“Fighting the war for talent is the wrong metaphor – what truly matters to organisational success through talented people is the set of management practices that create the culture.”
Prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford University

Retaining current staff through your culture, supported by structured programs to build the capability of existing human capital, allows organisations to control reward blow-outs, recruitment costs, and maintain consistency and quality of service. In effect, it is up to HR to play a critical role in executing the organisations strategy and developing and attracting talent. However, everyone in the organisation needs to be made aware of the important role they play in identifying and nurturing talent within. Talent management is critical in ensuring an organisation meets its end goals.

The true costs of losing talent through poor management or lack of nurturing are numerous. These can include impact on client relationships, recruitment, training costs, induction programs, workplace morale and overall effectiveness.

Culture is the personality of the organisation or ‘the way we do things around here.’ Culture is the fi lter through which all decisions are made and will be one of the main reasons an employee is attracted to your organisation and will stay for the long term.

How will culture help me attract talent?

Chandler McLeod’s ‘Workplace Barometer’ report1 revealed that:

• It’s s not all about money. Actually, attractive salary and/or fi nancial incentives ranked 6th overall in the list of company attributes considered to be attractive to job seekers
• An employer’s reputation for looking after and/ or valuing employees ranked overall as the most important attribute for both job seekers and employees.