Employers are reviewing pay and benefits, and even relocating to retain their top talent
IN A BID to recruit and retain top talent, employers are reviewing their pay and benefits packages, their engagement with staff and the worker-friendliness of their business locations.
Patrick Robertson, MD of Performance Reward Consulting (PRC) in Dublin, says skills shortages and the competition for experienced staff is forcing employers to think harder about their human resource strategies.
A survey issued by PRC this week revealed that over 80% of Irish businesses report difficulty recruiting over the past year. Over 75% have had to offer above the market median salaries to secure candidates in 2018; and 58% of the 100 surveyed organisations from across all market sectors, expect to search internationally to recruit for some of their Irish-based roles in 2019.
“Employers are reviewing their overall pay and benefits packages,” said Patrick Robertson. “They have been increasingly focusing on this in the past 18 months. This is very true of hot sectors such as legal and construction, where demand is far higher than the general economy.
“There are clear shortages around certain roles. To try and combat employee turnover issues, 59% of respondents within the survey report that they are planning active steps to increase their employee retention in 2019. These include market pay reviews, changes to career structures, introduction of incentives and employment rebranding.”
For people working in shared services and call centres, employers are also looking at moving their business location from out-of-town premises back into the city centres in Dublin, Cork and Limerick etc. This is particularly true of companies with multi-lingual skills.
“Where employers are recruiting people from Europe to work in shared service centres, the employees are often coming to experience the lifestyle and to learn English while working.
They see that experience as being close to the centre of activities, not commuting to work in an outside location.
“People who have been living outside of the EU for many years may have issues with their driving licence. If they’re only coming here for a year or two, they’re more interested in a healthcare plan than their pension. From the employer’s point of view, having invested in recruiting and training someone, it also makes better financial sense to have them come in to work for four years rather than two.”
Interestingly, some companies are also looking at softer areas around wellness and adding to the appeal of their workplace. Some are making fresh fruit freely available in workplace canteens, others are hosting cookery courses. The payback seems to be in happier, healthier workers.
In Performance Reward Consulting’s experience, it seems employers are also working harder to find ways that differentiate them from other companies competing for talent in the same field.
“A lot of companies are talking about their employment brand,” said Patrick Robertson. “That is a matter of looking at which employees you are trying to recruit and retain, and how to make yourself attractive to them.”
The Performance Reward Consulting survey also found that the average forecast increase in Irish employee numbers is 6.6% for 2018. Across the survey, 36% of organisations report that their staff turnover had increased over the past year and 32% expect it to increase in 2019. The average employee turnover level reported within the survey was 8.8% in 2018.
Mr Robertson said: “As the market continues to heat up, Irish based organisations are now struggling to recruit and retain key talent and they are now often having to look outside Ireland to recruit for certain skills. This brings challenges integrating employees who have worked abroad and concerns around insurance, healthcare, driving licences education and housing often arise during the recruitment and induction process.
“It is interesting to see how many organisations are also reviewing their benefits plans to assist with retention. Within our survey 60% of respondent’s report that they plan to review their employment benefits in 2019. Enhancements to benefits including additional on-site facilities, additional leave, wellness programmes and flexible working are all reported within the survey.”
In addition, most organisations within the survey are forecasting pay increases for 2019. Across the survey the median forecast increase in the Republic of Ireland is 2.5% and 3.0% in Northern Ireland.
The survey covered a range of areas related to reward planning also found that the average forecast increase in Irish employee numbers is 6.6% for 2018.
Across the survey, 36% of organisations report that their staff turnover had increased over the past year and 32% expect it to increase in 2019. The average employee turnover level reported within the survey was 8.8% in 2018.
