Irrespective of the challenges SA faces with the run-up to 2010, there has been a growing shortage of skilled labour, which is fast becoming one of the most alarming developments on the horizon.
However, other trends could also prove to be equally challenging for employers. Some of these work-related trends include:
* Retention issues: Research in the US has shown that the average employee tenure is at an all-time low of 3.6 years, according to a survey conducted by Teradata, a division of NCR. Although these are American statistics, with SA facing an ever-growing skills shortage, employers will need to focus their efforts on developing strong retention strategies and devise appropriate recognition and rewards programmes, to ensure they retain the skills base they currently have in their workforce.
* Knowledge transfer: As the economy improves and as valuable employees seek seemingly greener pastures, organisations lose the job and cultural knowledge of departing individuals. Often the softer side of the "assets" an employee has are not seen as part of the loss when the employee leaves. Organisations will often instil technical mechanisms to enhance knowledge transfer to the new incumbent, but the softer issues are never looked at regarding replacement. Often the people leaving carry great influence among their peers, act as informal leaders in their small teams, or motivate other members who sway between being positive and negative. The person leaving might be a mechanism that the organisation was using, unknowingly, to transfer knowledge to other employees. All of this could be lost without the organisation being fully aware. Without formal documented systems in place where these attributes can be captured and analysed, it is impossible to ensure comprehensive succession plans are put into place for activation, should an employee leave the organisation.
Often the softer side of the "assets" an employee has are not seen as part of the loss when the employee leaves.
Rob Bothma, divisional manager at Q Data DynamiQue, the e-HR division within Business Connexion.
* Technical skills scarcity: Although it is a worldwide problem faced by organisations regarding the shortage of systems engineers, computer programmers and technical specialists - some organisations are now looking at outsourcing their IT, computer programming and design functions to India, China, and other countries, where these countries have set up the relevant infrastructures to cope with this new demand. An organisation must clearly understand the implications of outsourcing areas of their business - and in the case of HR and payroll solutions, looking outside the borders of your own country can seem to be little drastic, as there could be far-reaching implications regarding the provision of a level of service that is not acceptable to employees. Often organisations do not see running the payroll as part of the core components of the organisation, and in these instances, look at running the payroll in an application service provider environment as a viable option. With Web-based technology, the HR or payroll user need not be concerned as to where the system is hosted, as long as it is available and online throughout the course of the day.
* Skills gaps: Currently the world is seeing a shift in the economy from an industrial base to a knowledge base, and gaps and deficiencies in skills and competencies translate into poor performance, ultimately causing competitive disadvantage. Greater investments in training and developing current employees (along with greater efforts to retain skilled employees) may help to reduce skills gaps. In order to effectively train employees, an organisation is first required to conduct a full audit of the skills they currently have. Secondly, an analysis needs to be conducted through a form of job analysis, to determine what skills are required by the organisation for each individual to perform at their maximum capacity. Having these two sets of data then facilitates a detailed training and development gap analysis report, which will enable a training plan to be set up for each employee in the organisation. This strategy also assists with staff retention - a full training plan which the organisation has committed to is a tangible asset for an employee, as they would see the value in remaining within the organisation which is prepared to grow their own skills base.
In summary, training and developing staff is a key retention strategy. Organisations need to show commitment to their employees by providing them with a documented training plan for the coming year, showing the employee the organisation's commitment to grow their skills base, as well as showing commitment to staff development.
* Rob Bothma is a divisional manager at Q Data DynamiQue, the e-HR division within Business Connexion.
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