Recruitment and retention are top priorities for senior executives

Got this from the Melcrum HR newsletter (I wonder why they can't move to RSS and save me the trouble of getting email)

Attracting and retaining skilled staff ranks highest on executive agendas for 2005, according to an annual global study by Accenture. Interviews with425 senior executives at leading organizations in North America, Europe andAsia found that workforce-improvement issues dominated the top priorities,comprising four of the 10 most-selected concerns, including the top two. For instance, the greatest number of respondents, 35 percent, selected"attracting and retaining skilled staff," followed by 33 percent who selected "changing organizational cultural and employee attitudes."

"The most powerful theme emerging in this year's study is a strong andconsistent focus on people," says Peter Cheese, global managing partner ofAccenture's Human Performance practice. "Even though the business conversations have centered on global competition and the need for execution, business leaders are increasingly aware that nothing happens unless people-talent is engaged in the right way."The study revealed that senior executives' top 10 business issues are:
1. Attracting and retaining skilled staff................................35%
2. Changing organizational culture and employee attitudes.....33%
3. Acquiring new customers..............................................32%
4. New processes and products to stay ahead of the competition..29%
5. Increasing customer loyalty and retention..........................29%
6. Managing risk......................................................29%
7. Improving workforce performance.............................28%
8. Increasing shareholder value......................................27%
8. Using IT to reduce costs and create value.........................27%
10. Being flexible and adaptable to rapidly changing market conditions...26%
10. Developing employees into capable leaders...........................26%
Source: http://www.accenture.com


My only issue with calling people "talent" is a throwback to the early days of the industrial age when people were called "hands" ! When can business people start to realise that "people" are more than the sum of their parts !