Human Resource departments are going to be facing new and critical challenges in the near future – when it comes to recruiting, hiring, and retaining fresh talent – even beyond what they face today. Indeed, according to a new study by Monster Worldwide, a leading global online career and recruitment service for individuals and companies, over 70% of HR recruiters surveyed believe that "worker retention is already a primary concern" (Business Wire, 2006), and 41% believe that "retention begins with hiring and onboarding" (albeit not all HR components have the strategies in place for best hiring and retention practices).
             These pivotal retention and hiring matters are coming into play at this time because of several factors; one, the economy is only "slowly" improving; two, there is a "higher demand for workers"; three, workers have become "confident in their ability to see and obtain alternative employment"; four, "forty percent [of HR managers] state that turnover has increased in the past 12 months" and over half (55%) "expect workforce retention will be a very high challenge for their organization in the next five years."
             Part of the research that Monster Worldwide reported in their press release in January, 2006, was conducted through a subcontract by the Aberdeen Group; the VP for Research at Monster, Jesse Harriott, stated, "In anticipation of a worker shortage, it is critical for HR managers to find, attract, and hire today's top talent." And once the recruitment process – at its optimum level of efficiency, using online technologies – is fully functional, and new hires on board, it is also important, according to the Aberdeen Group, to use "onboard interviews as a technique to gauge new hire satisfaction," albeit only 27 percent of firms surveyed "always" use the onboard interviews on new hires.
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