How Organizations can attract and retain senior talent?

What to look for:

• Veterans bring years of knowledge, skills and experience, along with a sense of dedication
• They provide mentorship to the younger generation

Remember the movie ‘The Intern’? As graciously and happily Ben (Robert De Niro) takes up the position of the ‘intern’, Jules (Anne Hathaway) soon realises that he brings much more to the table, than his stated role.

Referring to the employees who are in their senior years or close to their retirement age, senior talent brings much more than an experience. They bring in discipline, a mature approach and a cultured set of ethics. Their company is beneficial for the younger employees, who get to work with them and learn from them, leading to the organisation becoming inclusive and an uplifting place.

While there exists a space for senior talent, and a demand for them, have companies observed any trend?

 Glory Nelson, Chief People & Tech Strategy Officer, Xebia, says, “A business lives or dies by the quality of its people. 30:70 ratio is what can be seen as hiring trend for senior talent. Although the younger generation brings new ideas to the table, senior management brings long term experience that helps in infusing ideas with the right approach, thus forming the right decision in the right direction.”

Maria Rajesh, CHRO, Embassy Group, says, “The high potential and high performing N-1 talent will become natural successors to growing to senior roles with adequate development inputs and opportunities being designed to help them scale up. External and market hiring for senior roles would become more focused on specialised and niche roles that perhaps today the organisation depends on external consultants and specialists to provide.”

How beneficial could it be for talent enrichment and diversity?

“Extremely important,” says Rajesh.

She adds, “Cross-pollination and the evolution of ideas, processes, best practices, and positive cultural inputs are what we expect and look forward to (especially from external hiring) while hiring for senior and leadership positions.”

Having veterans at the workplace enriches the workplace. Cultivation and discussion of ideas from a multi-generational perspective will only diversify the methods.

Nelson says, “Veterans can be of high value as they bring years of knowledge, skills and experience as well as a sense of dedication, strong work ethics and loyalty to the job in the context of a multigenerational workforce. In addition, these workers often are able to provide leadership and mentorship to younger generations.”

Attracting and retaining senior talent

Hiring any talent is not easy. While there are a set of practices that need to be followed for hiring, looking for senior talent comes with its own codes.

Rajesh says, “I think senior talent is more on the lookout for opportunities to grow. This growth could mean different things for different individuals. For some people, it might be the ability to grow in terms of scale they manage and for others to bring in new skill sets, expertise, and teams into organisations.”

“Retention for internal or external senior talent depends on key aspects like empowerment and the company’s vision and strategy over the next few years to help them see themselves as a part of the growth journey,” adds Rajesh.

‘Make them feel valued’

Nelson says, “At a senior level, the monetary aspect is something that takes a back seat for the employee. What matters to them the most is being valued and the job role that they are getting in the company and how will their career graph be moulded in the next couple of years by the company.”

“We at Xebia ensure that their thought process, their knowledge and their years of experience are given importance by ensuring the position and the job title that they deserve. We make them inclusive in a lot of our informal gatherings that are arranged for the senior leadership to ensure that there is no fear of being missed out; the information is equally imparted to the senior management and without their decisions or considerations strategies are not implemented in Xebia,” adds Nelson.

‘Benefits’

 Among the benefits that can be provided to the senior talent, some listed by Nelson include:

• Comprehensive healthcare plans for them and for their spouse
• Retirement benefits
• Car lease plans
• Long term retention plans
• Financial planning and investment counselling
• Wellness programmes

It does feel right, when we say that an employee should be valued, given a suitable role, and equal chances, senior talent understands most of this. For someone, who has decades of experience, joining a new organisation could be for a much bigger purpose. As said by the HR leaders, empowering them, showing them a growth plan, giving importance to their experience, and involving them in decision making, can help attract and retain them.

Source: GWFM News