KEY FINDINGS
3. ACQUISITION AND RETENTION PROBLEMS CANNOT BE SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESSED WITH “SAME-OLD, SAME-OLD” INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS. While middle market and emerging enterprises cannot compete dollar-for-dollar with big companies, they shouldn’t have to. Because of the acuteness and size of the talent problems, companies will need more, more innovative, and more effective approaches than throwing money at the problem; and because of their size, mid-market companies may be better able to offer compelling non-financial rewards than wealthier companies do. But they will need to be more strategic and creative than they have been in the past. Take talent development, for example. “Lack of career advancement” is the second-biggest reason employees leave (only after pay), cited by three out of five finance and HR leaders. But when asked what their companies are doing to invest in developing employees, “access to the leadership team” is far and away the most common practice, followed by mentoring. Well, so what? In a smaller company, access to the boss is table stakes and mentoring is not much more. Neither one requires any particular investment. Coaching, training, career mapping, and networking—activities that directly affect career advancement but do require investment—are far less often used.
Investments in Employee Development
Access to leadership team Mentoring Attending workshops and conferences Stretch assignments Upskilling training programs Executive coaching Networking opportunities Career mapping Other (Please specify)
73% 56% 45% 39% 37% 34% 26% 22% 3%
16 I 2021-2022 Mid-Market Talent Acquisition, Executive Compensation and Culture Study — Powered by Insperity
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog