As we emerge from the effect of the pandemic, the future of work has undergone a transformation driven by a hiring boom or what we call the ‘war for talent.’ We saw early signs of organizations finding it difficult to source the right talent. As they scale, the equilibrium that existed earlier has skewed significantly towards the demand side.
Traditional industries such as manufacturing, health wellness, hospitality, e-commerce, and retail have seen a moderate increase in demand, whereas, for information technology companies and start-ups, the talent war has become fiercer. The demand for tech and digital skillset overwhelmingly outweighs the supply, spurring the growing global shortage of talent.
As often tech talents are inundated with offers, an organization’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) will be key in attracting and retaining the right talent.
HR managers should look at how to bolster the existing set of policies and frameworks and focusing on employee experience as well engagement can act as a real differentiator when it comes to retaining the right talent. In addition to that, factors like better compensation, alignment with organizational principles, flexibility, and wellbeing values also play a decisive role in expanding the talent pool.
HR Leaders are finding themselves at crossroads. Earlier ways of recruiting are not working anymore. The onset of the pandemic has accentuated the shift, and employees are now accustomed to the new normal and expect their existing employers to adapt quickly. In such a scenario, most companies are facing a leaky Bucket Scenario – Hiring and losing the current talent.
So, How Do They Embrace Change?
With the workforce spread far and wide, technology played a vital role in bridging the gap. At the onset of the pandemic, organizations swiftly adapted to these changing scenarios and came up with employee wellness models and engagement activities. By using technology in the right way, organizations were able to maintain and surpass pre-covid levels of outputs. The same technology, when used effectively, can aid in helping avoid this war for talent.
The Talent Life Cycle typically comprises the stages of Attract, Skill, Engage, Retain and Grow. The data gathered from the deployment of the right technologies at each of these stages will help create a map of patterns and behaviour that can be used to create personalized experiences.
- Talent retention and growth: Successful companies can continuously upskill their employees. They use tech platforms that can provide these services at a scale.
- Recruitment: Today, we have an abundance of tech platforms using AI/ML technologies and forging partnerships with value chain members to offer a seamless recruitment process across locations and diversity.
- Employee Query redressal: Many organizations deploy AI / BOTs to automate and quickly respond to employee queries. This goes a long way in facilitating employee experience.
- Decision making and forecasting: Use of Data and Predictive Analytics for decision-making using HR Analytics tools.
- Remote onboarding: This can be done easily by leveraging AI/ML platforms, making it a seamless experience for the new joiners.
- Collaborative tools: A host of communication and collaboration platforms are available that can enable quick and easy conversations.
How Do These Help HR Leaders?
By adopting new-age technologies, HR leaders can benefit in the following ways:
- Reduce human-induced bias across the HR life cycle.
- Tech-driven process for fairness in talent acquisition.
- Attract diverse and inclusive wider talent pool from various areas.
- Offer personalized employee experiences that lead to greater engagement.
- Align tech-driven processes with organizational culture and values to bridge the gap.
- Strategic workforce planning to align people, processes, and technology with objectives.
- Forecast and analyse talent trends to facilitate budgeting and estimating workforce plans.
- Identify skill gaps and bridge them with e-learning and virtual learning platforms with reskilling and upskilling to retain the existing Talent.
In Conclusion
Globally, we are accelerating the transformation and digitization of every area of business, and the war for talent is likely to become more competitive going forward. As the demand for talent grows, we need a robust and holistic approach to win the talent war. It calls for close collaboration of leadership with HR leaders and find the right balance of technologies and talent strategies with a human touch. No one size fits all.
As the pandemic abates, organizations are reconsidering the remote working model and going in for a hybrid working model. HR leaders need to recalibrate their talent management strategies regularly and keep technology as enablers to be prepared for short- and long-term uncertainties.
