Survey of human resource management db 3

Career Planning that an Organization Can Use to Retain Highly Talented Staff Introduction Organizations face problems of retaining employees as a result of high employee turnover since it is very expensive to replace talents every time they leave for other organizations. This is because the organization has to recruit, select, orient and train new employees which can have a demoralizing effect on an organizational efficiency. As stated by William et al (2005), the costs of recruiting and training new employees in an organization is approximately twice the cost of vacated position. Career planning that empowers employees to work towards building their own goals while doing productive work for their employer is therefore very important. The following discussion focuses on employee retention and how organizations can enhance upward mobility.
Career Planning Necessary to Retain Highly Talented Staff
Organizations should be able to provide a well defined career path for all positions in their organizations. As stated by Shore (2013), organizations can increase their percentage of employee retention by helping their employees envision credible rewards such as salary increment, promotion, performance rewards, and bonuses. This should be available for the junior staff, supervisors, line managers and the top management of an organization. It is important to note that the line managers and top management are the most often affected and may be at risk of leaving because they may feel that their careers have stalled at the present organizations.
Well defined career paths can be provided through effective performance management practices where you talk to your employees about their goals and aspirations. Employees inputs serves as a point of departure upon which human resource managers can brainstorm ways to structure job descriptions not only to accommodate employees’ goals and aspirations but also to advance them in a well structured career path. In this regard, attention should be given to alternative career paths that define a more personal employee aspiration since most career paths do not reflect employees’ personal goals. This is not only important in fostering career retention but also important in creating a work environment which promote growth and development (Chhabra & Mishra, 2008).
The second strategy for enhancing upward mobility and promoting retention is by fostering skill building through education assistance and cross-training for all employees. Cross training is an important strategy since it helps employees acquire new skills, stay motivated and become more interested in their job. Employees often value opportunities that are available to them in order to gain exposure to projects and roles that are not necessarily part of their current roles and job descriptions. Research has also shown that cross-training results into more versatile employees (Shore, 2013). This is important since all employees would gain an understanding of how their individual responsibilities are important in making a successful and profitable business. Education assistance through paid study leaves and payment for part of training is also important for helping employees to gain external training necessary for their individual developmental skills.
A comprehensive mentoring and evaluation of the implemented programs should be implemented to ensure that the implemented programs are effective. Through mentorship programs, highly talented graduates are guided through to build on their core strengths in order to achieve high processional goals while meeting the needs of an organization (Kandula, 2006). Through mentorship programs, mentors from different departments in an organization identify, recruit and focus on highly talented employees. Many multinational organizations such as, Barclays bank, Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC), Deloitte, Unilever, Nestle, Proctor and Gamble and Coca cola run a number of graduate mentoring programs in which highly talented graduates are recruited through their graduate management programs. However, mentorship should be accompanied by right compensation and benefits. HR managers should periodically review compensation and benefits for their employees to ensure that they are offering wages and benefits that are competitive. Through the implementation of these strategies, an organization would not only promote upward mobility but also attract and retain highly talented professionals.
References
Chhabra, N., & Mishra, A. (2008). Talent Management and Employer Branding: Retention Battle Strategies. ICFAI Journal of Management Research, 7(11), 50-61.
Kandula, S. R. (2006). Human Resource Management and Organization Development: Practitioner Readings. Hyderabad: ICFAI University Press.
Shore, B. (2013). Improving Employee Retention in a South Korean High Growth Organization: Do Western Strategies Apply?. Journal of Global Business Issues, 7(2), 1-8.
William, R., Wei, WA. & Tiffani, PD. (2005). Career Planning and Succession Management: Developing Your Organizations Talent for Today and Tomorrow. Westport: Praeger Publishers