Editor's view, Inside Track, January 2010
Talent for the future
As I write this looking out onto a beautiful wintry landscape, it’s interesting to observe how the prevailing climate does seem to influence what we pay attention to as leaders. I also reflect on how changes in business climate over the last decade influenced how we talked about and developed talent.
Back in 2001, in the febrile ‘high reward’ environment created by the alleged ‘war for talent’, Stanton Marris engaged in an important piece of research to look at the wider issues of talent management. Our report, ‘Magnetic Attraction: The Potential of Talent and the Corporate Brand’, still betrays some of the anachronisms of its time, yet the basic concepts of what we look for in our work – Meaning, Aspiration, Lifestyle, Autonomy in a Structure and Value are still valid today.
From the aggressive focus on attracting the ‘stars’, the focus mid-decade shifted to a more measured approach to retaining and developing existing talent. So, are we similarly looking at how we reinvent the workforce and ensure we have the talent we need to deal with that world?
I am always alarmed when I read of surveys with senior leaders who still say – despite the huge investment in talent development over the years – that they are not confident they have the right people with the right skills to take their organisations into this new future.
In the current climate of impending change, there is an opportunity to step back and review what it is we need, and come up with some radical new models. With a clear strategic vision of the future business (even just thinking ahead to 2012) you can start to think about the capabilities you will need to deliver it. If you can share this as a vivid picture, your talented people will soon work out for themselves whether that is an exciting future they want to be part of or one that is just not a fit for where they are and what they need.
Organisations that can take that brave step into a new world and a new decade will find themselves more agile, fit for purpose and less burdened by the legacies of the previous decade. I look forward to the reinventions and the new energy that will create.
