New weapon emerges in war for talent

Employer branding is giving canny businesses an edge over the competition to attract staff.

Finding ways to attract and retain top talent is emerging as a key concern for many businesses in the face of an ongoing shortage.

This is why so many are turning to employer branding, which is giving them the edge needed to win the best in the market.

A recent survey by social media platform LinkedIn found that 70 per cent of companies rank employer branding as one of their biggest priorities in 2013.

Steve Barham, senior director, LinkedIn talent solutions says employer branding is the key to improving staff retention rates.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/trends/new-weapon-emerges-in-war-for-talent-20130217-2el5m.html#ixzz2LHjmj9eA

Don't Let Strategy Become Planning

I must have heard the words "we need to create a strategic plan" at least an order of magnitude more times than I have heard "we need to create a strategy." This is because most people see strategy as an exercise in producing a planning document. In this conception, strategy is manifested as a long list of initiatives with timeframes associated and resources assigned.
Somewhat intriguingly, at least to me, the initiatives are themselves often called "strategies." That is, each different initiative is a strategy and the plan is an organized list of the strategies.

Read the full story:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/02/dont_let_strategy_become_plann.html