Latest Trends in Indian

Talent Market 2018

Executive Summary
Global economy continues to face serious challenges. However, in the short run,
modest growth continues. There have been no major destabilising shocks. India
continues its growth, albeit a bit slower than what it did in the recent past. With
stable political leadership and continuing shift of economic influence to the East,
India Inc. has started stepping up its hiring. Talent acquisition has once again
become a strategic lever for the top management to drive organizational growth.

CIEL surveyed 107 executives across industry sectors to understand their

perspectives of the talent market. We asked them about the challenges they face in
attracting top talent and their talent strategies. We learnt about candidate
behaviours such as what they negotiate while taking an offer, the push factors that
operate on them and so on. Combined with our insights and experience, we have put
together this edition of CIEL Works. We believe, these insights about the talent
landscape will help Business Leaders deal with the challenges in hiring top talent
better and drive organizational growth.

In this edition of CIEL Works, we observe Salaries and Benefits to have become a
significantly dominant factor while attracting talent to an employer brand. This shift
is due to the pick-up in job markets and the increasing confidence and optimism of
the professionals about career opportunities. This trend is observed consistently
across all levels in the organization. Employer branding continues to be a key factor
to attract talent. Last, but not the least, HR practices are getting more agile than ever
before. They are adapting new methods and technology tools in employer branding,
HR analytics and sourcing methods.
 Salaries & Benefits, The Most Important
1 Challenge For Attracting Top Talent

Challenges While Attracting Top Talent

Companies have started filling roles which have remained vacant for long and some of
them are creating new roles. Recruitment activities have picked up.

Monetary rewards have become the most important lever to attract potential
candidates. Incidents of Competing offers and Counter-offers are on the rise.

Talent Acquisition specialists have to offer competitive salaries and at the same time, work
on 2 other aspects to attract talent : Employer brand and Long Notice Periods

Last year, compensation was important but, this year, we see this emerge much bigger as
a challenge.
 Linkedin And Job Sites Are The Most Effective
2 Channels For Employer Branding

Most Effective Channels While

Spreading Brand Awareness Other Than
Traditional Media

Online platforms rule the roost by a big margin over the other methods of employer
branding. Recruiters need to invest on social platforms and job portals to communicate the
employee value proposition.

In the last year’s study, we saw similar trends.

 HR Practices Have Become
3 Increasingly Agile

We Can See Significantly High %age Of Respondents Working On Employer Branding And
Deploying The Latest Trends In Their HR Actions. Compared To The Last Year, The Intensity
Is High This Year.

Going By This Trend, We Will Soon See Use Of Ai, Analytics, Iot, Cloud And Similar Such
Latest Technologies In HR At Work.
 One Size Doesn’t Fit All : Channelize Recruiting
4 Efforts Based On The Level Of Role To Be Filled

• Company Website Is Effective To Hire Freshers And Junior Level Roles

• LinkedIn Is Best Suited For Hiring Mid To Senior Levels While A Generic Job Portal
Is Good For Entry To Mid Level Roles.

• Employee Referrals Are Useful To Hire Entry-level And Junior Roles

• Facebook Fares Well To Hire Freshers At Salaries Below Rs. 4 Lacs Per Annum.

• Recruitment Firms As A Channel Is Agnostic To Segments Of Hiring.

 Cycle Time to On-board a new joinee
5 depends on the Level of Role to fill

• 80% Of Entry Level Roles Get Filled In Less Than 45 Days

• 69% Of Mid Level Roles Are Filled In 30-60 Days

• 60% Of Senior Roles Are Filled In 60-180 Days

 High Salary Expectations While Taking
6 Up A New Job

Salary hikes have been muted in the recent past and hence, mid to senior level
executives have not seen significant pay-hikes. They want to make up for the
perceived loss while changing their current job. This is more pronounced at senior
levels (20%-40% raise expected vis-à-vis 10%-30% last year) while for the mid
level roles, most people expect a raise of 20%-30%.

Most Entry level executives expect 10%-20% hike, which is normal.

 While Discussing An Offer With A Potential Hire,
7 Focus Varies Based On The Level Of Role Hired

100%
6 10
3
3 5 22
11 8
80% Salary Hike
8
12 Designation
19
18 Work Location
60% 16
11
Joining Time
4 17
15 Variable Pay
40%
4
25 Benefits
9
Overseas Posting
20% 36 16
Role Details
21
10
0%
Entry Level Mid Level Senior Level

Candidates for Entry Level Roles are most concerned about Salaries. In addition,
Work location and Designation are the other 2 significant factors while negotiating a
new job offer. This development explains their optimistic view of the job market.

For Mid-Level Roles, candidates are concerned about the Designation on offer. This
shows, Career growth is right on the top of their mind. Secondly, they look for
salaries and variable pay. The idea of 'pay for performance' has found greater
acceptance and evolved as the norm.

Candidates at Top Level are most concerned about the Role, Benefits, Variable Pay
and Designation. As companies have started being more creative in structuring the
rewards, Senior executives are concerned about variable pay and benefits.
 Deep Dive reveals Horses for
8 Courses

Work Culture

Financial Health Of The Organization

Job Security

Work Location

Career Development Opportunities

Long Term Vision, Objectives, Leadership

Employer Brand Reputation

Title / Designation

Compensation And Benefits

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

Entry Level Mid Level Senior Level

Most crucial factors to discuss while filling a Senior Level Role are: Financial Health
of a company, Vision, Leadership and Work culture.

For a Mid Level Role, important factors are: Career Development and Job Security

Important factors for Entry Level Roles are : Compensation and Career Development.
Least important for them is Vision and Leadership.

Compensation and Benefits is the only factor that is significant for all Roles unlike
last year.
 Top 2 Push Factors for people in Entry
9a Level Roles : Salaries and Manager

Entry Level
3%
Salary Benefits
8%
26%
Manager
7%
Career Progression
5%
Long Work Hours
6% Peers
Industry Image
11% Value Alignment
Role Clarity
23%
12% Company Performance

Entry Level Professionals see many opportunities before them and are optimistic.
They aspire to maximize their earnings. Like the previous year’s survey, Salaries
continue to be the dominant attraction.

2nd factor is their Manager. This was not so significant in the last year’s survey. They
are more aware of the inter-personal relationships and the importance of
collaboration. Given their confidence in the job market, they are open to external
opportunities if they are not inspired to work with their boss.

A distant 3rd factor is Career Progression. This has always been important for entry
and mid level roles. This year, we see this factor losing its importance vis-à-vis
Salaries and Manager.

Work Life Balance is the 4th most important factor. This was not in the reckoning last
year.
 Top 2 Push Factors For People In Mid Level
9b Roles : Salaries And Inadequate Career Progression

Mid Level
7% Salary Benefits
7% 25%
Manager
Career Progression
11%
Long Work Hours
Peers
6%
Industry Image
13%
4% Value Alignment
6% Role Clarity
19%
Company Performance

Top 2 Factors which play a significant role for Mid Level Professionals to look out for
new opportunities are: Salaries and Career Progression. The 3rd most important
factor is Manager.

This reflects increasing confidence of the mid level professionals in the job market.
They think, they can maximize their earnings given an opportunity. Secondly, they
are concerned about their long term career path. Hence, they are open to the
external opportunities which promise them faster career progression.
 Push Factors For People In Senior Level Roles :
9c Company Performance, Salaries, Industry Image, Values

Senior Level
15% Salary Benefits
Manager
26%
3% Career Progression
Long Work Hours
9%
Peers
2%
10%
Industry Image
6% Value Alignment
Role Clarity
14% 15%
Company Performance

Professionals in Senior Level Roles are most concerned about the Company
Performance. The next set of push factors which work on them are : Salaries, Industry
Image and Company Values.

These factors are no surprise. However, vis-à-vis our study last year, we see Salaries
taking a significant position this year amongst the 4 top push factors.
10 Talent Market Trends : Near Future

It is clear that Social media and Professional Networks will play a significant role in
Talent Acquisition industry.

Respondents do not see Big Data to play a role for Talent Management in the near
future.

The house is divided about using new technologies in job matching and measuring
hire quality.
Respondent Profile

Gender Distribution Location

Industry Spread

Level in Organisation Size of Organisation

About CIEL HR
Ciel HR marks the return of HR visionaries to the HR Services industry,
powered by technology and analytics. The Founders of Ma Foi, the pioneer of the HR
services sector in India, along with some of the finest brains in the HR Services
Industry have envisioned and built the firm, Ciel HR, to deliver the full range of
Recruiting services from Executive Search, Recruitment Process Outsourcing and
Staffing Permanent as well as Temporary roles through its offices in India, Middle
East and Africa.

‘Ciel’ is a French word meaning ‘sky’. For us, it’s the peak of excellence that we strive
to achieve as we fulfil your talent needs and meet career aspirations of candidates.

Advanced data sciences and analytics have been applied by the in-house
technology team to build a unique IT system for Ciel HR that helps us find the most
suitable candidates in the shortest possible time.