Staff retention and talent management will be the top HR issues facing UK businesses for the rest of 2006, according to research.
A survey of 250 HR professionals, by HR consultancy RightCoutts, reveals that 41% cite the retention of key staff as their organisation’s most critical issue this year.
Recruiting enough talented individuals is also a hot topic, with 39% of respondents making this issue a high priority.
Just 12% believe employee engagement is the top issue, which is a worrying trend, according to Edna Agbarha, head of talent management at RightCoutts
“Strategies to maintain and develop employee engagement are currently not receiving enough attention and as a result this is having a knock on effect on the attraction and retention of key talent,” she said.
“Businesses need to address this issue sooner rather than later in order to avoid storing up trouble for the future.”
The research also indicates that despite new government guidelines requiring employers to take a certain amount of responsibility for staff wellbeing, many organisations are still not effectively tackling stress in the workplace.
Only one-third of those surveyed believe their organisation is effective at managing workplace stress, the research shows.
