The War for Talent

US Recruiting, Retaining & Developing Talent Statistics & Best Practises

Recruiting Talent Statistics

1. 40% of US workforce will be of retirement age by year 2010 (Conference Board)

2. 1/5 of US large established companies will lose 40%+ of top level talent as their executives reach retirement age. (Developmental Dimensions International DDI, 'Winning the War for Talent' white paper by Authoria).

3. Shortfall of 10 million workers by 2010 in the age range of 25-44 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, "winning the war for talent" white paper by Authoria)

4. 77 million baby boomers (1946-1965)

5. By 2010 mature workers (55+) will make up 25% of the work force (13% in 2000) (AARP)

6. 43% of companies cite skills shortage as top business concern (behind competitive pressure & growth) (Ken Blanchard Companies Survey).
7. 46% of companies had few or no applicants in May 2006 (National Federation of Independent Business Study).

8. Bad Hires & Promotions lead to lower morale (68%), lower productivity (66%), lost customers (54%), higher training costs (51%), higher recruiting costs (44%) (Right Management Survey 2006)

9. Cost of turnover is approximate 2 times employee salary (recruiting, training, severance costs).
10. 76% of baby boomers have no intention of a traditional retirement. 71% plan to work. (Survey for Merrill Lynch by Harris Interactive).

11. 25% of companies are ready for "mass exodus" of employees. 31% haven't thought much about it (Merrill Lynch survey).


Recruiting Best Practices

1. Recruiting must be an "all the time" thing.
2. Keep the pipeline full whether there are openings or not.
3. Dedicated recruiters (inside or outside the organization).
4. Managers trained to recruit, interview, check references, hire.
5. Succession Planning Process.
6. Identify best sources (internal referrals, networking groups, alumni associations).


Retaining Talent Statistics

1. Primary reasons employees stay at companies and are engaged include: 1) manager understands what motivates them 2) challenging work 3) career advancement 4) visibility, honesty & consistency of their manager 5) interest in employee (Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, Executive Report 2005)

2. Compensation & benefits are often less of a reason why people leave. Typically due to management, work environment, direct supervisor (RHI employee data).

3. Employees that feel their manager does not respect them are 3 times more likely to leave their employer over the next 2 years than those who feel respected (Sirota Survey Intelligence)

4. 72% of people are satisfied with comp. 44% of those people would change their comp mix if they could. 33% of those individuals would increase their flextime. (Hudson's Compensations & Benefits Report 2006)

5. Among surveyed CIO's, in order to retain employees: 63% providing additional training opportunities, 47% are providing flexible schedules and 41% are increasing base compensations (Robert Half Technology survey of 1400 CIO's).


Retention Best Practices

1. All employee surveys & post departure surveys.
2. Comp & benefits are competitive
3. Management evaluation (360 degree surveys)
4. Leadership Development Programs


Developing Talent Statistics

1. Training budgets increased 5% over last year.

2. In the US, training is a 46.6 billion dollar industry (includes internal staff salaries). $15 billion is paid to external sources (vendors, etc).

3. 1/3 of organizations cite leadership training as 1st or 2nd training priority.

4. 32% of companies have enterprise wide performance management systems (Bersin & Associates Study 2006)

5. Project Management Software Industry growing at 45%--fastest growing HR application. $136M industry. (Bersin & Associates Study 2006)

6. 77% of companies do not have enough successors to their current senior-level managers working in their organizations (Right Management Consultants Survey)


7. 43% of companies cite skills shortage as top concern including developing potential leaders, selecting/retaining talent & creating an engaged workforce.

8. 77% of companies will increase talent management initiatives over the next 3 years---including performance management systems, succession planning and recruiting (Human Resource Information Management, Talent Management Survey 2006).

9. 39% of companies feel leadership development programs are on par with competitors; 35% need updating, 16% are ahead, 10% have no programs.

10. The average Top 100 Training Company has a training budget of $50 million, consisting of 28 full-time trainers and does 52 hours of training per employee per year (Training Magazine, March 2006).


Development Best Practices

1. Multi-faceted, comprehensive development programs (classroom, online, various media, off-site, new manager, coaching, mentoring, 360/self awareness, job rotations, projects, simulations, stretch assignments).

2. Performance/Talent Management Process in place (linked to development, systematic & objective).

3. Individual Development Plans (IDPs)' all inclusive

4. High Potential Employee Programs

5. CLO, Executive Director of Talent Management---involved & at the table with senior leadership

6. Executive Sponsorship

7. Customization

< Ends >

Previous Comments [1] Elena from Italy I need this article for my master thesis which is focused on Employer Branding. Thanks! Posted on January 21, 2008

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