Australian-based multinationals are investing more in retaining key staff than foreign-owned firms in an effort to fight the brain drain, according to a new study by Victoria University’s Head of Management and Information Systems Professor Pauline Stanton.
“The theme emerging is that Australian companies really want to hold onto their key groups,” she said, attributing this to local perceptions that the pool of talent is being head-hunted by larger international rivals in the competitive global workforce.
Australian companies may also have to work harder to attract key staff initially, she said, because they cannot tap into the overseas talent pool like their overseas-based competitors, as research indicates.
The study will continue for a further two years in order to pinpoint the problem’s underlying dynamics.
Another pattern to emerge from the study was that Australian-based multinationals are using more shared HR services: More than 70% of Australian multinationals used HR shared services centres but only 37% of foreign-owned businesses do. Among foreign-owned companies, shared services centres were more common in companies from the UK.
Read more at Victoria University