ACT FAST TO KEEP BLACK TALENT, CAPE TOLD

This is Thursday 26th's post.

Actually, whilst I understand the dilemna that the Capetownians find themselves in - all companies, both big and small, who have skilled talent in their midst, need to take this into account.

It is an 'employees' market out there and loyalty is no longer what keeps employees in a company any longer. Finding the right talent is exceptionally difficult - keeping them is another ball game altogether!

Act fast to keep black talent, Cape told
Staff Reporter

22 February 2007 at 11h00

Cape Town companies will have to apply more creative and aggressive retention strategies if they want to attract and retain top black talent often lost to stiff competition from Johannesburg.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, managing director of Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters in the city centre, said: "Many top black executives I've come across see Cape Town as career-limiting when compared with Gauteng, where there is a perception that the sky is the limit."

As a result, some Cape companies are battling to meet employment equity targets. She said although salaries weren't necessarily higher in Gauteng, many of the largest blue chips were based there, meaning that employees in these large organisations had more opportunities for high-level senior roles, combined with a wider range of jobs to choose from.

She said this could sometimes result in heftier pay packages. However, there was certainly not a huge discrepancy between pay within the two regions.

So why the reluctance of black executives to move south? And for those that do make the trek, why the difficulty in retaining them? "The reality is that the 'lifestyle choice' Cape-based professionals so heavily defend is not necessarily considered such an attractive option by black professionals who prefer Johannesburg because of the social networks this bigger, faster-paced metropolis provides," said Goodman-Bhyat."Over and above this, family support networks are already in place there."

In order to keep black talent in Cape Town, Goodman-Bhyat recommends that Cape firms apply more creative and aggressive retention strategies, preferably collectively, in order to address the issue in a holistic way.In addition, companies will have to be willing not only to relocate a Johannesburg-based executive's entire family to Cape Town, all expenses paid, but also ensure that they receive the necessary support and benefits to keep them here. She said until the right working environment was provided, as well as ensuring that black executives were comfortable outside work, Cape Town would have difficulty in competing with Johannesburg.