Megatrends

On average, companies spend 36% of revenues on their employees. That not only makes them a highly valued asset, but one free to walk out the door at a moment’s notice. The question is: are you doing your utmost to attract the best employees, to get the best out of them and keep them happy and motivated – all just to stay ahead of the competition?

Consider this: 30 years ago, the average product lasted up to 18 years in the marketplace. Today, consumer demand has driven the life of the average product down to less than two years. Unsurprisingly, this has had a huge impact on the way companies run. In particular, it has put enormous pressure on employees to produce better results and faster.

Companies have had to review their HR and human capital management, and found several complications:

• Many economies are close to full employment – so it’s hard to find the right people.
• Employees are spending less time in each job – so it’s hard to keep good staff.
• The growth of the labour force is slowing – so there are fewer people to choose from, a situation made worse as baby boomers retire.

In response, companies have used technology to reduce their reliance on manual labour, sent work offshore and taken advantage of the internet’s global reach to find candidates.

But is that enough?

• Has your company created “an employee brand” to attract the best and brightest candidates?
• Are you building a talent pool of the right people?
• Are you continuously developing your employees – challenging their levels of knowledge and closely monitoring their job performance?
• Have you given your people the skills and know-how to better manage themselves?

Have you considered outsourcing HR functions to achieve best practice and reduce costs as well as free your staff up to concentrate on core tasks?

No? Your company must introduce measures like these to compete for talent and stay ahead of the competition.