Executive Summary
Many businesses that have boasted of success know what it means to recruit and preserve top-talent human resources. Failure in almost all organizations is associated with poor workers and leadership.
Getting talented employees involves recruitment and selection processes that must be conducted properly if the company intends to boast of a talented workforce. Thus, the human resource deparent must learn the methods of hiring, recruiting, and retaining employees to maximize productivity.
This paper offers a review of various techniques that an organization can adopt to recruit and keep expertise. It comprises an annotated bibliography of authors from different industries such as the food-manufacturing sector and community banks among others.
The industries provide a broad scope from which organizations can borrow ideas. However, irrespective of the industry, it is a common agreement that organizations should enhance job satisfaction by offering lucrative compensation and training programs.
Introduction
Employees form the most crucial asset in an organization. They help the organization to realize its key agenda of being the best in its industry. Hence, the issue of recruiting the best human resources is imperative for companies that wish to record a long-term success in their lines of operation.
This paper presents literature on the strategies that various industries have adopted to tap and maintain the best-talented employees. It also presents an annotated bibliography on the same subject.
Recruiting Top Talent
Anita (2014) uses the machine data analytics industry to address the issue of recruitment in this sector. She regards getting and keeping top-notch talent as one of the main challenges that affect the industry. New opportunities will push entrepreneurs to adopt new business models to fit in the industry.
The increased demand from customers and high competition will pressure entrepreneurs to seek skilled employees and/or initiate skills to retain them. According to Anita (2014), recruiting and retaining staff can reduce the cost of operation while at the same time enhancing productivity.
Retention of experience employees enables entrepreneurs to survive in the competitive field. Hence, they must learn techniques to keep their staff members.
Coulter (2013) paints the picture of recruitment as it appears in the law sector. To offer quality services, law firms need to have partners that not only have a wide scope of the industry but also keep with the changes.
To ensure that they hire and retain staff members, law firms should strive to understand the goals and ambitions of their employees. They should keep them connected with the firms’ proceedings.
Moreover, Coulter (2013) asserts that law firms find it arduous to recruit employees who can give a sound legal advice to international clients who need foreign jurisdiction.
Despite the high rate of joblessness, organizations still fail to get competent employees. Moreover, even for those who are employed, According to Credit Union National Association (2012) shows how most of them remain dissatisfied because of the low remuneration and poor working conditions.
However, through cooperation, executives can successfully get proficient staff members. Some of the techniques for getting and keeping talented employees include treating human resources differently since not all of them have similar interests and personalities.
Nonetheless, any company should strive to align the interests of employees with those of the company. According to Credit Union National Association’s vice president, Randy Kohout, executives should aim to understand what their staff members require in an effort to harmonize talent management processes with the workers’ needs.
It is important to offer orientation programs for new recruits to know the mission and objectives of the organization.
While recruiting employees, D’Uva (2014) says that it is important to ensure that the chosen candidate will fill the available position in the organization. It is also important for a company to have a succession plan. D’Uva (2014) reveals how most companies often have the most qualified employees.
However, the absence of a succession plan does not encourage employees to work hard. Moreover, competent staff members are also retained by lucrative compensation plans. Any company should restrict itself to offering not only the basic salary but also attractive allowances.
It should also cater for the welfare of its employees. One of the keys strategies for retaining employees is creating policies that will make employees feel that their effort is being recognized and rewarded by the firm.
During an interview session, it is necessary for an organization to have a panel to limit the chances of favoritism. Moreover, once a candidate is hired, he or she should be trained to perfect his or her skills while at the same time understanding and acclimatizing to the organization’s culture.
After the orientation is over, it good for the management to remain vigilant of the new recruits, evaluate their productivity, and/or assist them whenever they go wrong.
Dennis (2014) asserts that employers should conduct performance evaluation and reward employees who are performing impressively as a means of motivating them to continue working hard and/or encouraging other workers to perform better.
Dennis (2014) says that compensations should not always interlace with performance evaluation since this link may have a general demoralizing impact on employees.
Through comprehensive studies and interviews from leaders of some of the most successful organizations in the world such as Cisco, Ford, and General Electric, Devine and Syrett (2014) explain some of the techniques that companies can employ to retain their staff.
It provides practical steps through which companies can improve employee talent. Having performance appraisal programs that recognize and reward employee efforts is one of the techniques that Devine and Syrett (2014) claim can help in retaining workers.
The rapid political, social, and economic changes have created an environment where employees have to be quick in learning new skills. Although a company may recruit talented employees, their skills may soon be rendered irrelevant if the organization does not invest in training and motivating employees.
Fernández (2014) emphasizes the need to provide professional training programs to preserve the current workforce while encouraging creativity, innovation employee engagement in the activities of the firm.
Galpin, Whittington, and Maellaro (2012) use several examples of companies that succeed in selecting and retaining talented staff members. A good example is the Borland Software that retained 200 employees who could manage various programs after Lexington was acquired.
When identifying top talent, a company should consider individuals who demonstrate not only maturity but also the ability to maintain a healthy relationship with other workers. Such individuals can meet the general business strategy.
Moreover, Galpin et al. (2012) say that the key to retaining employees lies in the ability to engage staff in business activities, satisfying their needs, and motivating them towards accomplishing the goals of the organization.
Companies should also create policies that attract the labor force through measures such as issuing attracting benefits, allowing workers to balance their individual lives, and career.
Moreover, the book emphasizes the need for managers to harmonize the interest of employees from different generations and align them with the culture and practices of the company.
Retention policies should also reduce employee burnout by investigating the gaps that cause burnout and develop working conditions that limit exhaustion. Rewarding employees through promotions also encourages them to work harder. Motivated employees are able to devote most of their energy, skills, and time to serving in an organization.
They anticipate that their hard work will be reimbursed through career development. From another angle, food-manufacturing companies require constant skill development. Hence, the management can consider it important to introduce online courses that can keep employees with updated skills in the most efficient areas.
Conclusion
Through the expositions that have been made in this paper, there is a need for employers to diversify their search for employees through other means such as internships and/or training programs. Organizations should invest in their employees since they (employees) determine whether they (organizations) can succeed or not in their diverse fields of operation.
Annotated Bibliography
Anita, S. (2014). Finding and Retaining Top-notch Talent Is the Biggest Challenge for Entrepreneurs. Siliconindia, 17(7), 12-12.
In this article, Anita identifies some of the developments and issues that affect the machine data analytics industry. The market has become more competitive because of the rapid technology advancement.
Anita estimates some of the future developments in the industry in areas such as sensors and connectivity. Anita helps readers to understand the general significance of proper recruiting and retention skills in an organization.
Coulter, S. (2013). Finding and retaining the best talent. Inside Counsel, 24(263), 16-16.
Coulter focuses on the need and benefits of getting and keeping competent employees in a law firm. He observes that law firms often face the challenge of leading their staff to cope with the changing legal world, maximizing profits, and minimizing expenses.
To eliminate these challenges, Coulter avers that law firms need to create a strong bond with employees where they (workers) are updated on new developments.
Credit Union National Association. (2012). Strategies for Retaining Top Talent. E-Scan Newsletter, 38(8), 1-2.
The article claims that the task of hiring and retaining should not solely lie with the human resource manager. Instead, it should be done through cooperation among executives.
Moreover, executives should assess the performance of the recruits after some intervals to help employees to know any shortfalls and strengths so that they can improve where necessary.
D’Uva, F. (2014). Attracting, Rewarding and Retaining Top Talent. Banking New York, 31(1), 10-11.
D’Uva reveals how community banks have rapidly developed within four decades. Time is ripe for the industry to begin recruiting and retaining talented staff members. D’Uva offers exhaustive steps that ensure that a company keeps its staff members.
The article emphasizes the need to create reward programs to attract potential employees whilst motivating the existing staff officials.
Dennis, D. (2014). Top Talent: How to Hire & Manage Employees. Massage Magazine, 213(1), 30-33.
In this article, Dennis comprehensively illustrates the right techniques that an organization can adopt while recruiting employees. He explains the need for preparing a detailed job description that outlines the duties and qualifications that are expected from the applicants.
Dennis shows how important it is for companies to have a selection process that can reveal the capabilities of the shortlisted candidates. The article provides a good understanding on how a company can recruit, hire, and retain top talented employees.
Devine, M., & Syrett, M. (2014). The Economist: Managing Talent: Recruiting, retaining and getting the most from talented people. London: Profile Books.
Devine and Syrett claim that the prosperity of any organization relies heavily on the performance of its staff members. Performance has inspired companies to hire the most qualified members of staff.
However, although recruiting workers is usually an easy process for most institutions, ensuring that workers utilize their full potential while staying in the company is usually a tricky affair. They emphasize the need for companies to realize the career goals of their staff members whilst helping them achieve them (goals) while in the company.
Fernández, A. (2014). 21st-Century talent spotting. Harvard Business Review, 92(6), 46-54.
Fernández confirms that it possible in the contemporary business environment for an individual who has sufficient expertise to perform below average while a less qualified person can perform above standard. Fernández says that the current world of business requires not only academic qualifications and experience but also talent.
Fernández shows how top talent is sparse in the competitive business environment. Hence, it should consider the techniques of retaining expertise.
Galpin, T., Whittington, J., & Maellaro, R. (2012). Identifying, Retaining and Re-Engaging Key Talent During Mergers and Acquisitions: A Best Practices Framework. People & Strategy, 35(1), 42-48.
Galpin et al. (2012) describe the most effective strategy for selecting and keeping top talents in mergers and acquisition (M&A). Most employees quit their positions few months after M&A. If top talents quit the company, money that is invested in the M &A can only lead to losses.
Although the article focuses on M&A, the steps the authors offer are essential and applicable to any other organization that seeks to recruit and retain its employees.
Harvard Business School Press. (2013). Retaining Employees: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges. Massachusetts, MA: Harvard Business Press.
The book describes practices that can help executives to win and retain proficient employees. According to the Harvard Business School Press, it is important to understand the external business environment such as population and cultural changes before drafting retention policies.
This book offers the core principles that a company will need when preparing retention policies.
Knights, M. (2013). The Employee Engagement Challenge: Hiring, Training and Retaining Key Staff. Food Engineering, 85(8), 36-42.
Knights discusses the recruiting, training, and retraining strategies that food-manufacturing industries adopt to overcome fiscal recessions. He focuses on the measures that were adopted by the management of J.R. Simplot.
The company developed a program whereby it recruited talented employees, assigned them to various departments, and trained them in the culture and practice of the business. This strategy helped them to fill competitive positions such as project officers and packaging engineers.
They also initiated internship for engineering graduates to help them to pick the most talented staff people. To enhance the skill of the available human resources, the management established an internal professional training program.
Reference List
Anita, S. (2014). Finding and Retaining Top-notch Talent Is the Biggest Challenge for Entrepreneurs. Siliconindia, 17(7), 12-12.
Coulter, S. (2013). Finding and retaining the best talent. Inside Counsel, 24(263), 16-16.
Credit Union National Association. (2012). Strategies for Retaining Top Talent. E-Scan Newsletter, 38(8), 1-2.
D’Uva, F. (2014). Attracting, Rewarding and Retaining Top Talent. Banking New York, 31(1), 10-11.
Dennis, D. (2014). Top Talent: How to Hire & Manage Employees. Massage Magazine, 213(1), 30-33.
Devine, M., & Syrett, M. (2014). The Economist: Managing Talent: Recruiting, retaining and getting the most from talented people. London: Profile Books.
Fernández, A. (2014). 21st-Century talent spotting. Harvard Business Review, 92(6), 46-54.
Galpin, T., Whittington, J., & Maellaro, R. (2012). Identifying, Retaining and Re-Engaging Key Talent During Mergers and Acquisitions: A Best Practices Framework. People & Strategy, 35(1), 42-48.
Harvard Business School Press. (2013). Retaining Employees: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges. Massachusetts, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Knights, M. (2013). The Employee Engagement Challenge: Hiring, Training and Retaining Key Staff. Food Engineering, 85(8), 36-42.