8 Ideas of Attracting and Retaining a Talented Workforce
Industry Focus
Thought Leadership
30 Apr 2018
By Amanda Oldridge, Human Resources Director at Linfox International Group
Finding the elusive top talent when trying to fill an open role can be challenging. However, I would like to address and challenge hiring managers, HR practitioners and especially recruiters that tell me that there is a talent shortage in Asia. It is my point of view that to find high performing employees one needs to think far beyond just trying to fill an open job rather it is an ongoing plan and program a company, and all hiring managers must make to build the way talent are found, developed and retained. In fact, it is my belief that there are talented individuals for all our open roles it is just a matter of finding where they are hiding. Talent (note there is no ‘s’ at the end of talent) is a noun that defines a natural aptitude or skill. A top talent is someone who possesses the highest natural aptitude or skill. Now, in the workplace when we speak of talent it is someone who not only has a natural aptitude or competency but also someone who can help a corporation achieve complex and challenging objectives and this is where we find it difficult to find the right people to fill a job – I like to call this FLAIR. Having FLAIR is the capability to achieve one’s job, have the tenacity to meet and address all complex company problems and conflicts by using creativity, a global mindset, empathy and all within the context of working within a team environment. In Thailand the war for talent has been for well over twenty years and as the aging population retires finding not only enough employees but also employees who have the skill, attitude and FLAIR within the world of work can be time-consuming and difficult. However, there are lots of ideas and ways to find talent that is not as elusive as we all think. I have listed eight ideas below that might help others think about ways of attracting and retaining a high achieving workforce that has FLAIR.
Finding the elusive top talent when trying to fill an open role can be challenging. However, I would like to address and challenge hiring managers, HR practitioners and especially recruiters that tell me that there is a talent shortage in Asia. It is my point of view that to find high performing employees one needs to think far beyond just trying to fill an open job rather it is an ongoing plan and program a company, and all hiring managers must make to build the way talent are found, developed and retained. In fact, it is my belief that there are talented individuals for all our open roles it is just a matter of finding where they are hiding. Talent (note there is no ‘s’ at the end of talent) is a noun that defines a natural aptitude or skill. A top talent is someone who possesses the highest natural aptitude or skill. Now, in the workplace when we speak of talent it is someone who not only has a natural aptitude or competency but also someone who can help a corporation achieve complex and challenging objectives and this is where we find it difficult to find the right people to fill a job – I like to call this FLAIR. Having FLAIR is the capability to achieve one’s job, have the tenacity to meet and address all complex company problems and conflicts by using creativity, a global mindset, empathy and all within the context of working within a team environment. In Thailand the war for talent has been for well over twenty years and as the aging population retires finding not only enough employees but also employees who have the skill, attitude and FLAIR within the world of work can be time-consuming and difficult. However, there are lots of ideas and ways to find talent that is not as elusive as we all think. I have listed eight ideas below that might help others think about ways of attracting and retaining a high achieving workforce that has FLAIR.