Better than money?

Competing in a candidate driven market. I have been here before, I have seen salaries rise in a candidate short market and I have seen the companies that are slow to react miss out on candidates and lose good people only to face growing recruiting costs and unfilled jobs. WHile this is a growing global trend it is not the first time this has happened and this is not the first market to go through it. This problem in China is being exacerbated by the fact that the China HR shortage is really beginning to affect every corner of the market. The companies that took the initiative to come here years ago are not being rewarded they are being punished by rising salaries and a hyper, disorganized labor market. They are now faced with internal equity issues that are very difficult to solve. Unfortunately in a hyper market, like China, this issue usually solves itself when current employees leave for higher packages elsewhere. I meet candidates every week who make more that the hiring manager who is looking for them. How do you beat that? Get strategic: It requires a strategic approach to talent management, from recruiting to development, and from training to retention. Employers who are willing to create the right conditions to attract talent and who strive to retain that talent will succeed. Most HR professionals already acknowledge this need for marketing oriented strategies that build a stronger “employer brand” to attract talent. I think a greater value can be achieved through clear succession planning and by offering candidates specific growth targets within the company. Whether they are skills, titles, or responsibilities, job descriptions and management tracks can be altered to be more attractive to top talent. This will require a new approach to the talent market, instead of simply reacting to current staffing needs, employers will need to develop their relationships with their external recruiters and train their internal recruiters to keep an eye on what the competition is doing to attract their own people. We advise our clients to be as pro-active as possible when structuring packages and creating job descriptions for potential hires. Our approach is to take a look at the market first, then work with our clients to create a job description that meets their needs while providing an enticing scenario to potential candidates. This is different in almost every case and it can make a huge difference in attracting the right candidates. Brian Fenerty General Manager AdMark China Brian@AdMarkAsia.com www.AdMarkAsia.com