Talent flight to startups

Talent flight to startups

Posted by Admin on Oct 17, 2014

Not money but power and freedom is attracting top talent to startups

Nearly 60 per cent of the surveyed organisations said that freedom to innovate and position/designations are the key factors luring top talent to start-ups, according to a recent TimesJobs.com survey.

The game of power

The attraction of having a position of power, of being a leader is maximum at the middle level. About 65 per cent organisations said that maximum talent movement is at the middle level and 55 per cent of middle level managers are attracted by the designations offered, revealed the study. The experience range lies between 5-10 years, said 48 per cent of the surveyed organisations. Middle level employees seek a leadership position that comes easy in a start-up and is the biggest driving factor for them to leave a reputed/established organisation.

Fight of tech talent

Over 50 per cent demand is for tech talent. IT and tech support staff are moving to start-ups on a large scale, followed by engineers. Sales/business development and accounting & finance profiles are also joining start-ups. About 36 per cent of employees belonging to these profiles have moved to start-ups, according to the TimesJobs.com survey.

Biggies feeling the heat

Some of the best and brightest of India Inc’s talent are bailing out on their high-paying, prestigious jobs to join a start-up or to set up a business of their own. Nearly 45 per cent of the organisations said they have lost their top talent to start-ups and around 39 per cent have witnessed this movement in the last 6 months, revealed the TimesJobs.com survey. The IT/Telecom sector has witnessed maximum (40%) talent movement to start-ups followed by ITeS, Retail and Manufacturing & Engineering sector.

Making the choice!

While money is not the biggest strength of a start-up organisation, they are cashing the concept of the ‘new work world’, which offers freedom to innovate, flexibility and leadership positions to lure Gen Y workforce. Gen Y is restless and seeks instant gratification and start-ups are giving what they want, hence the move to start-ups.

According to Sunil Goel, MD, GlobalHunt, “Start-ups have minimum liabilities and so they experiment and innovate with one specific area. Top talent have risk abilities and willingness to work around functions, hence they select to join the start-ups.” As far as designations are concerned, he added, that while in established companies there is a huge pool of people and so the hierarchy has to be maintained to make sure that new entrants are clear about their role, work areas and KRAs, in start-ups the resource pool is limited. It doesn’t matter what designation it should be.

In the end it’s more to do with the choice an individual makes and their career aspirations. Those who enjoy taking challenges opt for start-ups and those who value brand names and prefer working in set systems go for the big firms, concludes Goel.

Take Two

Key factors for increased talent movement to start-ups:

Optimism: Professionals have become optimistic about the future of the country, its economy and the markets. Hence, they are no more risk-averse.

Success breeds success: A lot of success stories are doing the rounds. MBA colleges and many world-figures have been espousing/propagating the concept of entrepreneurship.

(With inputs from Aditya Narayan Mishra, president staffing, director Marketing, Randstad India)