Talent acquisition in Sri Lanka, like in many countries, presents unique challenges and opportunities. The issue existed long before the ongoing gruesome economic crisis and even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, with the prevailing crisis, talent management has become a daunting criterion for almost the entire private sector. The vast pool of talent seems to be diminishing rapidly as a large number of workers attempt to move overseas, disregarding the level of employment or even the amount of earnings.
Over the past few years, we have seen huge movements of talented people reassessing the impact of work and what they want to get out of their lives. This has put pressure on employers to ensure they are providing attractive careers, flexibility of work, enticing work environments, and other employee-friendly aspects.
Nevertheless, most companies were unable to provide such ideal employment conditions due to their continuously falling revenues.
The employers I have spoken to about the current recruitment issues expressed concern over future talent management, particularly new enrollments, with the emerging generation. Most of them are of the opinion that there is a clearly visible attitude issue with the new generation, despite the current excessive scarcity and demand for jobs in the country. Regretfully, what we saw years ago as employment loyalty does not exist with new job seekers.
Although there are more academically qualified candidates entering the job market, most of them come up with disproportionate demands on salaries and perks that employers cannot afford at these distressing times.
Even when these demands are met, most of the recruits lack loyalty to the organisation and keep searching for better prospects from day one, according to some employers. The phenomenon seems to be growing day by day.
Finding suitable people
Recruiting the correct talent is crucial for organisational success, despite the size, line of business, or product or service portfolio. Sri Lanka always boasts about its diverse and talented talent pool. Nevertheless, employers struggle to find a suitable employee despite the heavy unemployment issues since the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis that led to a financial crunch in the private sector.
Disparity between the education system and the employment market in Sri Lanka is an enormously pressing issue. The education system in Sri Lanka is criticised for its inability to produce job-ready graduates. There is often a mismatch between the skills acquired through education and the skills demanded by the job market. This creates a challenge for developing a highly skilled and productive workforce.
According to a thorough assessment done by the Department of Census and Statistics, labour demand is astonishingly high for the top 30 most in-demand jobs. As a result, in comparison, Sri Lanka now has an unemployment rate of over 4.5 percent. This signifies that the country has a statistical surplus of jobs. Regardless of this condition, the truth remains that a significant number of jobless individuals exist in the country for a variety of reasons.
The survey also reveals that employers cannot fill vacancies because of the unwillingness of the youngsters to start from the bottom. According to some of the employers this writer has spoken to, most young candidates want to start at least in middle-level management. Therefore, it is time for authorities to think of an effective strategy to educate young job seekers to be modest in their job search.
With ongoing technological advances, Sri Lanka’s skill gap is rapidly widening, particularly in emerging industries and sectors. The rapid advancement of technology has outpaced the skill sets of many workers, leading to a shortage of professionals with expertise.
The Sri Lankan job market is becoming more complex with relentless skilled migration into developed countries. The trend seems to be going forward without any seemingly effective program or effort by the authorities to control the brain drain. In order to fill the vacuum created by those who leave the country, a strong strategic plan is required.
One important strategy for the ongoing talent challenge is to strengthen ties between industries and the school system, including academic institutions, to narrow the skill gap. First and foremost, it is important to understand prevailing and future industry needs.
Currently, in Sri Lanka, a research process to understand specific needs and talent requirements does not exist, as per this writer’s knowledge. Individual organisations have their own needs and skill requirements, but information on national-level industry requirements has not yet been systematically studied.
A proper mechanism on how jobseekers should take job-related training, advice, and suggestions from industry experts must be developed without delay. Students should be encouraged to participate in different workshops, seminars, internships, and training sessions alongside their studies. An industry-oriented curriculum can equip job seekers, particularly at entry level, with practical knowledge.
Technology
With all the prevailing issues in the country, recruiting people has become a daunting challenge, as discussed earlier in the article. Technology can play an important role in finding the most suitable candidates for open positions. Hence, companies should invest in technology-driven recruitment processes to streamline hiring procedures.
This can include the use of applicant tracking systems, online assessments, video interviews, and automated screening tools to expedite the selection process and enhance the candidate experience. Companies can gain useful mileage by automating job postings, using social media to publicise job openings, facilitating, and encouraging comprehensive online application processes, and conducting pre screening video interviews.
To compete with the current trend of more insistent employment-related perks, companies need to offer competitive compensation packages and attractive benefits. This includes not only monetary rewards but also non-financial perks such as flexible work hours, professional development programs, and work-life balance initiatives.
Retaining talent is a phenomenon that has existed for decades throughout the world. Due to skill migration, disparities between formal education and the job market, and many other aspects, there has been enormous competition in the Sri Lankan labour market.
Businesses are trying hard to fill skilled vacancies with the best they can find in the market in the absence of adequate talent. This means that, from an HR perspective, there’s a great deal of pressure on organisations to keep their most talented resources and provide them with the best benefits for the benefit of the organisation in the long run.
Communication
As future employees will be more knowledgeable and demanding, organisations must establish clear lines of communication between management and their workers more than ever to curtail turnover. If employees feel valued and find their work engaging, they are more likely to stay around for a longer time.
Addressing these talent challenges requires a multi-faceted approach involving collaboration between school education and vocational educational institutions to create job-ready candidates, which requires a strategic and holistic approach. Strategies may include investing in education and skills development, fostering diversity and inclusion, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, creating flexible work arrangements, and adapting to the changing nature of work.
Also, employers need to focus on building a strong employer brand, designing effective recruitment strategies, offering competitive compensation and benefits, providing opportunities for career development, fostering a positive work environment, and promoting diversity and inclusion. By addressing these aspects, organisations can attract and retain top talent, contributing to their long-term success.