Introduction
Over the past decade, the field of employer-employee relationships has undergone rapid evolution. Human resource management has become a dynamic field where companies develop and implement various strategies to attract and retain top talent. Findings in sociology, psychology, culture, and economics are combined and analyzed to provide the best employee experience. With this shift in the employer-employee relationship, a new term called the “war for talent” emerged. The paper summarizes and identifies the key trends in human resources and changes imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Current State of Human Resources
Human resources are the most vital resource in an organization’s setup, and efficient management is critical for success. It is, therefore, a sensitive department within the organizational management structure, which entails strategically managing an organization’s employees to give the business a competitive edge. Primarily, it encompasses employees’ recruitment processes, including selection, induction, and employee training (Pilbeam & Corbridge, 2010). Once the employees are on board, the human resource department caters to their welfare by offering performance appraisals, providing benefits, and motivating employees. The proper management of human resources is, therefore, vital for an organization’s success and depends on effective human resource planning.
Talent Retention
With the shortage of human resources in the market, most organizations prefer to retain their workers, especially older people, who perform well in their job areas. Notably, this follows their realization that the loss of key personnel in their organizations may result in a significant loss, as some employees are highly influential in their respective areas of the job; hence, their departure may negatively impact the morale of the remaining workers.
Talent retention depends on two critical factors that border on HR development (Bhattacharyya, 2015). These are lifelong learnings that impart experience to employees and facilitate their development, an organizational initiative that enhances an employee’s proficiency in performing specific tasks. All these aspects fall within the strategic human resource goals and are hence essential determinants of the talents to be retained (Florea et al., 2018). Another area of great concern regarding employee retention is the retention of older workers, who have proven to be highly productive and thus crucial to the organization. They serve to mentor young employees using their long-term experience.
War for Talent over Recent Years
Talent can be described as a specific set of skills that an employee possesses. This can encompass a range of skills, from hard to soft, as well as unique experiences. Talents can determine the success of an organization as they provide. The essence of a charge imposed by the war for talent is the shift of roles between the employer and the employee.
In the past, most employees had to convince employers that they were the right choice for the company (Schaarschmidt et al., 2021). However, situations where companies work to attract the best talent are becoming more common. It encourages companies to invest in programs for employee retention, improvement of working conditions, workplace safety, or other benefits that make an organization more attractive to employees (Kwon & Jang, 2021). Another way that the war for talent manifests itself is by providing employees with more freedom and flexibility, which became especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Changes Imposed by COVID
Another important contributing factor that was an impetus to the sphere of employee relations is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations had to adapt to changes in the external environment, as most companies had to transition to remote work. This gave employees more autonomy as working from home decreased the amount of supervision possible at traditional workplaces. Talents who worked for companies without flexible and modern management lost their jobs because their employers were unable to adapt to the new environment (Ilie et al., 2020). Therefore, the perception of employees and candidates changed as they sought stable employment opportunities, and companies had to ensure that they matched employees’ demands and expectations to attract more talent.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the war for talent represents the necessary revolution in human resource management and employee relations. One cause of such change is the growing number of talented individuals due to more accessible education. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic altered employees’ perspectives on what constitutes a good employer. Characteristics associated with a progressive company are now viewed as a symbol of a stable employer that respects the human dignity and rights of the employee.
References
Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2015). The magnetic organization: Attracting and retaining the best talent. Sage.
Florea L., Valcea, S., Riaz Hamdani, M., & Dougherty, T.W. (2018). From first impressions to selection decisions: The role of dispositional cognitive motivations in the employment interview. Personnel Review, 48(1), pp. 249-272.
Kwon, K., & Jang, S. (2021). There is no good war for talent: A critical review of the literature on talent management. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 44(1), 94–120.
Schaarschmidt, M., Walsh, G., & Ivens, S. (2021). Digital war for talent: How profile reputations on company rating platforms drive job seekers’ application intentions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 131, 103644.
Ilie, M., Ilie, C., & Marin, R. (2020). Human resources and communication management after changes due to COVID 19 pandemic. Ovidius University Annals, Series Economic Sciences, 20(1), 665-669.
Pilbeam, S., & Corbridge, M. (2010). People resourcing and talent planning: HRM in practice (4th ed.). Oxford, Prentice Hall.