Amazing Classic
The talent war is raging… Nearly 300,000 jobs remained vacant in France as of the 3th quarter 2021[1]and by 2025, there will be 200,000[2] positions in the digital sector that are unlikely to find takers. In just a few decades, human resources have become a very competitive market. And this changes the situation for companies, which must not only recruit the right profiles, but also (and above all) retain them. They now need to capitalize on the experience they offer their employees. A change of posture is necessary: to achieve their objectives, HR must be inspired by marketers!
Recruitment market: growing tension
The phenomenon of great resignation is not reserved only for the United States. 79% of French companies declare having encountered recruitment difficulties in 2021[3]. This represents a threat to their medium-term survival. Certain sectors, such as catering, hotels, construction or personal services, are particularly affected. Expertise – especially digital – is also highly valued on the job market. Added to this reality are the questions of hypergrowth for many start-ups. You have to know how to recruit (and retain) multiple, competent and complementary profiles, in record time. An exercise that is all the more perilous in a context of talent shortage like the one we are going through.
To deal with this situation, there is no other solution than to adapt the offer (namely the job description) to market demand (candidates’ expectations). This is why the remuneration of certain positions has now been increased (+16% in catering in 2022), or why employers are proposing to eliminate the trial periods for candidates they absolutely wish to attract.
Retaining talent: the absolute goal of any HR strategy
Once the recruitment stage is over, companies must focus their efforts on retaining their best employees. Because the figures speak for themselves: if a bad recruitment costs on average €15,000 to the company, the loss of a talent can amount to €30,000. Beyond their theoretical and technical skills, the employees in post participate in the proper functioning of the company: they are vectors of the culture and values of the organization, they transmit their know-how, they are facilitators between the various departments… These tasks are not listed in the job descriptions but are nevertheless essential.
Be careful, however, not to want to build loyalty at all costs. If an employee is already leaving, it is more relevant to try to understand what could have been done upstream so that he is not tempted to change organization. To avoid these situations as much as possible, it may be interesting to identify in advance the most important elements for the culture of the company and the well-being of the collective. Being able to identify these particular talentsto understand what motivates them, and to adjust the company’s offer to their specific expectations (personal/professional life balance, career development, work environment, etc.) strengthens their commitment and ultimately generates loyalty.
Consider the employee experience in the same way as the customer experience
In marketing, building loyalty involves personalizing an offer, a service, a product, etc. To optimize the employee experience, the career paths of employees would benefit from being personalized. If the company wants to be responsive, it must go beyond the annual interview and engage in continuous monitoring of each of its members. The aim here is to encourage the employee to enhance his know-how, to develop his skills, to express his ambitions, in order to make proposals (training, development, etc.) that correspond to his prospects and the needs of the company. company. Like the customer in the marketing process, the employee must be at the heart of the HR strategy.
For the employee experience to find its reality within companies, HR departments can rely on digital tools and platforms. Artificial intelligence algorithms thus make it possible to map a company’s skills dynamically, and to manage needs and resources in a transversal way. Automating employee journeys allows HR to focus on the tasks and pain points that require their real expertise, and thus improve the employee experience within the company.
Last but not leastlike any self-respecting strategy, it is essential to measure its impact. To measure the impact, nothing better than success indicators (the famous KPI’s). These are often quantitative indicators to be chosen carefully. It is a very business culture element to integrate into HR, because far from dehumanizing relations, several indicators make it possible to evaluate the actions implemented, and to give a good image of the overall movement within the company. We will talk here about the number of internal transfers initiated, the number of skills detected, the volume of training suggestions accepted by employees, or the ROI of internal vs. external recruitment.
Faced with an increasingly competitive recruitment market, it’s time for HR managers to adopt a marketing mindset. Only then will they be able to attract and retain the best talent. HR are not a simple support function, they are in charge of the nerve center of the company: their ability to adapt to new market requirements is essential!
<<< To read also: Recruitment: great shortage or generational misunderstanding? >>>
