Your Career Questions Answered: A letter from my former student - Joyce of Bernardo College-Las Pinas, Philippines.

Joyce is working as Purchasing Officer at Gulf Air, Bahrain

Thank you  for reading my book, Human Resource Management in Action at Samsung Galaxy e-book.

Question: What sort of procurement officer struggles to procure (and retain) decent staff?

Answer: Most of them. But there are no shame in that.

Recruiters everywhere are struggling with the same challenge. welcome to the famous, deadly, "war for talent". The shrapnel is flying and collateral damage cannot be avoided.

Do you remember those quaint old job interviews where the candidates were deferential, and nervous, and were expected to answer questions like: "If we gave you this job, what would you see yourself doing in the five years' time? Now " candidates" interview the prospective employer. And you had better be ready to answer their questions. Such as: how long do I have to work for you before I get offered a sabbatical/career break? Can I work part time? Can I work from home whenever I want? I don't want to do anything boring-can you guarantee that the job is always interesting?

Recruiters have to bite their tongues and suppress their indignation at the attitude of potential new colleagues. The spirit of L 'Oreal ads seems to have infected many of them. "I am worth it", they say. "Give in to my demands  and I may consider working for you- for a little while, at least."

Perhaps the coming downturn and probable  rise in unemployment, will take some of the wind out of the sails of cocky applicants. Over the past decade, usually, there really has been another job to go to, for the people with the right abilities and experience at least.

But maybe now recruiters will begin to regain the upper hand. But it would be a mistake to go back to the old ways of doing things. "High maintenance" employees are here to stay. It's a generational thing. The 20's and early 30-somethings, in particular, are in a hurry to get on. It's hardly surprising: most of them have emerged from university with a fairly hefty debt and are struggling to find a property they can afford to buy.

But they have also looked at the deference shown by their parents to their employers and have asked themselves: what's the point of that? Did being patient get them anywhere?

In any case , employers have been busy telling the world there is no such things as "a job for life" any more. That cuts both ways. Why not look after yourself if no-one else is going to look after you?

What do employers need to do to attract and hang on to good people? Consider your "employers brand"- what do you stand for as a business, and why anyone want to be a part of that? Are you offering interesting , challenging and varied work? Is any sort of career path discernible? Will people learn and develop their skills if they stick around?

Most of the company today have four different generational "cohorts" to reckon with: the Baby Boomers, Generation X , Generation Y and millenials. Their needs, expectations and prejudices are different.

But the common factor to persuading anyone to join and then stay is to ensure the "value proposition" is attractive. Why should anyone want to work with you?

When it comes to recruitment and retention it is your salesmanship you need to worry about.