More than two-thirds of companies are actively building talent pipelines, but the results of the latest HR Talent Recruitment and Employer Branding Survey conducted by HR Magazine and StepStone Solutions reveal that less than 10% of employers feel they are effectively engaging with potential New Talents.
Breaking with tradition and the much overused term ‘Gen-Y’, StepStone Solutions recently coined the term ‘New Talent’ to describe those jobseekers born after 1980. We publish the exclusive findings of our research on the recruitment of New Talent and how employer branding helps HR attract the best talent to their organisations.
Demand for New Talent
Of the organisations surveyed in Hong Kong around 40% said recruitment for New Talent currently accounted for 30% or less of the total recruitment in the organisation. While just over a quarter of employers stated that New Talent currently accounted for between 20% and 30% of the existing workforce.
Just over two-thirds of the organisations polled said they were currently building talent pipelines. Of the New Talent that had already been on-boarded, organisations where asked to rank in what ways they felt these younger staff contributed to the organisation. ‘Enhancing creativity and innovation’ was ranked highest, with 29% of organisations recognising it as the biggest contribution made by New Talent. ‘Ensuring the talent supply pipeline’ was ranked as the number two contribution, with 27% saying this was an important contribution by the newer recruits. Surprisingly, neither ‘lowering operational costs’ nor ‘enhancing the customer experience’ were ranked as particularly important in terms of contributions from New Talent, and in both cases less than 1% of those surveyed said New Talent made contributions in either of these respects.
Importance of brand
The survey revealed that the majority of respondents believe their company brand is average, 39%, or higher, 55%. With 84% believing that their organisation’s brand and recruitment management mutually influence each other. Seven factors were compared in terms of their perceived importance by employers as giving a competitive edge in attracting New Talent to their organisations including:
- current profitability;
- outlook and development prospects;
- long-term stability;
- ability to provide clear career paths and opportunities for advancement;
- salary level and remuneration packages;
- work-life balance; and
- working environment, people and culture.
All factors were given fairly equal weightings in the survey, suggesting it is complex interaction of all factors that combine to create an ‘ideal employer’.
Communication
In regards to how organisations rated the effectiveness of various communication media in engaging with New Talent, most organisations believed that the Internet, 30%, and ‘people networks and peer groups’, 28%, were the two most effective communication channels. The other two channels: live events, 22%, and print media, 20%, were not that far behind.
A startling revelation was that only a minority of organisations felt they were properly engaging with potential New Talent. When organisations were asked if their current communication with potential New Talents was effective—almost a quarter said it was insufficient, the majority, around two-thirds, said it was average, and less than 10% said it was sufficient.
Recruitment challenges
Chart 1 illustrates that a third of all the organisations polled found the biggest challenge in recruiting New Talents was ‘maintaining on-going relations with them’. A quarter of those surveyed said that aligning with line managers on New Talent recruitment strategies also posed significant challenges.
Trends
The Survey reveals that many companies are starting to integrate more and more technology into daily operations. HR is no exception, with many companies now using recruitment systems. Companies using recruitment systems often see many benefits including: increased ROI, increased brand awareness and decreased hiring and operating costs.
Overall, the thematic results of the Survey are: HR and hiring forces are not effectively reaching all potential New Talent. Further results of this survey and exactly how HR managers feel about their company brand and the candidate hiring experience will be divulged at a joint event held by StepStone Solutions and HR Magazine in May 2011.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
