HR professionals are facing an increasingly tough environment as companies look to cut costs in the face of global uncertainty, while still having to source top talent.

The global downturn has ‘created a dichotomy in many organisations’ according to a new report released by recruitment specialists Hays, inasfar that HR professionals have to cut costs while still addressing key skills shortages in different areas of the workforce.

According to the latest Hays Journal, businesses must use a more strategic and planned HR approach to recognise talent, while better managing how it is to be managed.

“HR professionals have had to become even more innovative and commercially driven, with a need to understand and address talent shortages in the new landscape in different ways,” says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia.

“This means discovering where untapped sources of talent lie and evolving creative ways of attracting and identifying new talent. Then, all of these assets must be developed and allocated effectively through a business, so that the talent balance sheet constantly improves.”

The full version of the journal can be found here