Talent recruitment among top 10 risks according to business leaders

By Natalie Maroun, Chief Strategist and Senior Partner of LRMG Performance Agency.

A

on’s 2011 Global Risk Management Survey conducted with a group of 1 000 business

professionals in 58 countries, recently revealed that failure to attract and retain top talent ranks as the seventh highest risk in business today. As many as 60% respondents reported that they do not have a plan in place to handle this risk and only 4% shared that they are seeking outside support for recruitment and retention strategies.

Natalie Maroun, Chief Strategist and Senior

Partner of LRMG Performance Agency, believes that in the South African workplace, talent will continue to climb the risk list as a result of the growing Talent War both locally and internationally. Maroun says there are a number of factors contributing to this including globalisation and migration, the ‘moving target’ nature of talent and gender inequality and the difficulties around defining talent.

In terms of ‘globalisation and migration’, it is

a common perception in South Africa that the white population makes up the majority of our brain drain. However, the national BratTrax study in 2010, conducted by Youth Dynamix, showed that 42% of black teenagers between 13 and 15 are disillusioned and plan to leave as soon as

108 Management Today | August 2011

they can. Only 33% of white and Indian youth plan to leave. Major reasons contributing to this desire to leave include the lack of employment opportunities in South Africa, high crime rates and according to 73% of respondents in the BratTrax study, the government not living up to its promises. “Since our youth are the future of our country, we should be alarmed by these statistics,” says Maroun.

The question is what do we do about this impending crisis? Maroun believes that it is both up to government and the private sector to encourage South African talent to remain in the country. She says government needs to improve existing policies and reforms that encourage