News & Views
RECOGNITION AT WORK AND FINDING HIDDEN TALENT:
Recognition and reward. A timely reminder for all managers to assess and reflect on their own methods of recognition and reward. This is especially important at the moment due to the economic slowdown and skill shortage. We are all acutely aware of both of these factors so let’s focus on those things which we can control when it comes to our people.
“More in
the funnel”
Companies are demanding more at the moment just to keep still.
Whether that’s wanting new clients, cost-conscious creative
marketing or supply chain efficiencies, now is a demanding time.
This is the reality of business however, what can help through this
period is how staff are recognised, rewarded and valued.
There’s nothing worse than your staff working harder and
smarter without it being acknowledged… after all, there is
still a labour shortage so your talented staff will find
recognition elsewhere.
Formal and Informal
Having clear goals, objectives and KPI’s makes it easier to
assess performance and give feedback on. Telling your staff what
you think of them, in the right manner, is a motivating and
enlightening experience for you both. Remember it’s a balance
of the good and constructive over time - they shouldn’t be
‘sandwiched’ together. An informal ‘pat on the
back’ though can also be greatly received - when was the last
time you did that? Set up regular ‘one-on-ones’, get
their feedback, understand them and stop the little issues becoming
so big that your star performer is talking to us!
Fun and Humour
Numerous surveys have shown that when people have fun at work, they
feel more engaged and it is a key determinant of a successful
workplace. What do you actively do to encourage this? This is
especially important during tougher times as humour is proven to
help with resilience.
Where is the talent?
So while there is an economic slowdown, many of New Zealand’s
leading companies are taking the opportunity now to improve or
upskill their talent base. Even with a softening labour market,
skill shortages remain the number one concern of many companies
going into the election. This is exacerbated by the continuing
exodus of skilled talent to Australia.
With these factors in mind, many of our clients are taking the opportunity to improve their businesses by upskilling their existing talent base or filling those hard to find roles that have been difficult or impossible to fill in the past.
Many business owners don't realise that in a recessionary environment, there is as much opportunity as ever. With an increased labour pool from which to draw expert people, companies can take the opportunity to increase their market share, diversify interests and to focus on building the business through an improvement in their key personnel.
However finding the best talent is not always an easy task. We recognise that as the global war for people resource heats up, so does the need for creativity in recruiters and employers strategies to attract talent… especially the best ‘hidden’ talent.
The OCG
Research Methodology
We understand
that with the demand for top talent rapidly outstripping the
supply, the ability to fill critical positions quickly is
competitive advantage for our clients. With 99% of professionals
currently working, there aren’t many looking regularly at the
‘job boards’ or advertisements… so sourcing
critically required executive talent is an immense issue in New
Zealand. To that end, at OCG we are embracing creative strategies
for talent attraction.
We now have the capability and tenacity to uncover ‘passive/prospective’ candidates. Those who are fully employed professionals but are not looking for a new job; nor are they registered with OCG or any other executive recruitment company. They may be happy in their current position or not - but either way life’s demands means they are unable to give the prospect of a new job a second thought… unless it is handed to them on a platter!
At OCG we have the research capability to find this ‘passive’ talent and we have the expertise to engage it for our clients. Our candidate research is a mixture of highly specialised research and a deep internet mining approach which is ahead of its time in New Zealand. The results have been compelling and show we can no longer rely on traditional media in the hope that people will find us. We must now find and engage the hidden, passive talent to keep our companies alive!