Are you ready for the employment changes post GFC?

Cast your mind back to a time not so long ago, employees wanted more money and would jump from employer to employer for a couple of bucks an hour. Unemployment was at record lows and consumer spending was high – credit was easy and Australia was flying.

So as an employer you were in the war for talent, paying staff above market rates to ensure they stayed. In the Hunter we were competing with other parts of Australia for our own people. Skilled tradespeople along with some professionals were flying in and out of WA and Queensland chasing $$ and career opportunity from the mining boom.

Then the credit crunch and the squeeze that occurred out of the GFC has changed the employment landscape. Stability and job security are the currency of choice from today’s employee. Yes but the winds of change are about to blow. A need to work on greater retention strategies has lapsed as managers are not stressed because staff are simply staying steady. This is a dangerous management philosophy and one that in the short term may work but in the long term will cause you great pain.

Lets look at the current state of the recruitment market – in my opinion the work needed to fill current vacancies has increased due to the higher number of quality candidates applying for your roles. Before GFC with low unemployment came applicants in current roles that were leveraging for career and $$ opportunity. Today the same job ad would garner a similar response rate (perhaps a higher number of applicants) but the number of recently redundant or unemployed applicants takes the majority of the pool. So your recruitment and selection methodology become more important compared to the size of your cheque book in the past.

There are other intriguing ramifications we will feel from the economic adjustment for some time to come.

As an aging population Australia has had a generation of “Baby Boomers” heading towards retirement have to change course and “hang around” for a few extra years. These employees had plans to retire but have seen there Super savings drastically reduced and are now forced to work on. How you as an employer balances this against a younger generation of career driven people wanting those management and higher paying jobs will be key moving into the new world.

Managers who have reverted to management by fear and using the threat of job security as a retention strategy are soon going to be recruiting in large numbers as the workforce returns to the job market. This will occur and the market signs show it has already begun, increase economic confidence and rising interest rates will see your staff again looking for jobs with great rewards.

So as the world and indeed the Hunter comes out of the economic winter and heads into spring – will your business be ready to reap what you have sown? Or will you be left behind constantly playing catch up as the market shifts? I have been working with smart employers who have taken advantage of this crisis. They have acquired extreme talent thrown to the gutter by their competitors and are now in a position of power within their industry.

By the way just to impact even further the need to stay ahead in the employment landscape the federal government has new Industrial Relations legislation kicking in come Jan 1, 2010.

The team at Retain HR understand the entire employment life cycle and are ready to help your business get more out of its most important asset, the staff wearing your logo.

This article is the professional opinion of Craig McGregor – Director Retain HR.