We hear it more and more. It is a battlefield out there for talent. Many organisations are finding it hard to find the 'right' talent.
To complicate matters we are quickly moving into the real 'economy of one.' A huge growth in self-employment as individuals seek out or design their own career paths.
Think about it. What organisations do you really care about? How many companies have nailed who they are and where they are going?
Creating careers with purpose
For HR leaders and for leadership groups there needs to be a recognition that finding the right talent means creating the right purpose or direction.
This purpose needs to integrate being good not just for employees, customers and stakeholders but good for the planet and society as a whole.
Purpose attracts people, it is infectious for people. To take just one research example, Millennials, set to form 50% of the global workforce by 2020, are particularly keen to work for purposeful organisations. The 2017 Deloitte Millennial Survey shows young people want to exert more influence on the world's biggest problems via the workplace.
Purpose-driven organisations like to work with other purpose-driven organisations. Customers, just like employees, are attracted to organisations with clear and compelling visions.
So when we talk about attracting the right talent in many instances we are talking about developing the right strategy - the right vision, the right principles, the right environment that enables performance and meaning.
Enhancing your attractiveness to employees
Good reflective questions to ask, from my experience, that focuses the mind on enhancing our attractiveness to potential employees are as follows.
Is our vision formed with both employee, customer and society in mind?
When we meet some of our customers, what do they say about us? Are they shoehorning us into a description that only tells part of our story?
Have we evolved beyond our current essence and story? Are our stories past facing versus forward facing?
What is our collateral reinforcing- what are the key messages? Are our services and propositions compelling? Many a story I have heard of people applying for a job with a company that had recently pitched their product or service to them.
How well are we creating the right type of visibility in the right places?
How explicit are we making possible career journeys with us and our impact on customers and clients?
How much time are we spending with our broad networks of alumni, customers, contractors, employees and talent partners? Often it is this network that enables us to find great passive talent.
After asking yourself these questions you'll get a clearer picture of whether your company is sharing it's vision and principles in an effective way, that both enables performance and attracts the right talent.
Time to start strategising!
The Cpl Future of Work Institute is an initiative that explores, questions and helps design future work solutions with our clients, partners collaborators and candidates.
We conduct research, workshops and engagements across 7 core areas: Diversity & Inclusion, Talent Technology, Employer Proposition, New Workforce Models, Creative Leadership, Government & Regulatory, Future Skills.
We are always on the lookout for new collaborators. Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss how we might work together.