| How companies are bringing a customer approach to | | | | productive and engaged, they are unable to provide an |
| employee hiring | | | | answer. Global Talent Metrics ( a psychometric |
| | | | assessment company recently published a report on |
| There is an ongoing war for talent globally. Even with | | | | ‘Attrition in India’ that segments the Indian |
| the economy cooling from 10% to 7% compound | | | | white-collar work force into eight segments based on |
| annual growth rate (CAGR), the need to find and win | | | | individual’s preferences and motivators for selecting |
| high quality talent will be unabated because only 10% | | | | an employer. The segments range from Cash and |
| of the 2 million students graduating each year are | | | | Brand i.e. people, motivated primarily by salary and |
| considered immediately hirable. Finding high quality talent | | | | need to work in a brand name of the company |
| is going to be as hard as getting customers in a very | | | | because of social gratification issues to Start –Ups |
| competitive market. Good customers do not give you | | | | segment where people are motivated primarily by |
| a good organization but a great organization will get | | | | exciting challenging work and flatter organizations. The |
| you good customers. | | | | company provides a tool that measures the attributes |
| In a recent discussion with CEOs and Head of HR, | | | | of a company and matches them with individual |
| everybody was able to clearly and crisply define their | | | | preferences to predict attrition risk for the potential |
| products’/services’ USP. However, most of | | | | candidates. |
| them fumbled or rambled when I asked them what | | | | Do you know where the talent is? Cell phone |
| their USP is to their employees or potential talent. Not | | | | companies and credit card companies very effectively |
| surprising, many of them struggle with high attrition | | | | acquire customers through e-mail and one-on-one |
| rates, relatively unsophisticated approach to talent | | | | marketing. They have built elaborate systems to track |
| supply chain management and very high cost of | | | | prospects, switch them from their competitor and stay |
| candidate acquisition. | | | | connected with them. Many of the same companies |
| Most successful companies have an evolved sales | | | | struggle to apply those principles towards Talent |
| and marketing processes and technology. These | | | | Acquisition. Handful of leading companies has tapped |
| companies spend significant amount of resources and | | | | executives from sales, business development or |
| money to understand their markets, develop products | | | | process management background to lead their talent |
| to address them, craft clever messages to attract | | | | acquisition efforts. These people bring a background of |
| customers, service them well to retain them and | | | | systematically mapping the talent pool, targeting them |
| thoroughly analyze when they lose customers. Most | | | | proactively as against waiting for them to respond and |
| companies have very effectively transformed | | | | manage their hiring pipeline with the same discipline and |
| themselves from license raj era of shortages - where | | | | passion as a sales funnel. |
| a customer was at the mercy of the company (some | | | | Web Site - A company’s web site is the single |
| of us remember the pay now and wait for a two | | | | most important tool to communicate with the |
| years Maruti era) to a free market ‘customer is | | | | customers and prospects about companies’ |
| king’ economy. Many of the same companies are | | | | product offering. Marketers want their site to Inspire, |
| struggling to transform their talent strategy from a job | | | | Inform, Communicate, Put the consumer in charge so |
| constrained economy to a talent constrained economy | | | | they can browse at their pace. This way, they qualify |
| and have devoted minimal effort to upgrade their | | | | the interest level of prospective consumers and then |
| methods, systems and thinking to be competitive | | | | customize a communication to pull them along the |
| companies. This single reason can significantly benefit | | | | sales process. I would ask our readers to do a simple |
| the human resources of the company by bringing | | | | test about their company’s job page/site. Does the |
| some of the best and proven practices of marketing | | | | page Inspire, Inform and Communicate, Put the |
| into talent management. | | | | prospective job seeker in control to browse through |
| Here are few of the common marketing practices that | | | | beyond "stock" job titles but discusses the USP of the |
| companies use to attract and retain customers, which | | | | company or the job and allow the candidate to qualify |
| can be effectively applied to attract the best talent | | | | themselves so that the recruiter can be more informed |
| and retain them: | | | | when he/she engages with them? This just proves |
| Market Segmentation – It has been one of the | | | | how effective the role played by a company’s |
| revolutionary concepts of the past quarter century - | | | | web site is in talent acquisition, amongst its other uses. |
| the realization that consumers can be broken into | | | | It is not just about price (or salary) - Companies like |
| subgroups of people sharing one or more | | | | Starbucks, Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways and others |
| characteristics that cause them to have similar product | | | | have built successful businesses by selling not the |
| needs. A true market segment meets all of the | | | | cheapest products but by delivering value that attracts |
| following criteria: it is distinct from other segments | | | | and retains customers because they know everyone |
| (heterogeneity across segments), it is homogeneous | | | | is not looking for just low prices. The Global Talent |
| within the segment (exhibits common needs); it | | | | Metrics’ Attrition report busts the myth that |
| responds similarly to a market stimulus and it can be | | | | everyone is a mercenary and most people stay or |
| reached by a market intervention. While companies | | | | leave a company because of salary. Only 10% of the |
| have a very good handle on the demographic, | | | | Indian workface is driven by ONLY salary. Companies |
| psychographic, characteristic and product attribute | | | | need to define what they provide to their employees |
| preferences of their consumers i.e. market segments | | | | beyond salary and build a culture and organization that |
| and how to differentiate against their competition they | | | | seeks those values. One of India’s largest IT |
| are unclear about what talent segments find appeal in | | | | services company is not the best paymaster nationally |
| their company. Regarding my work, I have spoken to | | | | or globally but retains employees significantly better |
| companies that have 20-60% attrition rate (these are | | | | than its better paying peers. Companies must find |
| obviously unofficial numbers) and they all had a very | | | | these values and effectively communicate and assess |
| fatalistic attitude towards controlling attrition. When | | | | talent for those values, to ensure strong talent |
| asked if they knew what is common among the | | | | engagement. |
| 80-40% of the employees that stay back, are | | | | |