The blind side of HR? –or- a case for talent retention!
Copyright by Stephan Klaschka 2010-2024
From my series on how to build a successful BRG.1
Talent Wars
Ask whom you want, the corporate “war over talent” is declared and raging out there worldwide. We see companies going above and beyond to spot the precious future brainpower, lure them with all the goodies, and reel in the catch – but what happens later?
After the first days of a sweet honeymoon with ‘new hire orientations’, fancy status symbols, and back-patting, the shiny brochures start wilting, the warm words of welcoming encouragement fade, and reality kicks in like a hangover – and sometimes hard.
Now, did you notice that HR strategies often tend to focus on talent acquisition but neglect employee engagement to secure talent retention?
It’s not enough to bring in the ‘top talent’ when you can’t get the most out of your staff effectively and consistently long-term. To drive innovation and game-changing business models to their full potential, we cannot relinquish the expertise and insight of people familiar with the company or flourish on ideas from newly hired staff alone.
When true ‘on-boarding’ fails (and what I mean by that is embedding the new employee firmly into the organization’s human fabric) the wedding is short-lived. Good people are easy to move again to find their next job somewhere else and leave the company behind with an unproductive, vacant position. New employees may also soon pick up on limiting or meager career prospects that they soon will share with their not-so-new-anymore co-workers who were not granted the opportunity to develop and ‘grow’ into the open position. Then, the costly investment in the new hire went down the drain while the company still needed to fill the vacant position with another candidate to be snatched from the competition at a cost…
On the other hand, what is the effect on the more seasoned employees when the company ever hires new staff rather than developing the more seasoned staff with up-skilling, shadowing, offering transfers, job-swap experiences, etc.? They see the influx of fresh blood affecting (and sometimes disrupting or diluting) the established company’s culture as well as limiting their career opportunities. When will the veteran staff feel they are no longer valued and find it is time to make a move and be courted by a new employer that values their talent more?
Tension Field
How about this provocative thesis: By the very nature of their job, HR strategists see the organization as it should be and it is their challenge to move it in that idealistic direction. In contrast, the functional managers throughout the organization see the organization as it is and manage the reality at hand that they have to deal with every day. The HR strategists and the managers on the ground pull in different directions which opens a continuous tension field in which the HR strategists can and tend to be naturally blind-sided to the needs of the business!
Does the HR strategic perspective make sense to focus on acquisition, i.e. hiring talent the company should have, and not so much on retention, i.e. the talent the company already has and that would need to be developed, which is a more uncertain and harder road? – I leave this question open for discussion and am curious what your observations or experiences are.
Talent Opportunity for BRGs
If my thesis holds true then BRG leaders face opportunity and, perhaps, have an obligation to show positive "organizational citizenship behavior" by doing what is right for the organization and its existing employees.
When starting a BRG, business strategy, and goals are important to focus the BRG (see also How to start building a business-focused ERG?) and you will need sponsors to support the BRG (also see How to attract an executive sponsor?), it is the people you inspire to join the BRG - they are the lifeblood your BRG will need most!
While Focusing on BRG engagement projects that aim at employee engagement, belonging, development, creating career opportunities, and talent retention then has a bright future! - Do you agree?
Stay tuned for my next post on: What’s in it for me? (WIIFM)
From my series on how to build a BRG (=Business Resource Group) group, i.e. a business-focused ERG (=Employee Resource Group) first published on OrgChanger.com.