Talent shortage: which factors help attract, retain employees?

Employees want a job that brings about opportunities to learn new skills (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – The talent shortage was at a record level globally, with the unemployment rate at the lowest for many decades. More than half companies in the world said they could not find the talents that they need, which almost doubled the rate in the previous decade. In such context, the voice of employees and job-seekers is more important than ever.

In a world where talents are receiving increasing attention, Vietnamese enterprises are not exception. To seek, build and foster talents in the current fierce competition, enterprises must understand the needs of the sought-after employees.

Talent shortage

According to a survey released by the Manpower Group at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos (Switzerland) last January, the talent shortage has almost doubled during the past decade.

Up to 54 percent of surveyed companies said they lack talents with suitable skills, and companies in 36 out of 44 countries covered in the survey indicated they met more difficulties in attracting skilled talents compared to 2018. Employers in the US (69 percent), Mexico (52 percent), Italy (47 percent) and Spain (41 percent) reported the most serious shortage.

The Manpower Group’s report Talent shortage - What Workers Want has disclosed some factors that help attract and retain workers. While workers’ needs change depending on geography, gender and different stages in their career, the survey found that autonomy over when and where work gets done, wellbeing to balance work and life and career mobility to build skills are top priorities. Those factors are as important as the priority given to leadership capacity and a commitment to purpose. 

"We know from conversations with candidates, clients and from our data that workers want flexibility and the opportunity to learn new skills,” said Jonas Prising, Manpower Group Chairman & CEO.

According to Prising, in an increasingly tech-enabled world, people with skills are in demand. He said, “We are calling for leaders to shift their workforce demands closer to the needs of in-demand talent. Creating shareholder value can only be done in conjunction with taking care of employees, customers and communities, so listening to the voice of the consumer is key. As the pace of disruption accelerates, helping people adapt for future jobs and companies become creators of talent has never been more important."

What factors retain employees

In Vietnam, recruitment group Navigos also released a report recently on jobseekers’ interested factors about an employer brand. The report presented findings of a survey of nearly 3,000 jobseekers in the database of VietnamWork, the biggest online job placement website in Vietnam.   

Attracting talents requires employers to understand the needs of workers (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The survey found that from the perspective of employees, “Leadership Quality” is more important than other factors that develop their career and bring benefits to their life.

According to candidates, Leadership quality is determined by two of the most important factors: Inspirational vision, clear strategy; and Good employee engagement.

Other important factors in “Attracting and retaining talents” are Company Culture & Value, Employee Reward, Work & Life quality, Company reputation, Development opportunity.

Regarding the Company Culture & Value, employees showed that the factors they prioritize most are related to style, culture, and behaviour in the workplace rather than factors related to engagement such as Teamwork spirit or Engagement.

Accordingly, ranking by the importance level, the three things employees expect the highest in the “Company cultures & values” are, respectively, Fairness, respect; Reliability, transparency; Professionalism. They are followed by Recognition and reward; Openness, friendliness; Teamwork spirit; Creativity and activeness; Diversity, engagement and integration.

The survey also indicated a big change in Vietnamese workers’ thinking about employee rewards. They now consider “Insurances and allowances” the most important factors instead of basic salary and financial benefits.

Although financial benefits are no longer ranked as the most important in terms of importance, they are still factors to attract jobseekers. The importance level is ranked as follows: Attractive future income, Guaranteed stable job; Competitive basic salary; Attractive bonus, and Regular salary increase./.