10 February 2010
The most common "trigger" currently causing employees to seek alternative work
is limited career opportunities, and the key "driver" that turns their search
from passive to active is frustration with their current employer, a recruitment
industry study has found.
The
Chandler Macleod Post GFC Candidate Study, which canvassed the views of nearly
1,000 members of the company's database, found that almost two thirds of those
currently employed were actively looking for work.
The study then examined the key
drivers causing candidates to move from merely "keeping an eye on the market" to
actively searching and applying for jobs.
Frustration with a current employer
was the most commonly cited driver (35%) for active searching, followed by
dissatisfaction with salary (29%). "Poor leadership and vision" in an employee's
current organisation and "an increased number of job ads" were equally
significant drivers at 27 per cent.
Analysis by sector revealed that
receiving "limited or no salary increase" would be a potential driver for many
(59%) in the wholesale and retail trade industry while a disappointing bonus
could provoke 11 per cent of IT professionals to begin actively searching. Some
36 per cent of those in primary industries said they were likely to actively
seek new roles when job ads picked up.
The study found active and passive
job seekers were motivated by "very similar triggers" to seek new employment.
Some 41 per cent of candidates cited limited career opportunities as their
number one reason for seeking alternative employment, followed by feeling
undervalued (24%) and loosing faith in their employer (18%).
Almost three quarters (72%) of
candidates said they were looking for work outside their current industry and
more than half (62%) were looking beyond their current speciality, causing Craig
McCallum, Chandler Macleod's general manager of marketing, recruitment and
consulting, to speculate that "a talent calamity" is near.
"Despite the trend of organisations
returning their focus to talent and their moves to concentrate on retaining
those 'stayers' who have been identified as being the right fit for the
company's next strategic chapter, the early signs indicate that these efforts
are not necessarily effective," said McCallum.
"In effect, evidence today suggests
that the war for talent may very well be more significant than it was prior to
the Global Financial Crisis," he said. "The focus today and into early 2010
should be on assessing what skills you need to gear up, for and beyond the
recovery; what skills you currently have; and what talent you need to attract.
Once you have it, you need to retain it."
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