New Zealand employers must up their game

New Zealand employers must up their game and spend more time on future workforce planning

Boosting performance & productivity remains biggest people challenge

29 October 2012 – Research undertaken by specialist recruitment & HR services provider, Randstad has revealed New Zealand organisations remain concerned about their ability to meet a complex range of HR challenges, namely increasing performance and productivity and retention of talent.

Randstad’s 2012/13 World of Work Report reveals the biggest human capital challenge for New Zealand organisations over the next 12 months will be increasing workforce performance and productivity, as stated by 26% of employers. Unsurprisingly, this remains unchanged from last year’s research also at 26%. Other key challenges are retaining top performers (18%), managing internal change (14%), and attracting new talent for the next phase of business growth (13%).

Despite these concerns the report states that organisations are not spending enough time on future workforce planning. Only 51% of the organisations surveyed spend 10% (or less) of their total strategic planning time on their future workforce; almost half don’t plan a year in advance, and only 10% plan for a two-year period.

Randstad’s New Zealand Director, Paul Robinson says considering the nature of today’s human capital challenges, the workforce planning horizon is alarmingly short and a more robust, inclusive and long-term approach is needed to achieve the productivity and performance improvements they’re looking for.

“The positive work organisations are doing around talent management needs to be supported by, and integrated with, future planning to ensure employers are armed with talent to meet both short and long-term needs,” Mr Robinson says.

“A key factor employers need to consider when planning for the future is the movement towards creating flexible work options to meet the needs of a range of employees.

“Only 35% of employers say they are doing an adequate job creating opportunities for variable work hours, job sharing or working from home. Overwhelmingly, 91% of employers believe organisations will increasingly manage a blended workforce of permanent, virtual and transient teams over the next 10 years.

“Our research reveals, of all employees who don’t currently have remote work options available to them, 68% say the idea is appealing. This alone means two things: employers need to embrace a more blended model in their own workforce to fill critical gaps, and flexible work options will need to be embraced by management and staff if they want to hold on to quality talent,” says Robinson.

”Strengthening employees’ engagement through the planning process is critical to improving performance and productivity. This collaborative and flexible approach will help employers who are concerned about having enough talented middle managers and high potential employees to rise through the leadership ranks.

Robinson says the nature of work is set to change significantly, and New Zealand businesses need to continuously evolve with the external environment.

“For businesses it’s not just about cost and time. It’s about aligning company and workforce strategy and evolving planning processes and strategy to achieve core business success.

“As New Zealand’s economy strengthens, and business and consumer confidence continues to rise, executives and managers should be aware of the ever-present risks of losing talented workers,” adds Robinson.

“Strategic workforce planning for the realities of blended and flexible workplaces, and communicating this to employees, will help retain top performers and tomorrow’s leaders. This will allow for the smooth functioning of your organisation in pursuit of your goals.”

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