Retaining your top talent

Research done by The Talent Pools shows that 66% of businesses report that finding and retaining great people continues to be a significant challenge.

Without the right mix of skill and experience, these businesses are often unable to deliver according to client expectations or within the agreed project budget.

Innovation is key

With competitors constantly changing the way they work, your business needs to keep a step ahead — otherwise you will risk losing your top talent to your more innovative competitors.

Innovations not only allow you to work more effectively and therefore improve profits but can have larger cultural implications that are more likely to attract and retain employees.

Cutting-edge talent management techniques and tools can allow your business to:

• Maintain or gain a position at the forefront of your industry

• Keep existing talent engaged

• Tempt high-quality talent to join your business.

Assign resources effectively

Employees who are challenged effectively by their work, yet also given appropriate support and opportunities for professional development are likely to be more focused and satisfied with their current roles. If employees are challenged in their current roles they are less likely to look for work elsewhere. Ensuring that employees are focused on tasks that best suit their skill set will reduce the risk of “burn out” and thus reduce the risk of them leaving.

Assigning roles and responsibilities effectively is essential. By doing so, it:

• Maximises profit by assigning tasks and job roles appropriately

• Ensures people with the most appropriate skills and experience are engaged with projects when required. This will not only help maximise profits but will prevent your best talent wasting time on less skilled tasks

• Avoids people being assigned roles that do not match their skill set. This will only increase job dissatisfaction and make them more likely to find work elsewhere.

Build structure that simplifies administration

Every manager in your business will be involved with some administration tasks and this will likely be the least favourite part of their role. It therefore makes sense to implement systems that streamline administration tasks, allowing your managers to focus on the needs of their clients and people. This will improve job satisfaction for employees and increase your revenue by spending less time on activities that do not directly generate income.

Reduce frustration

A lack of direction and goals is a source of great frustration for employees. Having a clear development plan for each employee will help managers to evaluate their people and to provide them with a thorough career succession plan, leading to a lower risk of losing top talent.

Finding and retaining the best talent is a constant struggle that affects businesses across all industries. These four key strategies will help you achieve the greatest success:

1. Use a talent management system that will allow you to create career development plans for your employees

2. Assign your resources effectively to fully utilise your employee’s capability and ensure they are challenged

3. Build structures that simplify and minimise administrative tasks

4. Adopt a commitment to constant innovation and keep your company at the forefront of the industry.