Early Talent is the future of your organisation. Graduates, interns and apprentices hired into your organisation have the potential to bring a fresh approach to the way things are done, are open to learning, come with a digital savviness that makes them quick and efficient, and come with heaps of energy and drive. In 2022, Early Talent development programmes are more important than ever.
The past couple of years have been defined by the global talent shortage creating what has been dubbed “the war on talent”. It’s not stopping or even slowing down in 2022.
This means that attracting and retaining the future of your organisation is more of a challenge than ever and therefore your early talent offering needs to stand out. Not only is there a deficit of talent, we are also contending with the workplace impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in which more people than ever are leaving or considering an alternative career path.
Now more than ever we need to go beyond offering monetary perks to attract and retain talent. We need to be tapping into fundamental needs, providing intrinsically motivating reasons to join and stay at an organisation. Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory highlights development opportunities as one of the three core intrinsic motivators.
Recent research only demonstrates this further. A survey conducted by Total Jobs found 68% of employees change jobs because of a lack of development opportunities and research from Deloitte shows organisations with strong learning cultures have retention rates that are around 40% higher than those who do not focus on learning. To avoid falling behind attracting and retaining talent in 2022 it’s clear that growing your learning and development offering across all levels of the business is going to be essential. Early talent development should therefore be no exception to that, to ensure you can retain the future of your organisation.
It’s not only the war on talent and high resignation rates making Early Talent Development more important than ever in 2022 but also the requirements of today’s Early Talent. Gen-Z expects more in terms of development than any generation before them. In a recent Wiser Academy survey, 75% of respondents placed learning and development as their biggest priority when finding a first role. Not only that but Total Jobs found two-thirds of employees believe training is more important today than it was just two years ago. It is apparent that Gen-Z crave continuous learning and will accept roles that allow them to develop both professionally and personally.
In order to attract exceptional early talent into your organisation in 2022 you need to be speaking their language – providing great development and growth opportunities.
Summary
In 2022, prioritising early talent development in your organisation provides the solution to tackling the current workplace trends. Not only that but you will find you reap many rewards including greater retention, a more innovative workforce with a drive to succeed and a future proofed organisation!
