR effectiveness.
The study from Taleo, questioned 150 senior HR managers in the United Kingdom on what they perceived to be their biggest challenges going into 2007 and which factors would help them perform better in the New Year. Key findings indicate:
- Finding and hiring – 29% of senior HR managers saw hiring the best talent in the market place as the biggest challenge, whilst attracting good quality candidates followed closely behind, with 52% of directors selecting this as one of their top three challenges
- Retention – 37% viewed employee retention as their main challenge, whilst 59% had viewed it as one of their top three challenges.
- Employee visibility – Over a third (37%) believed that better visibility of employee skills would help them perform their job better in 2007
- Measurement – Nearly a third (31%) felt that the main factor in improving their performance would be better measurement of the effectiveness of HR processes such as recruitment
- Legal compliance – With 79% of employers being unprepared for the new UK Age Legislation before it came into act in October1, over 41% viewed complying with the legislation as one of their top three challenges.
Chris Phillips, senior director, international marketing for Taleo comments, “It is clear that the battle for talent in the UK is hotting up. But with HR budgets constrained organisations need to look for more cost effective ways to improve key talent management processes like recruitment and internal mobility. On demand technology can play a key role by providing improved visibility and measurement, as well as increased control over talent management processes. Talent management best practices such as automated skills-based matching of candidates to roles and the proactive recruitment from an organisation’s own talent pool rely on best-of-breed (talent management) technology.”
To find out more visit Taleo.com.
