How Russia stacks up in the talent squeeze

The costs of acquiring and retaining talent in Russia are on the rise and will lead to companies battling for the best candidates, according to a newly-released Economist Intelligence Unit survey and executive summary of 193 board-level executives.

The rising cost of finding, retaining and remunerating staff was a major challenge for human resources departments in Russia and the demand for experienced managers increasing, often outstripping supply. This situation is likely to be exacerbated by Russia’s declining population. Survey respondents identified a competitive salary scheme as the most important factor for nurturing talent. Financial incentives, such as regular salary reviews and bonus schemes, were also likely to make a significant impact on job candidates.

Russian corporate boards are devoting an increasing amount of time to talent management issues and the role of Russian human resources departments is changing rapidly to meet these demands. They are playing a more strategic role, rather than simply providing administrative functions. Some companies are looking to recruit from overseas to combat the shortage of skilled employees. In the survey, 26 per cent of respondents expected the proportion of senior executives they recruit from outside Russia to increase. Firms in the energy and natural resources sector are most likely to hire employees from abroad (75 per cent), compared with only 23 per cent of those in financial services.

Just under half of those surveyed said their business found it hard to attract talented employees for general management positions. The ability to think strategically was a skill very much in demand, with 38 per cent saying strategy and business development a difficult role to fill.

While some Russian companies are actively looking overseas in their search for talented employees, language barriers remain a problem. The survey panel cited language barriers (36 per cent) and cultural understanding (31 per cent) as the two factors most likely to hinder the recruitment of employees from overseas.