Tussle for talent

10 tips to attract and retain the best

AS the candidate market continues to tighten, those with experience and skills in the areas of shortages are finding they are in demand. Attraction and retention have consequently become a much higher priority for employers.
Here are 10 tips to aid in winning the war for talent:

1. Know what you are looking for. Clearly identify, by benchmarking great performers, what makes someone successful in your organisation. Make sure the individual fits this criteria and in the recruitment process include an assessment of the individual's values and motivators to ensure they are aligned with the company's or team's goals.
2. Train people well. Ensure the people in your business have everything they need to do their jobs well.
3. Communicate expectations. Ensure employees know what your company stands for - in other words, it's culture and values - as well as what is expected of them in terms of technical output and behaviour.
4. Performance management. Formal performance feedback is critical and an excellent opportunity to ensure talent is engaged. 
5. Career development. Career development is not restricted to promotion. Can you offer additional responsibility? Supervising other employees? Coaching and training others? Managing projects? Chairing meetings? 
6. Quality of managers. Front line managers are the key to retention. People join companies and leave people. How good are your managers at motivating and inspiring their team members? Managing performance, good and bad? Setting useful goals? Providing useful performance feedback? What does your organisation do to develop its managers? 
7. Inclusion. Ensure employees have a feeling of inclusion and are empowered to make decisions.
8. Rewards: Well developed reward and recognition programs can be used as part of a successful retention program, as long as there is a fair and equal system of processes for rewards. 
9. Attractive package: If you can't offer a competitive salary package, you should try to o\" er an attractive benefits package, which could include flexible hours, weekly or monthly office lunches, life or health insurance, sports events and a work/life balance. 
10. Recognise unique talents.