‘It is getting harder’

Ali M Abduladheem, Managing Director, Competence HR talks about the scarcity of good human talent and the inability of the companies to innovate to retain employees
 

What is your opinion about the increasing HR challenges in Oman?
The challenges will continue. The demand for people with good talent, leadership qualities and market oriented is on the rise. Companies will have to develop human resources into good talent through education, training and the right exposure. Needless to say, recruitment and selection process will have to be more detailed and competency driven; this comes through training and experience. Not every manager is fit to conduct interviews just because he is a manager.

Do you think salary levels are competitive in Oman?
With the boom, salaries have witnessed an interesting surge. The scarcity of talent fuels this, coupled with lack of training that prevailed in the market earlier on adds to this. I have noticed an increased demand for training recently. One finds it hard now a days to find a spot in the busy training diary of good trainers. Now most companies understand that without trained workforce, they will have limitations and will not be able to achieve that they can achieve. From what I understand, feeder markets like India have also witnessed a massive increase in salaries which was kick-started by the multinationals. In GCC, salaries are also increasing. From our Dubai office, we find that some of the organizations are willing to pay any amount to get the right talent.  

What innovative strategies companies are adopting to retain and attract talent?Locally, I have seen retention becoming a repetitive item on strategic meeting agendas. I am not sure if enough is done in this regard. Increasing salaries is one tactic but more needs to be done.  To be honest I am not sure if, at this stage, companies will be able to work out retention strategies so easily; it needs to be a culture that needs to be followed and nurtured in the companies. An interesting example that I have observed in one of the companies that are our clients, they encourage employment of retired staff’s children including daughters. Companies needed, earlier, to pay more attention to the retention of Omanis but now they need to do it in the case of expatriates also.

Which countries are emerging as the new feeder markets for attracting human resources?
Indian sub continent continues to be one of the main providers and we now see more number of South Africans in the market as well.

Do you think higher salaries are accompanied by increased deliverables?
Not always.

In brief, how do companies find the right talent?
Companies are under pressure to show double digits growth, which means they have to continue to recruit. Companies are looking for younger age group employees. This makes the task harder. If companies spend more time at the selection stage (pain zone), they will have better chances of finding the right people.  

What kind of role a company like yours is playing in meeting the HR challenge?
We offer recruitment, training and HR consultancy services. So far we have been doing a pretty good job for our clients but it is getting hard. We are trying to open new feeder markets for our clients. I think you need to ask our clients about our recruitment abilities. On training, we try to bring quality training through careful selection. The feedback we get from our trainees and their organizations is very encouraging. We are offering a wide range of training programmes and I encourage organizations to have a closer look at what we provide.

--  Akshay Bhatnagar

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