Over the last 12 months, many organisations have undergone varying degrees of corporate and manpower changes. With businesses now gearing up for growth amid improving overall economic prospects, they face the challenge of attracting the best people from a limited talent pool and retaining them, or risk missing the recovery bandwagon due to a lack of suitable ‘business ready’ resources.

According to Tim Hird, Managing Director of Robert Half Singapore, one of the major challenges that businesses will face in 2010 will be the ability to meet resourcing demands as the skills shortage deepens. He believes flexible resourcing will be the key to meeting this challenge for the following reasons:

In the current environment, it can be difficult for businesses to predict their long-term staffing needs and many have adopted a wait-and-see approach to hiring. More firms are hiring on contract / project basis, which allows them optimise their human resource costs during uncertain periods.

In addition, contract staffing allows firms to gain access to specialised skills and experiences which are extremely critical for strategic, turnkey projects. Companies need highly-skilled professionals for a wide range of projects that require differing levels of industry expertise. In fact, during uncertain times, demand for professionals with specific skill-sets and experience could be greater as companies face new challenges and problems.

We are also witnessing an increasing acceptance of and interest in contract positions from jobseekers as more people start to recognise the benefits of contract work. These include the flexibility to consider their longer term career plans, as well as opportunities for those considering a switch in career paths to try out new fields.

As the economy improves, employees are expected to put more pressure on their employers for pay rises, bonuses, or better compensation packages in 2010. According to research by Robert Half, most employees expect a 10-15% increment on their last drawn base salary, while pay raise expectations for employees with in-demand skill-sets is in the 20-25% range.

For finance and accounting professionals, salaries are expected to remain resilient, supported by the continued demand for highly skilled professionals in these areas. This is also due to the increasingly stringent financial regulatory and compliance landscape, which has led to a greater demand for more rigorous audit and accounting practices.

For companies that are not yet in a position to make salary adjustments or reward staff financially, constant communication of the organisation’s rationale, as well as reassurance by management of any future salary revision needs to be a top priority. Employers should conduct one-on-one or group meetings with their employees to discuss the company’s goals, as well as reinforce their commitment to retain and groom their key employees.

Companies can also consider implementing a “spot bonus” or “one-off bonus” that is linked to a recognised set of performance standards. This would enable it to adequately reward star performers – people who had contributed above and beyond expectations during the downturn, and are also likely to be responsible for driving business growth in the future – and most importantly, to retain them.