Companies grapple with talent retention

By WINSLEY MASESE

Talent retention and engagement of employees by firms have been identified as the main challenges employers are grappling with.

Their impact on the company’s financial performance has been far reaching. This makes meeting employees’ expectations significant for improved growth.

Debbie Hollis, senior manager human capital at Deloitte East Africa, noted employees want to work in companies that consistently develop their talents hence are happy and can stay. “Some of the issues that touch on talent retention and engagement include employees daily work experience and also how their relation with the top management of the firm,” she said.

She underscored the need for employers to engage employees. This  involves giving them equal opportunity to grow and contribute decisions to the company. “Disengaged workforce is staggering and in most cases, some employees are interested with the paycheck,” she said.

Generation Y is one of the most responsive in the workplace to talent retention and giving them space can play a big role to the company. According to the company’s survey, Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2014 Report, released last month,  employee retention and engagement emerged the second most challenging globally after leadership.  The Survey revealed that organisations are not ready to address the striking shift in employee  expectations, resulting in potential retention and leadership crises. “Global business growth jeopardised by companies’ failure to adjust to 21 century workforce,” it stated.

Hollis noted, “There is need for a dramatic rethink of talent development as majority of the learning activities happen in a vacuum.” Speaking during the launch of The Best Company to Work For 2014, in Nairobi, yesterday, Hollis decried that though work force expectations have shifted, employers have not changed on how they handle the workers.

Financial position

Some of the issues that touch employee performance include the financial position of the company, which can affect their confidence.

Family Bank Chief Executive Peter Munyiri observed that having the right people with the capacity in place is key to improving the company’s performance. “If well drilled, mentored and taken through a process of change, employees will deliver results,” Munyiri said.

On the young generation, usually referred to as Generation Y, the bank chief executive argued that they need to be identified and involved in the decision making process of the company to bring the best out of them.

Munyiri, who was a speaker at the launch, admitted that the young generation is committed to work if they are given the necessary support and roles. “They are extremely excited and to tap them, we have created a committee for them and chaired by one of them to discuss issues of the institution,” he said.

With different people motivated for different reasons, he argued that a ‘nicely’ worded letter can get the best out of an employee.

Enabling environment

Ann Muraya, an audit partner at Deloitte, stated that past studies have indicated that about 18 per cent of employees are satisfied with their current employers, hence opening an avenue for employers to devise strategies to create an enabling environment for them and improve their productivity.

 “The rest are disengaged or interested in the paycheck and if they continue to show this,  they contribute the minimum productivity to the company,” she said. The survey seeks to examine employee engagement in the company and motivate employee issue.

“We seek to apply employee engagement imbalances to understand their priorities, identify gaps and close them in a proper manner,” Anne reckoned.

The survey also seeks to understand what employee experiences in a particular situation and as a valuable insight on talent management plans. They will also engage performance and talent retention of the employees in an effort to ensure a company becomes the employer of choice for many talented employees.Some of the parameters employed include the sense of employee confidence in the organisation, working relations with manager or supervisor, overall job satisfaction, sense of inclusion in the organisation, operational effectiveness.

Others include ethics and integrity in the organisation, career development, work-life balance, performance and recognition and remuneration. As a tangible asset, Anne urged companies to invest in employees to productively improve their growth prospects.

In its third year, the survey invites companies to participate and weigh the standing of their employee satisfaction among other factors.

The closing date for the entries is May 31. Last year, technology firm Craft Silicon emerged the overall Best Company to Work For 2013.