KEY POINTS:
Employers are in for a tough year, with the battle to attract talent voted the biggest human capital challenge by employers across New Zealand, a report by specialist recruitment network Vedior Asia Pacific shows.
The 2008 Vedior Asia Pacific Employment Trends Survey reveals attracting talent is a struggle for 69 per cent of organisations.
Attracting talent is the biggest challenge over the next 18 months for 28 per cent of New Zealand-based organisations, with retaining talent a close second at 23 per cent.
Competition for talent is set to intensify further, with 41 per cent of employers in New Zealand looking to expand their current workforce.
Debbie Loveridge, CEO of Vedior Asia Pacific, says: "The results reflect the overall climate of the continued shortages in skilled labour and the need to consider strategies to penetrate a relatively dense 'passive' candidate market."
"The laws of attraction in recruitment are being rewritten by candidates who make decisions about a potential employer based on both an emotional and a rational level. With the power firmly in the candidate's hands, it is up to the employer to differentiate their employment value proposition and clearly define what it is that makes a career with them unique."
"With the realisation that the shortage of labour is having a real impact on the bottom line, employer branding is likely to be put on the agenda of every boardroom table in the country."
Seventy-two per cent of New Zealand-based organisations believe their employer brand attracts and retains employees.
However, over half admit there is still more that can be done to improve their branding strategy.
One area Loveridge suggests employers could focus more attention on to attract talent is online and digital media. Only 4 per cent of organisations are using online social networks as a way to source and attract talent.
Once reserved for senior executives, one in five organisations now use headhunting to source junior talent, and 56 per cent use headhunting for mid-level professionals. Headhunting now follows online and print advertising as the third most common sourcing method, used by 33 per cent of New Zealand-based organisations.
As the pressure to attract talent intensifies, the survey shows that many organisations are still forced to look offshore.
While the UK continues to dominate the supply of international talent (72 per cent), Australia (57 per cent), South Africa (39 per cent) and India (22 per cent) are becoming an increasingly attractive source of candidates.
"Employing overseas was once a matter of being humanitarian. Today, it is a matter of necessity as employers have no choice but to search much further afield and much more aggressively than ever before," Ms Loveridge says.
Overall, staffing shortages are having a very real and adverse effect on organisations. They are feeling these effects through increased workload and stress amongst staff (61 per cent), increased staff turnover (36 per cent) and a decrease in overall company performance (17 per cent).
The survey indicates some resistance towards taking affirmative action towards workplace diversity, with over eight out of 10 employers across New Zealand failing to implement an attraction programme targeting people with a disability.
Employers are also failing to implement strategies to attract people from non-English speaking backgrounds (68 per cent), people from indigenous backgrounds (66 per cent), people aged over 45 (59 per cent), parents returning to work (56 per cent), people requiring flexible work options (55 per cent), or people from overseas (45 per cent).
Despite this, 94 per cent of firms believe a diverse workforce can be beneficial to business.
"The 2008 Vedior Asia Pacific Employment Trends Survey supports the idea that organisations will need to broaden HR strategies to foster a diverse workplace. Every person is unique in ability, background and experience, so taking a `one-size-fits-all' approach will result in missed opportunities and a less prosperous workforce," says Loveridge.
"The survey illustrates a labour market that has the potential to find success in 2008, despite the talent shortage. More can be done to build a successful and long-lasting human capital programme. Employers need to have strategies in place that are flexible enough to meet the changing nature of today's workforce."
The 2008 Vedior Asia Pacific Employment Trends Survey was conducted throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and included 1044 responses from professionals within large organisations and small to medium enterprises representing 23 sectors.
