iCIMS Hire Expectations™

While I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and thoroughly appreciate everything from Calvin to Alexander McQueen, by no means do I consider myself a fashion expert. However, there are some things that I believe should never be worn, especially when we’re talking about the workplace. For instance, a woman should never attend a work related event wearing a scantily clad velvet santa suit. Unfortunately, it’s been done. I saw it in a previous life, prior to joining iCIMS.

Maybe Human Resources forgot to include her on the new hire training schedule or she never got the memo on the corporate dress code. I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but something tells me she would have donned the santa suit either way.

In any case, employee training is essential in workforce and succession planning. While it’s important to train new hires on company policies and procedures (to help avoid the onslaught of inappropriate santa suits), it’s just as important to prepare employees to fill future roles by equipping them with the right tools to successfully grow within the company. With long term planning, organizations can view their workforce holistically and plan for future opportunities.

An article recently featured in People Management, covered a study that was produced by Randstad, a recruitment solutions provider based in the UK. According to the study, employees credited the level of salary, training and development, a good career path and flexible work conditions as the most significant factors when choosing an employer. So, what did employers think would attract talent to stay with a company? Brand, culture and benefits. Looks like there’s quite a disconnect there.

Brian Wilkinson, head of Randstad UK cited, “There is a gap between what organisations think will motivate their key talent to stay with them and what their employees actually say will retain them. The research also showed that a quarter of workers, who are not actively looking, would consider changing employer if something attractive came up.”

With that said, I think it’s safe to say that Training Management and Succession Planning are vital to developing an overall strategy to retain top talent and plan for the future. By creating an organized process, employees can document and build new skill sets to prepare for challenging roles, in turn allowing the organization to proactively prepare for the long term. By building out this process, organizations can help close the gap between what an employee seeks and what they may think is helping to retain and attract top talent.