Manpower: Improve talent retention - define success upfront

ManpowerGroup New Zealand illustrates how to improve talent retention by defining success upfront

New Zealand, 22 November 2011 – ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, has detailed key approaches for aligning the core workplace competencies, culture, values and career paths of candidates within the right roles and organisations in the company‘s new Insights paper “Hire and Retain the Best Talent With Success Mapping,” released today.

“Employers must upgrade one-dimensional job descriptions and supplement them with detailed competency requirements and a framework for how to succeed in a designated role and function,” said Lincoln Crawley, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand.

“It’s the responsibility of employers and candidates to collaboratively refine the most critical skills and mindsets needed in today’s fast-changing workplace. Individuals are exercising an increasingly powerful voice in the Human Age and so they are expected to take charge of developing the skills needed to bolster an employer’s marketplace competitiveness.”

To guide this effort, ManpowerGroup advocates using “Job Success Profiles”, a template for mapping essential hard skills and workplace competencies, traditionally known as “soft” skills, against expected outputs and outcomes.

“In the Human Age, the fast pace of workplace change implies that employees will need to unexpectedly transfer their skills to a new role, function or organisation in a new industry,” added Mr Crawley. “Individuals with flexible mindsets and agile skills and competencies are essential for leading and operating a business that must adapt to new market conditions daily.”

“New Zealand has a multi-speed economy right now, with different industries and regions working at different speeds. Individual job seekers looking for opportunities in this environment must be able to show how their skills transfer to other roles and even industry sectors,” said Mr Crawley.

“Job seekers who can align their own skill sets to what employers need, and companies who recognise that potential and have the process in place to continue to develop that job seeker into a successful worker will be in the best place for success right now.”

A 2011 ManpowerGroup survey on Workplace Skills and Competencies details how working collaboratively is the No. 1 competency or soft skill missing in today’s employees. Separately, the 2011 ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey reports that approximately three-quarters of employers worldwide cited a lack of experience, skills or knowledge as the primary reasons why they can’t fill certain positions. In New Zealand, 44 per cent of local employers reported experiencing difficulty filling critical positions in 2011. In a new reality of doing more with less, employers can afford to hold out for the right candidate; meanwhile, available candidates simply lack the right qualifications.

To guide individuals in the process of hunting for a job and planning a career, ManpowerGroup recommends they develop an “Employability Profile” to supplement their traditional resumes or CVs.

Tips for individuals in creating an “Employability Profile”

• Don’t be afraid to sell yourself. This employability profile serves as a sort of sales tool, enhancing individuals‘ saleability by featuring the critical hard skills and competencies that employers are seeking but also the soft skills you can bring to role.

• Clearly communicate the value you can bring to an employer. Don’t just list your previous experience, identify the skills you’ve developed from those experiences and highlight how those skills can help the potential employer overcome the challenges they face.

• Demonstrate how you are enhancing and building your skill sets through proactive training and education. Individuals have a prime opportunity and in today’s age, a responsibility- to continuously upgrade their skill sets.

Tips for employers in employing compatible candidates

Employers are responsible for ensuring a candidate is compatable with an organisation by examining:

• what makes a job seeker tick, including their values
• a job seekers‘ potential for leadership in the future
• the diversity of a job seekers‘ skill sets and ability to execute a range of responsibilities.

By doing so, employers can build the capabilities of their workforce, and with a robust workforce strategy, they can develop and stretch their people to achieve their full potential in a way that aligns and supports their ability to execute and achieve their business strategy.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world’s largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,900 offices in over 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined – because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, being the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. In addition, ManpowerGroup has also been recognized as the industry leader by Fortune magazine, who named the company in first place on its 2011 list of the Most Admired Companies in the temporary help sector.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup’s extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success.

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

ENDS

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