New-age firms disrupting hiring processes as well

A war of talent is raging between the new age companies (start-ups) and established organisations

As new-age firms dole-out fatter salaries to attract the most skilled employees, companies need to strengthen their work environment, increase their staff engagement and reward policies, to hold on to talent.

A war of talent is raging between the new age companies and established organisations. These start-ups are not only changing the placements scenario in top B-schools, they are also hiring from leading banks and consulting firms by offering fatter pay checks.

"Well funded organisations are offering better salaries and also getting good talent. This is happening in all the new age industries including e-commerce," mobile commerce firm Paytm VP - Business Planning and People Amit Sinha said.

"The toughest challenge facing most new technology companies these days isn't getting funded - it's hiring the best, most skilled employees," mobile app platform Kryptos Mobile Founder Anjli Jain said and added that aggressive venture capital funded IT/ITES start-ups like Ola and Flipkart are offering fatter salaries, stock options and unique perks to lure and retain the best talent in India.

This trend which is happening in the e-commerce and tech start-up sector, is not limited to this space only and had also happened in aviation, telecom, insurance, retail and social sector as well a few years ago.

"There is definitely an increase in the average salary offered to the employees. As per my understanding, there has been around 30-40 per cent increase in average salary. And the biggest reason for this is the aggressive goals of the funded startups combined with the availability of funds," Aristotle Consultancy Co-Founder Deepak Dhamija said.

Executive recruitment firm Hunt Partners Managing Partner Suresh Raina said: "Meaning, Engagement and Compensation are the three essentials to any corporate role and compensation has always been used as a lever by firms to attract talent."

According to a research conducted by global management consultancy Hay Group, 82% of start-ups surveyed pay more than the market median to their employees.

According to Rituparna Chakraborty, President Indian Staffing Federation "all well funded organisation do not put their financial resources to pay fatter salaries however most new age sectors would definitely offer lucrative compensation to attract talents."

Meanwhile, in order ot contain attrition because of this factor, organisations should stick to basics like competitive pay, good working environment, providing good opportunities for professional growth, and offer lifestyle perks, work from home benefits, better facilities.

"Clear vision, actual work on the ground, team bonding and organisational accountability play very significant roles in attracting retaining talents. These factor along with the best possible remuneration ideally do wonder for any development organisation in retaining professionals," Smile Foundation Co-Founder Santanu Mishra said.

In order to contain talent, companies should regularly revise their salaries to keep up with the job market, Smartprix.Com Co-Founder Abhinav Choudhary said.

Moreover, there should a channel of communication with the best performing employees to gauge whether they are happy with their current package, he added.