Playroll Shares Resources for South African SMBs to Retain Talent

Key Takeaways

• The brain drain is a growing problem, especially in South Africa, where the trend of skilled talent seeking better opportunities abroad is on the rise. This talent exodus poses significant challenges for businesses, impacting their growth and competitiveness.
• To address the brain drain, businesses need to focus on enhancing talent management practices and implementing talent retention strategies.
• Employer of Record (EOR) platforms are paving the way for talent retention, by offering comprehensive HR support and compliance expertise, an EOR is suitable for businesses of all sizes, particularly small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

How Small and Medium-sized Business Can Better Retain Their Talent

The Brain drain is a growing challenge impacting businesses of all sizes, especially in South Africa. With the loss of skilled talent seeking better opportunities abroad, the demand for better work-life balance and a growing shift towards remote work, the global marketplace is becoming more competitive. As the skills gap widens, businesses are in a race against the clock to keep their best talent in the building, however with the rise of Employer of Record (EOR) services like Playroll, businesses of all sizes now have the opportunity to retain their talent, even if they decide to move abroad.

What Kind of Businesses Should Use Employer of Record Solutions and Why?

Employer of Record (EOR) platforms cater to the diverse needs of both big and small businesses, and  specifically small to medium-size businesses (SMB’s) looking to grow their operations globally, by providing comprehensive HR support, compliance expertise, and streamlined processes.

• Small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) often experience changes in the size of their workforces due to increases in demand or business growth. EOR platforms offer SMB’s the flexibility to grow their talent pools by providing resources that help them quickly adapt.

• SMB’s often operate on a limited budget and lack knowledge about the regulations and compliance that govern hiring global talent.  By partnering with Employer of Record platforms, SMB's can easily expand into the global marketplace and cut down the time to it takes to hire talent with expert compliance support. Employer of Record platforms also provide startups and small businesses with expert HR advice, removing the need to hire a dedicated HR team and eliminate the costs that often come with recruiting, training, and retaining in-house HR staff.

With the help of EOR solutions, small to midsize businesses can focus on their core operations and business growth, knowing that all HR-related administrative tasks and operations are expertly handled.

An Exclusive Interview Unveiling Critical Insights

In a recent interview on Business Day Live, Chief Operating Officer at Playroll, Simonetta Giuricich and Chief Executive Officer of Platfrom45, Sean Richards, shared valuable insights on the growing loss of talent, its direct impact on businesses in South Africa and the practical solutions businesses can employ to tackle the problem head on.  Simonetta discussed Playroll’s recently released white paper on South Africa’s Brain Drain, which unearthed some interesting statistics that highlight the scale of the problem. Here's a snapshot of the findings:

• The top three countries South African’s are choosing to relocate to include Australia, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
• South Africa's young and highlighly skilled talent between the ages of 25-40 are considering the move abroad.
• Skilled Visas are facilitating the move. The majority of South Africans making the move aboard to countries like the UK and Australia are entering these countries on skilled visas.

How The Brain Drain Directly Impacts South African Businesses

While global businesses are not immune to the impact of talent loss, South African businesses are feeling the pinch of the acute skills shortage in three key ways:

• A shirking talent pool: The brain drain phenomenon is depleting the local talent pool, making it challenging for businesses to find qualified professionals.

• A growing knowledge and skills gap The loss of experienced employees is creating a growing gap in knowledge and skills within organizations, hindering productivity and performance. The loss of institutional knowledge and technical know-how can have long-term consequences, making it challenging for businesses to maintain high-quality products or services.

• Rising recruitment costs: With the rise of the brain drain, businesses are facing growing recruitment costs to attract and retain top talent. The high demand for skilled workers combined with their limited availability drives up recruitment costs for South African businesses. Businesses are needing to cast wider nets that extend to the global marketplace in search of fitting talent and the cost of screening, sourcing and onboarding new talent, comes at a cost.

These challenges are exacerbating the brain drain issue in South Africa and have created an urgent need for innovative solutions to retain local talent and foster a nurturing environment for skills development and growth.

7 Key Strategies To Mitigate The Impact of The Brain Drain

To address brain drain effectively, businesses in South Africa must adopt proactive talent management practices. By taking the following steps, organizations can mitigate the effects of brain drain and ensure continued success:

• Create a positive work culture: fostering a supportive work environment and promoting employee satisfaction can enhance retention rates.

• Offer professional development opportunities such as skill training programmes and mentorship initiatives. Providing growth opportunities and investing in employee development can increase loyalty and reduce attrition, because employees are less likely to leave a company when they are able to see a clear pathway for growth.

• Implement effective retention strategies that include competitive compensation packages, flexible work arrangements, and recognizing employee contributions to improve retention rates.

• Build a strong employer brand that showcases organizational values, culture, and growth opportunities. By establishing a reputation as an employer of choice, organisations are more likely to attract top talent aligned with their core values.

• Embrace technology: leverage technology solutions, such as Playroll's innovative talent management platform, to streamline recruitment, onboarding, and performance management processes.

• Foster collaboration and encourage knowledge sharing among employees to retain institutional knowledge within the organization.

• Prioritize employee engagement and create a culture that prioritizes employee satisfaction. motivation, and overall satisfaction to increase retention rates.

Companies are realizing that retaining their best employees not only saves resources on recruitment and training but fosters a culture of growth and innovation. With the global job market evolving rapidly, talent retention has become more crucial than ever before.

Simonetta Giuricich, COO of Playroll

How Platform45 Builds Their Own Employee Retention Solutions

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has undergone a significant transformation, and Platform45 has embraced this change with an innovative approach to its workforce. The company has observed a shift in staff movement, with many employees choosing to relocate to more remote and outlying areas within the country, all while maintaining the cohesiveness of their teams. This newfound flexibility has been made possible by the changing dynamics of a global society that has emerged during the pandemic.

Platform45 recognizes the importance of this paradigm shift and believes that staff members should have the freedom to live and work from anywhere in the word. They have adopted a forward-thinking perspective that allows their employees to choose their desired locations without compromising team unity or work efficiency. Embracing this approach, Platform45 has partnered with Playroll, a leading Employer of Record service provider, to facilitate and support their staff's remote work preferences.

At Platform45, we understand that the world has changed, and so has the way we work. Thanks to our partnership with Playroll, we've unlocked the true potential of a global society, enabling our staff to live and work from anywhere.

Sean Richards, Founder of Platform45

How Playroll Is Shaping the Future of Talent Retention

Playroll's innovative talent management solutions, help businesses streamline recruitment processes, enhance employee engagement, and implement retention strategies that mitigate against the impact of talent loss.

• Hire talent in 180 countries without the need for a local entity. Playroll allows you to retain your best talent, even if they decide to relocate. With established entities in over 180 countries, your business can start hiring global talent right away.

• Spend less time on payroll, with Playroll. We handle the hard stuff like tax deductions, benefits administration, local currencies and government fees. Effortlessly hire, pay and manage your global workforce in one place, with a single bulk payment

• 99.9% uptime guarantee and human centric support. As a customer-centric platform, our primary objective is to ensure immediate employee issue resolution. We'll give you access to a dedicated customer success manager, ensuring issue resolution in minutes, not days.

Not supporting international hiring is costing your business. With Playroll, stay competitve and retain talent; while focusing on what matters most - the business of your business. Interested in learning how Playroll can help you retain key talent?