Recruiting. Staffing. Consulting.

The famous McKinsey & Co. report exposed the "war for talent" as a strategic business challenge and a critical driver of corporate performance. When the dot-com bubble burst and the economy cooled, many organizations lost focus on the war for talent. With businesses showing a sustained confidence in today's economy, the new war for talent is not only on, it's escalating.

Is your company well-positioned to compete in this new environment? In my experience there are four things organizations can do to improve their ability to hire and retain the best and brightest employees. The four concepts outlined below, Culture, Recruiting, Development and Retention, work hand in hand. To be successful and win the war for talent, an organization can't just pick one; they need to place a priority on doing all four and doing them well.

Culture
Building a high-performance culture that combines a work ethic with an open and trusting environment is important to an organization's ability to attract and retain top talent. Many organizations don't make corporate culture a high priority but nothing can be further from the truth. A high performance culture based on trust in the individual is the best offense and defense in the war for talent. It helps an organization recruit. Companies with strong cultures don't have a problem finding or keeping talent. SAS is a prime example. Following a 60 minutes piece on their corporate culture, more than 1 million people hit the company's job boards. Culture isn't just a retention tool. it also pays big dividends as a means of retaining top talent.

Recruiting
Companies should recruit talented people every day not just when they are hiring. The most successful organizations are always looking for talent. More importantly they understand what characteristics make-up a high performer in their organization and where to find them. It has been my experience that not enough companies take into account fit when they recruit. Understanding what type of person is successful in your organization will pay huge dividends, not only in productivity but in strengthening your organization's culture. This isn't a list of job requirements but what characteristics (skills, attitude, education, personality, etc.) that makes a person successful at your company. Finally, everyone in the organization, from the boardroom to the boiler room, should be recruiting. A company's best recruiters are its current employees.

Development
A career development program doesn't need to be expensive or even expansive; it just needs to have some substance. The basic premise of any program is to assist employees in aligning their own personal goals with those goals and objectives of the organization. Just keep in mind that if you are not talking with your employees about their careers, somebody else is. Here are seven development programs, some of which may work nicely at your organization:
1. A comprehensive employee orientation program;
2. A training program for managers;
3. An internal job posting system;
4. Access to organizational job descriptions;
5. Internal employee training classes on a wide range of topics;
6. A tuition reimbursement program;
7. Job rotation or internal internship programs;

Retention
Focusing on retaining high performers is critical to the long term health and success of your organization and its business. Retaining the best employees ensures business continuity and directly impacts customer satisfaction, product sales, research and development and other key business success factors. It also impacts the bottom line as the cost of employee turnover could run your organization more than $50,000 (Saratoga Institute) per employee. That's $50,000 to attract, hire and train. It doesn't include replacing the knowledge your former employee took with them when they left. So what can you do? According to IDC, the top reasons that top performers stay with their companies are:

• Opportunities for learning and development
• Career growth and potential
• Suitable culture and appropriate fit
• Excellent pay and benefits
• Satisfaction with job tasks and responsibilities

Craig Stone is the founder and chief executive officer of HireNetworks, a provider of strategic recruiting, staffing and human resources consulting services. Mr. Stone can be reached at (919) 981-6200 or at cstone@hirenetworks.com.