Highlighting trends in the quest to attract the best talent in the job market

Now more than ever, the need for employers to attract the best talent and present their companies as an ideal career development environment has become a critical part of any business development strategy.

The work environment has changed. Previously, the employer dictated the terms and conditions of employment to the employee. Today’s skilled workforce dictates the terms and conditions of employment to the employer, and competition for skilled employees has and will continue to increase.

As the market becomes more competitive, it has become more important for companies to stand out as an attractive company for top talent to work and continue working.

Samantha Crous, country manager for the Corporate Research Foundation (CRF) Institute of South Africa, explains: “Companies are competing for the same skilled pool of employees, and so they have to ensure they present a good case to prospective staff so that they can beat their competitors in the race for scarce talent.”

The biggest challenge facing business in the 21st century is the constant need for change, largely driven by technological innovation and the growing number of learned, ambitious, free-spirited and driven individuals.

There is a trend shift: where previously potential employees would be competing to market themselves to companies, today companies compete to attract talent – and to be the best and preferred employer.

The latest annual Best Employers Certification Index for 2011/2012 shows that more companies are beginning to realise the value of paying attention to the needs of employees, and are beginning to put concerted efforts into ensuring their company vision is aligned with the needs and goals of prospective employees.

This research measures companies on their organisational strategy, human resources function, communication, diversity management, corporate social responsibility, knowledge management, talent management and engagement, performance management, as well as a rewards and recognition structure.

The research focuses on six dimensions. The first of these is primary benefits, which include monetary benefits such as basic salary, share options and pension fund; secondary benefits and working conditions, where focus is placed on non-monetary benefits such as leave allowance, flexible working conditions, the availability of and accessibility to wellness programmes, communication, innovation and recognition; the third dimension focuses on training and development initiatives in place within the organisation to help employees grow in their role; career development, company culture and diversity management are the other three dimensions, which played a critical role in the research, construction and in determining the
best employer.

Cream of the crop

In 2011, Microsoft SA was rated the Best Employer in South Africa for 2011/2012 by the CRF Institute in its Best Employers Certification Index. Following Microsoft SA, the other top 10 were: Accenture SA, SAP South Africa, Unilever SA, Ernst & Young, Vodacom Group Limited, Netcare Limited, Peninsula Beverage Company, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc., and Procter & Gamble SA.

One of the most improved companies in the 2011 Best Employers Certification Index was Unilever South Africa, which was ranked fifth in the Large-sized Employer category in the 2010 Best Employer Index. It moved up to first position in this category; and was ranked first in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Employer category. Unilever ranked fourth in the Overall Best Employer category – an improvement from last year’s position 11 in the same category.

According to Antoinette Irvine, HR vice president of Unilever South Africa: “People are at the heart of our business, and we are a people-based company. This is our company value that we live by every day, in good and bad times.

“We believe our people are the reason for our success, and our HR policies – which we developed with the input of our employees – speak to this. We are passionate about our brand and share the same vision with our employees, and work together to make a difference in business and the community.

“We have worked very hard to get here, and we will continue to do our best again next year to improve our scores; excellence is what we should be and must become,” she adds.

Policies form the framework in which companies manage people, and that is what this survey looks at in assessing best employers, as the implementation of such policies provides a framework that can enable people to become the best they can be in the organisation – and such policies dictate the output, explains Crous.

Companies that develop the right policies and policy frameworks from HR, legal and compliance view points – and effectively implement such policies – are those that make it as best employers.

Inclusion of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) succession plans play a fundamental role in determining that companies attract and retain the right talent.

Although BBBEE is part of a legislative requirement, it is interesting to note that the best empowered companies and best employers do not simply focus on BBBEE based on meeting scorecard ratings, but place value on succession planning for black talent.

Everyone looks at the scorecard, and no one delves into what happens when companies attract black talent, issues around the progression of black candidates into senior positions, career growth path of black candidates, support structures for career progression, and mentorship programmes to move black talent into senior management and board-level positions.

The Best Employer Index reveals that key issues contributing to the retention of black talent are the inclusion of the following elements in company policies: growth plan opportunities, succession planning and the culture of the organisation. Companies need to start designing specific career path offerings in a more systematic kind of way.

Crous says: “The trick is to get the basics right, by looking at basic structure of employment offering – what your company offers the employees.”

A number of companies still have not caught on to the current trend of employee segmentation, where employers tailor packages for individuals. Best employers are making the best of such trends, and tailor-packaging employment perks for specific individual needs to attract and retain talent.

One size does not fit all

The practice of product marketing is segmented for the different target market groups. It is the same with employees: companies cannot take one package and hope it fits all. Information technology staff have different needs to marketing or accounting staff; and the same applies to women with children and women without children, single parents, single men and women – all these target market groups have different needs and require different employment packages. For this reason, it is important for companies in South Africa to start looking to employee segmentation to ensure their companies offer employees value.

The world is changing, and the way in which people work has evolved. Today’s workforce requires more flexibility, clear career growth plans, and the knowledge that they are contributing toward making a difference.

Flexibility is about trust. Globally, the trend points toward flexible work hours, as many employees across the world demand flexibility, mobile work stations and the ability to do work from anywhere they may be. Many companies in South Africa have not embraced the idea of flexible working options.

Crous says: “Trusting people is a risk, and trusting that employees would still perform at full capacity even when they don’t work 8-to-5 is an even bigger risk, but one that produces results if the relationship is built on the right principles. Best Employers are those that have built this relationship to ensure flexibility works for employees and the company.”

In South Africa, most businesses do not trust employees enough to give them the flexibility they require to work independently. As a result, some companies are losing skilled staff to companies that offer these packages to employees.

Today’s employees are not motivated merely by financial gain, but the culture of a company, the structure of their work hours, etc. because they can get money anywhere on account of their skills, knowledge and expertise. For example, most companies are losing their female workforce because they refuse to give them the occasional day off that they require.

Best Employers are those companies creating real partnerships with their employees. These are the companies that take a more mature approach to management style and which take risks because, to be a best employer, there are risks to be taken – unfortunately, there are still many companies that are not prepared to do this.

Company culture

Culture is everything. Naturally, people align themselves in a similar sociological kind of way, and companies need to tap into this type of culture while driving their leadership vision. Most companies fail in this battle because they try to impose on to its people the culture that the company wants, rather than embracing the culture that employees build within that organisation – therefore aligning company culture to that of its employees.

Companies need to engage people on various levels, measure employee happiness, and assess whether employees are experiencing the company and its culture in the way it had intended them to experience.

The mining, energy and banking sectors are still among the major sectors that have not caught on to trends of retaining staff and addressing the needs of today’s workforce. Because these sectors still remain the country’s big economic drivers, their approach to management remains old-school, where the manager is the boss and the employee is the servant. With the working world changing, however, eventually they, too, will have to adapt, as their employees will not tolerate their system of management.

There is a need for more companies in South Africa to start adopting and embracing global trends that have worked for multinationals abroad, in creating a happier and more productive workforce.

If companies are going to compete globally, then universal best practices need to be implemented in order to ensure businesses in South Africa remain competitive – particularly now when employers are not merely competing against local employers.

A general change in the relationship between employer and employee is essential, and the partnership model will, in the future, be critical in determining productivity levels of employees and the performance of companies.

Ntokozo Ndlovu

• |2012-02-06 10:25:03 Mathilda Mc Cabe  - Re: Best employer study 2011/2012
  I am interested in doing reseach based on the findings of this stydy. How can I contact Smantha Crous or the relevant person to obtain futher detail regarding this study/survey?
  
  Greetings,
  Mathilda Mc Cabe
  082 760 4699
  
  
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