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Stories in this issue: |
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Top talent: The bottom line Ten ideas for real recognition Playing by the rules Make compliance work for you Only the best Avoid the quick win quagmire |
| Top talent: The bottom line |
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Top talent is in more demand than ever – and in shorter supply. A recent McKinsey study sheds some light on the problem and how to overcome it.
For starters, external factors such as demographic change, globalization, and the rise of the knowledge worker are changing the nature of talent management. Demographic Shifts While many organizations looked eagerly to developing nations for young talent, the labor pool is often widely varied with regards to experience and education, and cultural differences can impede a Western business model. As for young American workers, Gen Y workers are shifting the entire workforce with demands for more flexibility, meaningful jobs, professional freedom, higher rewards and a better work-life balance. Almost the opposite end of the spectrum from young talent in developing areas, these employees chafe at being instructed to simply follow their leaders. Globalization While expanding into new international markets can offer a number of benefits, it requires that you have executives who are willing and able to work abroad. Further, the talent running your overseas programs must think on a global scale and understand local customs, cultures and ways of doing business. Knowledge workers Employed for their knowledge of a particular subject, knowledge workers outnumber all other workers four to one and represent the fastest-growing talent pool in most organizations. They create more profit than any other employees, yet the wide performance variation within the same industry indicates that many companies do not know how to best utilize this resource. With so much potential talent at hand, why are many companies floundering? In a word, management.
To succeed in the modern business world, many companies will have to completely change the way they think about employees. A business, after all, is nothing without people to fuel it. Putting short-term performance ahead of long-term initiatives such as career development programs tends to create a self-fulfilling cycle of failure: lack of talent blocks growth; desperate to accelerate changes in performance, executives focus on the short-term; nothing changes. Likewise, relying on HR to solve talent problems when you haven’t enabled them to do so is just finger-pointing. This situation also demonstrates one of the biggest talent issues in the business world: failure to recognize the importance of all employees. Top-performing companies instill the mind-set and culture needed to manage talent effectively. Whether they’re your top performers or at the bottom of the corporate ladder, all employees have the potential to be great. Failure to recognize achievement across the board and to develop your staff is a failure to invest in your own success. Source: The McKinsey Quarterly, January 2009
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