Here’s the truth: the job market is undergoing a rapid change that makes it look a lot different than it did just a few years ago. Besides fiercer war of talents, employers are now also facing a new set of challenges, from addressing talent crunch, transitioning into millennial-dominated workforce, to keeping up with evolving industry trends. These factors have led to the evolving employer-employee relationship.

Nowadays, people no longer merely work for the financial reason. While they still care about compensation and traditional benefits, they expect to gain personal fulfilment from meaningful job. When they do not enjoy or do not see the impact of their job, there are good chances that they will choose to move on. As talents are having better bargaining power, it comes as no surprise that employers need to go the extra miles to retain their top performers.

According to recent 2018 Hiring Outlook report entitled The Impact of the Growing Skills Shortage on the Employer-Employee Relationship by The Execu|Search Group, majority (65 percent) employers said that they would extend a counter offer in order to keep their best employees. However, interestingly, more than half (60 percent) employees said that they would reject a counter offer from their current employer. Such finding demonstrates that enticing top talents with higher compensation will no longer work. Instead, employers should do early investment by showing that they care about their future career.

The study noted that there is changing employee mentality over the years. Today’s talents are seeking a career, rather than a job. In the old job model, they only work for the company where their loyalty to the employer is exchanged with pay, benefits, and stability. However, in the new career model, they work for more career development as they are searching for purpose, personalisation, and development to improve professional marketability.

Employers surveyed in the study said that the lack of qualified applications submitted and candidates lack technical skills or experience are among the top hiring challenges today. Meanwhile, the survey revealed that only one in four employers has not made any effort to address the skills shortage at their company. To solve this issue, employers could implement strategic hiring for better talent engagement through several methods.

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1. They should start hiring for potential. Instead of hiring someone only for their experience and skillsets, employers should evaluate a candidate’s potential during the interview process by asking behavioral or situational-based questions.
2. Employers need to be open to temporary workers. Armed with the industry skills and experience needed to hit the ground running, temporary workers can be especially valuable during periods of high demand, project implementations, or to cover particular positions.
3. Employers should facilitate a positive candidate experience. One simple misstep in an organisation’s hiring process can quickly change a candidate’s mind about an opportunity they were once excited to pursue. Therefore, it becomes crucial for the company to portray strong employer brand, emphasise good company culture, while making faster and more competitive offers for potential applicants.

Employers must make the effort to close the skills gap not only for themselves, but for their employees as well. As the perception of job security is shifting, employers need to offer greater career security for their employees, such as by provide strong initial training, offer continuous skills development, while implementing succession planning and leadership development initiatives within the organisation.

Additionally, the research also revealed the importance of professional development for employee retention strategy. Despite the fact that working professionals ranked professional development as the most important element of company culture, not many employers actually perceive it to be a high priority for job seekers. Building a solid company culture that encourages collaborative zes and offering wellness in the workplace to promote healthy work-life balance are also among talent engagement strategy you can start practicing today.

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