AS THE US economy picks up, retaining top talent is the headline issue for HR professionals there
AS THE US economy picks up, retaining top talent is the headline issue for HR professionals there.
According to Lorraine Stomski, senior vice president of talent solutions for Aon Consulting in the US, this trend has forced HR departments to shift to a more strategic role from the traditionally more functional role.
“As the US economy is picking up, people are tending to look around for other job options. In response, HR professionals are increasing their focusing on talent management and talent retention,” Stomski said.
“In fact, there is a shifting emphasis in HR from the more functional activities such as compensation, to a more strategic role – a strategic partner to the business. This means really showing inherent value, showing the HR return on investment.”
This shift in direction has led to an increase in outsourcing activities, with functional activities such as relocation or benefits being outsourced, allowing HR professionals to concentrate on strategic matters. This strategic change has also led HR managers to think longer term, Stomski said, developing initiatives such as development centres, action learning, coaching and mentoring.
This reflects changing attitudes among top performers who want to be surrounded by top people, have opportunities to grow and visibility to senior management, as well as a good salary.
Despite the more strategic thinking of US HR professionals, Stomski said Australian HR is ahead of the curve. “The trends and issues seem to be tracking at a similar pace; however, Australians seem to be more globally savvy than many of their American counterparts,” she said.
“Australians seem to be hungry for the global perspective and are more sophisticated in their global outlook.”
Stomski predicted an increasing focus on HR working with newly-appointed executives, particularly during the first 90 days of their new role.
Research by the US Corporate Leadership Council has shown that 40 per cent of first-time executives fail in the first 18 months of their tenures, while there is a 50 per cent probability that new executives will be fired or quit within their first three years.
To combat this problem, HR professionals are developing ‘partnership approaches’. “A team is formed to work with the newly appointed exec and includes the HR manager, the hiring manager, the new exec and the executive coach,” Stomski said.
“The team then works through any issues, expectations and concerns. Incidentally, one of the biggest issues for new executives is the misalignment of expectations.”
