Nine-tenths of ICT and financial firms find it hard to recruit high performers, writes Steven Carroll

A MASSIVE 90 per cent of Irish financial services and ICT companies believe it is difficult, or extremely difficult, to recruit high performers for their business, according to a new survey.

Almost one-third of these companies - 30 per cent - consider it to be more challenging to pinpoint high performers at present than it was this time last year, with sourcing quality staff for positions in sales, technical/IT, finance and accounting posing the greatest problems.

The survey identifies a growth in the use of social and business networking sites as a means of sourcing high performers.

There has also been an increase over the past 12 months in the number of companies using specialist executive search agencies and head hunters to source quality staff.

The findings are part of the Competition for Talent Survey carried out by the executive recruitment agency, Talent Partners. A total of 82 companies took part in the survey. Of these, 62 per cent of respondents were from the ICT sector, and 13 per cent from banking and financial services.

Stephen Kennedy, managing director of Talent Partners, said most companies are now faced with a largely different set of circumstances to those of 12 months ago, which is bringing about changes in their attitude towards recruitment.

"In the past a lot of companies were hiring people on hope, as there was a greater pressure and need to fill positions," he said.

"But now they need people who can show quantifiable results in a quick time. Companies need people to be hitting the ground running and can no longer afford to give them 12 or 18 months to turn things around.

"Business did come to companies previously, but now they have to go looking for it themselves."

The survey found that despite the downturn in the country's economic fortunes, almost half - 47 per cent - of all financial and ICT companies expect to be employing more people in their businesses at the end of this year than they were last year.

Even though companies are suffering from reduced turnover and greater cash flow problems, Mr Kennedy believes staff are more reluctant to move on and employers are in a stronger position when recruiting people than they were in recent years.

"The jobs market has gotten a lot tighter, which means the balance of power has shifted back from the employee to the employer," he said.

"Employers don't have to pay out big increases to attract people on board anymore and there are an increased number of candidates for them to asses for positions.

"But this is not essentially a good thing for employers, as more choice does not guarantee more talent. In today's marketplace candidates are more cautious. They're looking for long-term security in their position. "

Levels of turnover of high performers in this year have been "as expected", according to the survey. Respondents said the factors contributing to the loss of these staff members include a lack of internal opportunities, better financial packages being offered elsewhere and a perceived "time for change" on the part of the high performer.

The survey suggests that the loss of high performers in the current climate can lead to considerable costs to the business as a whole.

Talent Partners estimates that the loss of a high performer can cost a business anywhere from €25,000 to €400,000.

Some 38 per cent of businesses surveyed said the loss was over €150,000 while a further 17 per cent said it was in excess of €250,000.

Mr Kennedy said there were a number of factors that influence these losses. Among them are clients migrating to competitors along with staff, the loss of intellectual property and difficulties locating a new high performer.

"High performers can't be immediately replaced and a position may be open for three to nine months while a new candidate is found and trained in, which will invariably lead to losses," he said.

"Staff morale may also be affected by high-profile departures. They will ask questions like 'why did he leave?' and that can impact on productivity and morale."

The survey indicates that 55 per cent of companies do not have a talent manager to protect staff from being attracted elsewhere and to keep high performers happy and challenged in their roles.

Almost one-third - 32 per cent - of survey respondents currently have work done offshore that was previously carried out in Ireland. The benefits of this policy, according to survey respondents, are cost savings and availability of skilled staff.

Just under half of these companies plan to increase their offshore activities.

Of the 68 per cent of companies surveyed who do not currently offshore, 30 per cent are actively considering this as an immediate-term business strategy, within the next 12 months.

"Offshoring is unfortunately increasing," Mr Kennedy said.

"Companies appear to be satisfied with the job being done overseas. It offers companies cost savings and there is a greater availability of qualified key staff for back office positions. It gives an opportunity to get work done overnight, which adds value to an organisation."