Job security and leadership crucial to talent retention

Attracting and retaining talent is a growing problem around the world. An important aspect of this is understanding why employees are interested in working for your company and why they stay.

The Towers Watson Global Talent Management and Rewards Survey released at the end of July found that this understanding appears to be missing. Of the organisations surveyed just 27 per cent said that they monitor the effectiveness of career management programs.

Towers Watson Managing Director Laura Sejen said that talent mobility is increasing and this may be due to a disconnect between the employee and employer.

“While employers recognise the importance of pay and career advancement as key reasons employees choose to join and stay with a company, they don’t place the same importance on another top attraction and retention driver: job security, or a key retention driver: trust and confidence in senior leadership,” said Ms Sejen.

“The importance of leadership can’t be overstated. Employees are more likely to remain at their companies if they have trust and confidence in their senior management and leaders.”

The Global Workforce Study identified leadership as the most important element of sustainable engagement. Yet, less than half of the respondents (48 per cent) thought that their senior leadership was effective. Furthermore, in the Global Talent Management and Rewards Survey only 55 per cent of respondents said their leaders inspired them.

Another issue identified by employees in the survey was career development. The Global Workforce Study found that 41 per cent of employees felt that in order to advance their careers they would need to leave their current position.

HRMS software can help organisations include career development in employee training to foster loyalty. Management software can help your business create a program that optimises the effects of employee training and ensure the training aligns with the organisation’s performance objectives.