In this year’s survey, talent management was identified as a key priority for CEOs. In Canada, 85% of CEOs said that they intend to make “some” or a “major” change to their strategies for managing talent. The concentration on talent management was noticeably reflected in hiring plans. Over 60% of Canadian CEOs said they expected to add jobs over the next year. - PwC Global CEO Survey
Recently PwC completed their annual Global CEO survey, and there were a number of highlights that impact HR Professionals.
- 50% of the CEO’s were expecting, and focusing on growth after the global recession.
- Keeping with a growth outlook 60% of Canadian CEOs expect to add jobs
- 60% of Canadian CEO’s have identified recruiting and retaining older workers as a priority (42% for the global average).
So what does this mean for HR departments? Well it means back to hiring, and competing for talent. Particularly for organizations in Western Canada where job markets will soon be returning to their extremely competitive pre-recession states thanks to a rise in commodities. Although this time, there will be even more competition with provinces like Saskatchewan developing their uranium, potash, and oil, as well as British Columbia’s abundance of shale gas (recent additions from British Columbia’s Horn River basin have doubled the province’s natural gas reserves).
This environment will present a number of challenges for HR departments, but there are ways to address it.
- Develop your Employment Value Proposition. Identify and target your key roles, and what attracts successful employees in those roles. In particular, what are older workers looking for? Learn from marketers – segment your hiring and target your EVP towards those candidates preferences. Additionally a strong EVP can reduce your hiring premium by 10%. Click here for more.
- Improve social media recruiting. This lowers costs, and brings forward candidates more in line with your organization. Deloitte in the Netherland’s has done an excellent job of this here.
- Optimize your recruitment process. I think this is a fairly common topic covered by many other sources, but always important to keep in mind.
These are just a few things to consider in the next few months. If you have already started preparing for these upcoming challenges let me know what you’ve implemented to prepare.