Current Trends in Talent Management
February 12, 2025
A New Haven for Western Capital Ever since the opening up of the global economy in the 1990s, several hitherto Third World countries in Asia and Africa began to liberalize and integrate themselves into the global economic system. This meant that there were more chances for entrepreneurs in these countries and from abroad to flourish […]
Pockets of Knowledge and Synergies A learning organization has to ensure that it not only generates knowledge but puts in place mechanisms to ensure that such knowledge is transferred and leveraged for competitive advantage. Often, it is the case that organizations have pockets of individuals possessing knowledge as well as specific teams that are better […]
It is the practice in many organizations to conduct training programs periodically for their employees. Often, these training programs are conducted to enhance on the job skills and to enable the employees to pick up valuable soft skills. Further, the training programs can be technical/job oriented or human resource skills oriented. For instance, it is […]
The baby boomers were the first generation to truly experience affluence. However, they were also the first generation to truly experience stress and burnout. The boredom of working at the same jobs year after year had taken a toll on these people. They had a dream to give their children better lives than they got. […]
It is essential for managers to know their employees well to expect loyalty and commitment in return. Employees need to feel comfortable at the workplace for them to deliver their level best. It is completely unprofessional to address your employees as “Mr”,“Ms”” or “hey”. There is absolutely no need to address them as “Sir“ or […]
Having good talented people in your organization was important yesterday, today it is critical! Organizations world over have realized the importance of having talented people. McKinsey was the first to coin this term ‘war for talent’ in the year 1997. They named this for their research for talent management practices and beliefs. This became a phenomenon soon.
Not many organizations barring a few like IBM, PepsiCo and McKinsey knew the importance of talent management until recent years. It is not a big surprise that nearly two thirds of senior leaders quit an organization within three years of their hiring. Add to it there is also the problem of an aging population in the west and unemployable graduates in the east. This opened up the eyes of major corporations globally. A substantial amount of pressure has developed on corporations that are global or multinational in presence, hiring and nurturing the right talent globally is an area of major concern.
Global leadership is now aware to the chaos and disruption this can bring within their clients/customers and with other stakeholders. Strategies and plans for sales, production, expansion, and diversification are of no use unless you have the right people to execute them.
The talent market is more than competitive presently than it was and could be in the next decades. In an economy that is knowledge driven the demand for highly skilled workers is on the rise incessantly. Though the demand may decline at times due to the changes economic cycle but in the longer run the rising trend will remain the same more or less. In a survey conducted by McKinsey in 2001, 72 % of the managers they interviewed were of the opinion that winning the war for talent is critical and only 3 % were confident that their actions would create a strong talent pool in the next 3 years.
Apart from the talent constraint, it was also found out that people at executive ranks (in the age group of 35 - 40) will also decrease by 14 % in the next 15 years. This can be countered for a few more years by replacing these positions with older baby boomers, but it is not long before these older baby boomers retire and management ranks turn lean.
It is also of interest to mention here that individual expectations of rewards (developmental, psychological and financial) have increased! These are challenges and the most disconcerting element is that not many organizations are prepared to face them.
Organizations need to act, and act now! The following is the five point solution suggested by McKinsey
This means that a talent mindset is to be developed at levels in the organization preferably at the top. An employee value proposition is to be developed for employees just like the one that is created for its customers. Most important change the way you differentiate; make it on the basis of how much you invest in your top and low performers.
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