Dive Brief:
- The luring away of talent is at an unsettling high and HR is not sure how or if it can stop it, says SHRM. A report, The Prevalence of Talent Raids Among U.S. Corporations and the Implications for Talent Retention Strategies, showed that 27% of U.S. companies surveyed said they’ve witnessed an increase in executives being lured away by other organizations. Nearly 400 CHROs and HR executives took part in the survey.
- The financial services industry is hit hardest by executive poaching, with 35% reporting an increase in such activity. At a close second was the retail/consumer industry, at 33%. The technology/telecommunications rounded out the top three at 28%.
- Respondents cited three reasons for the loss of executive talent: More career opportunity, higher salary and company culture issues. Respondents gave equal weight to all three reasons.
Dive Insight:
Executives can be lured away by greater career opportunities and more money, but studies also have shown that workers from all backgrounds and at all levels in an organization are less likely to leave when they’re engaged and feel valued.
Anthony Papa, senior vice president, global human resources, of Federal-Mogul Motorparts, told SHRM that there was no agreement among the respondents that HR should take on the responsibility of stemming the poaching tide. But who better than HR knows the value of human capital to an organization?
A first step in reducing the poaching of executives is to find out who's leaving, why and what their current companies could do to make them stay. Making executives a counter offer that's hard to refuse is a strategy used to keep some onboard.
The survey was described as the first large-scale study on talent raids. The problem is worth monitoring, especially with 54% of respondents admitting they're not able to identify the executives being lured away.