The three golden rules of talent management

Consulting Engineering firms appear to be faced with the same skills shortages as related industries, mining and construction. According to Philip Barnard, Human Resources Executive at leading consulting engineering firm, GIBB, the real challenge lies at mid-level positions.

“Skills availability is placed as the second-biggest threat to business growth in South Africa. More graduates are emerging at entry level, but there is a severe lack of skilled and experienced employees in the industry. This is where the gap lies and an area that we need to focus our attention,” said Barnard.

“The South African brain-drain was a phenomenon that impacted heavily on the engineering industry and other technical fields. We still find individuals with over eight years’ experience to be a scarcity as a result of the large number of professionals who migrated overseas due to the uncertain political climate experienced in South Africa  post-democracy,” he continued.

According to a new global report on leadership trends by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), CEOs in Africa are more confident about growth than their first-world peers. But South African CEOs seem more concerned about the availability of key skills than their global counterparts with 36% of the 56 South African CEOs interviewed being worried about skills compared to the global average of 17%.

Mining, energy, construction and engineering firms reported the most severe lack of skilled employees, with 89% of South African CEOs making significant changes to their talent management strategies over the next 12 months.

According to the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), South Africa currently has one engineer for every 3 100 people, compared to, Germany with one engineer for every 200 people. In countries like Japan, UK and USA, this ratio stands at about one to 310.

Barnard said the issue of talent management – that we have control over – boils down to how businesses find, develop and retain talent. He said engineering firms need to take a more strategic approach to closing the skills gap.

“At GIBB, we took a broader view of the challenge. It is not just a singular programme addressing one or two issues. It is rather a comprehensive and longer term strategy, with the focus on attraction, development and retention – a holistic approach,” added Barnard.

Attracting your talent

Barnard contended that the challenge is to find unique ways to find talent. Advertising/outsourcing your recruitment to recruitment agencies, is not the best way to find appropriate talent as everybody is “fishing in the same small pond”.  Amongst others, one needs to develop and ensure a pipeline of talent.

Apart from offering a large number of learnerships per annum, GIBB also has a bursary programme, and with the right advertising and marketing, the firm receives multiple applications, allowing for a choice selection of students who also fit the firm culture profile. GIBB specifically developed its selection criteria based on its firm’s culture, key business competencies, and high performance standards.

“Some might say our selection criterion and process is onerous, but an onerous selection process helps us find the right people and build the right culture,” said Barnard.

“More than 75% of our new recruits are sourced through internal employee referrals. We trust our employees more than a recruitment agency that is not familiar with our culture and what it takes to succeed at GIBB. Furthermore, who knows the talent in the market better than our own employees who interact with them on a daily basis,” said Barnard.

Develop your talent

“Talent development is where the true difference can be made in the industry. Development is the cornerstone of retention and is central to our talent strategy,” said Barnard.

Part of managing and developing talent begins with identifying where the talent lies. Barnard said GIBB has come a long way in defining key competencies and performance standards that we use to benchmark our talent against. This then also allows for the identification of skills/development gaps that forms the basis of an individual’s development. The challenge then is to align this with where the individual wants to be (career), and where the firm wants the individual to be, said Barnard.

Retain your talent

“Our approach to retention dictates that we focus on reward, remuneration and an A-player performer culture. Remuneration is always listed amongst the top reasons why people leave any firm, and is one of the easier challenges to address. You just have to be smart in the way you do it, and ensure your basics are in place, your actions are aligned with your overall strategy, and you reward the behaviour/performance you want,” said Barnard.

Barnard added, “At GIBB, we try to manage this in a comprehensive manner. Talent development also plays a key role in retaining your talent, and we have a number of programmes that we manage in house.  In proving the success of its talent development strategies, GIBB, in the last year, promoted over 50 employees. That is nearly 10% of the entire group.”

Barnard believes that many firms don’t recognise the importance of cultivating the right culture, to eventually ensure that the workplace becomes a place where employees actually want to be on a day-to-day basis.

“Culture, in essence meaning the way we do things, includes the environment, the office space, the way people are treated, and the one-on-one relationship between managers and staff, and even something as simple as proper and sufficient office parking. We’ve defined our ideal culture, determined the actual culture, and strive continuously to close the gap through various initiatives,” he said.

Implement your strategy

In addition to ensuring a strategic link with all the initiatives, ensuring all you do is part of a bigger plan and strategy, success is all about implementation. “A bad strategy is a rarity, but bad implementation is all too common. Don’t just talk about it. Get people engaged, form a solid strategy, and get it done,” concluded Barnard.