Meeting the Demand for Talent Term Paper

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Attracting, developing and retaining leadership talent will define a new competitive battleground where the stakes include survival." (Petro and Petty, 2007)

It is important to note that the stated challenges for the Human Resources Executive are to "establish leadership development as a core competency." (Petro and Petty, 2007) These authors report that an interview process was conducted and information derived from over 1,000 responses include those as follows:

The identification and development of new, first-time leaders is often ad hoc with no formal structure or approach to improve success and weed out potentially poor choices. Additionally, early-career leaders often report a lack of mentoring and support during their start-up phase - a point in time where they clearly would benefit from appropriate support.

Formal career planning as a means of developing and retaining talent is not widely practiced.

The general perception of early career professionals is that leadership is a means to an end or a normal part of "climbing the ladder," with little perspective on leadership as a distinct career choice.

In many organizations, leadership development has not achieved a level of strategic significance." (Petro and Petty, 2007)

Suggested actions include:

Identify leadership development as strategic priority;

Ensure that leadership development is everyone's business;

Facilitate new leader identification and development;

Institutionalize career planning;

Treat leadership as a distinct career choice. (Petro and Petty, 2007)

Leadership must be developed that has the capacity to take on the new responsibilities of attracting and retaining the best talent. Jonathan Otterstatter, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at predictive analytics software provider SPSS, Inc. is noted as having stated: "The single biggest influence to employee development is the desire of the current company leaders to develop more leaders. Although most managers understand that one of his or her responsibilities are to develop employees and leaders, few are genuinely interested and sincerely engaged to develop a subordinate to the point of displacing themselves." (Petro and Petty, 2007) That which is stated to be gained from organic building of the leadership within the organization is a "readily available pool of future leaders." (Petro and Petty, 2007) These individuals are taught the business from the ground up, have a thorough understanding of the firm's culture and values, and are experts in both products and services with a deeply rooted "institutional knowledge." (Petro and Petty, 2007) a 'four-step' model, which is stated to assist the organization's new leadership development in achieving success, is the model stated as follows:

Target - identification of the individuals with the potential and desire to move into the organization's leadership roles;

Assess - Assisting the individuals learn more about themselves including their values and how that translates to leadership, skills and capabilities;

Plan - Creation of development plans that are strong in nature and that the individual 'owns' and that is supported by management;

Evaluate - Assessment of progress and determination of readiness for movement into a frontline role. (Petro and Petty, 2007; paraphrased)

The work entitled: "The Battle for Brainpower" states that: "Talent has become the world's most sought-after commodity." (the Economist, 2006) This 'Economist' article reminds the reader that Winston Churchill, in a 1943 speech at Harvard University stated: "the empires of the future will be empires of the mind." (the Economist, 2006) Because of technological applications, the talent in the workforce is easier reached through new tools for recruitment. The following chart labeled Figure 1 lists the talent shortages in organizations by percent.

Talent Shortages in Organizations by Percentage

Source: The Economist (2006)

In an international poll of senior human-resources manager findings state that three-quarters of the respondents state that "attracting and retaining talent" is the number one priority.

Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPD) publication entitled: "Change Agenda: Talent Management" states that "The drivers for interest in talent management seems reasonably clear, even if its specific meaning is less obvious." (CIPD, nd) the report stats that for many organizations: "...talent management represents a shift from static succession planning processes towards 'action-oriented' activity. it's also seems as a far wider-reaching, holistic approach that moves towards better 'joining up' of HR practices and the processes behind a clear business and personal set of goals." (Ibid) the report states that in the broadest sense, talent management is descriptive of: the:

1) Identification;

2) Development;

3) Engagement/retention; and 4) Deployment of talent within the context of an organization.

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(CIPD, nd) the eighth annual CIPD learning and development survey is stated to have been inclusive of a section that assessed current attitudes and practices related to talent management and development and received over 630 responses. Key findings include the following:

Fifty-one per cent of respondents undertake talent management activities, although only 20% report having a formal definition for it.

Developing high-potential individuals (67%) and growing future senior managers (62%) are the two main objectives for talent management activities.

In-house development programs, coaching and succession planning are the most common activities.

The most effective practices are in-house development programs; internal secondments; and coaching. Succession planning, external secondments and action learning are considered to be the least effective.

Ninety-four per cent agree that well-designed talent management development activities can have a positive impact on an organization's bottom line.

Forty-seven per cent agree there is currently a shortage of high-quality talent in UK organizations. (CIPD, nd)

The main objectives of talent management are listed in the following chart labeled Figure 2.

Main objectives of talent management

Source: CIPD (nd)

The types of staff involved in management activities were stated in the CIPD study to be as shown in the following table labeled Figure 3

Types of Staff Involved in Talent Management Activities

The delivery methods to management of talent were found in the CIPD study to be those shown in the following table labeled Figure 4

Delivery Methods for Management of Talent

Source: CIPD (nd)

The effectiveness of the stated delivery methods of managing talent in organizations is shown in the chart labeled Figure 5.

The Effectiveness of Delivery Methods of Management of Talent

Source: CIPD (nd)

The 'Manpower' White Paper entitled: "Confront the Coming Talent Crunch: What's Next?" states the fact that: "Across the globe, a variety of demographic developments have led to too few people in the right age or skill groups, or the right locations." (nd) the following illustration labeled Figure 6 shows the Talent Supply/Demand Disconnect as proposed in the Manpower report.

Talent Supply/Demand Disconnect

Source: Manpower White Paper

The Manpower report also states that the shortage can be addressed in one of two ways, which are:

1) Reducing the demand and/or

2) Increasing the supply. This is illustrated in the following labeled Figure 7.

Reduce Demand/Increase Supply

Source: Manpower White Paper (nd)

This work states that in order for a talent pool of better-qualified employees to be created, it will be necessary that governments, and especially those in economies that are emergent or in development phases to make policy decisions for investment in education as well as vocational and technical training. It is related that the government of Mexico has taken steps for educational provision and access improvements and in raising the bar for educational in terms of its standards in order to make provision of a "national pool of well-educated employees who are more attractive both to major domestic players and to inward investing multinationals." (Manpower White Paper, nd) Governments can also improve public-private initiatives. Employers must tap into underemployed sources and enhance links with schools in order to address the talent shortage. Investment in training and development will be important for the organization in the present time and into the future as well as will be promoting inclusion of women, older individuals, people with disabilities and minorities in the workforce. Another method of addressing this problem is the facilitation of re-skilling and up-skilling of the labor force. This work further states that: "Reducing the amount of non-essential work involved for highly skilled talent in high-demand positions can enhance their productivity and reduce the total demand for the amount of people needed in these positions." (Manpower White Paper, nd) Automation is one method of elimination of lower-skilled routine work for highly talented employees. The organization must encourage cross-training of highly talented employees. It is critically important to note the statement in this work that: "In a talent poor, competitive future, all organizations will need to become 'employers of choice' and more adept at attracting the talent they need, and at retaining it for the long haul." (Manpower White Paper, nd) the requirements include:

1) the provision of motivating opportunities for varied experience;

2) Good prospects for promotion;

3) Flexible hours;

4) maternity and paternity leave agreements; and 5) Generous annual paid leave allowances." (Manpower White Paper, nd)

This study concludes.....

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