Finding and Keeping Employees Are Top Concerns

Finders, Keepers: Getting people acclimated to their new jobs, and bolstering the odds they won’t jump ship, are the top concerns of organizations for 2008, according to a survey by HR software company Vurv Technology. Nearly 40 percent of companies cited “mastering the onboarding process” as a primary area of focus, with nearly the same percentage consumed with “executing a successful retention strategy,” according to Vurv’s Talent Management Wish List. One in three respondents say the top priority is improving their company’s ability to attract recruits by offering a better career-oriented presence on the Web. Responses were collected from nearly 440 people. The survey findings “correlate with the wider industry trend of HR departments worldwide shifting their focus to more strategic initiatives,” Jacksonville, Florida-based Vurv says in a statement. “Issues such as onboarding and retention are no longer viewed as secondary to completing paperwork. As more research indicates that new hires decide how long they will stay with a company within the first 30 to 90 days of employment, organizations are re-evaluating their onboarding process to better engage employees from day one.”