Written By Glenda Rouleau – Director of HR Services

As we enter the New Year 2012, and introduce Riata Partner’s newest business unit, HR Services, I was curious about the “hot” people issues keeping our Albertan business leaders awake during these cold winter nights.

Based on a couple of weeks of asking, listening, on-line researching and the like, I am not surprised at the results.  The hot HR issues continue to revolve around the challenge of finding and keeping the best talent for our companies, particularly in Alberta where employment is on the rise.

Often referred to as the “Talent War”, I like to call this challenge “Finders/Keepers” based on the children’s rhyme upon discovering a lost object.  Remember the phrase “Finders are keepers, losers are weepers”? This rhyme provides an interesting framework when analyzing the many aspects of the war for talent attraction and retention:

Finders:  How are you at finding great talent?  What are your attraction strategies?  Are your recruitment efforts translating into effective results? Are people applying to or avoiding your company based on your reputation?

Keepers:  So once you find great talent, are you keeping them? Are you only focusing on your newly found hires?  What about your current top performers?  Have you identified them? Are you paying attention to them, and supporting their career development? Are your keepers company ambassadors?  Do they brag about working for you, thereby bolstering your company’s reputation as an employer?

Losers:  Where and why are you losing talent?  Are you not even able to enter the game because you are not attracting solid candidates? What is your current state of employee engagement?  Are you on the brink of becoming a loser?

Weepers:  As a weeper, you are struggling with attraction, engagement and retention of your staff.  Unfortunately, weepers do not prosper!  The cost of turnover is significant.  Vacancies and top talent resignations impact team productivity, employee morale, customer service, sales and ultimately your bottom line.  So what are you doing to improve your leadership and business practices to avoid being a weeper?

We may be surviving record low temperatures, but the job market is getting warmer.  For small and medium businesses, being able to find and retain talented employees is critical to your success and growth.  What are you doing to be a “Finder/Keeper”?