Whether you are a business in New York, Bangalore or Beijing, you probably are vying for the same resources. Having the right talent at the right time makes all difference between companies that achieve their goals and companies that don’t.
With an acute and skewed labor shortage and no near term solutions, a full-blown global talent war is imminent, if not already ongoing, says Sunita Iyengar, vice president of the clinical division of Devon Consulting, a professional staffing firm. “A global talent pool is no longer a promise of the future. It is a current reality, here to stay.”
Smart Business spoke with Iyengar about the foreseeable ramifications of a global talent war and how companies would need to prepare for the same.
What is the global talent pool, and who does this impact?
To understand the emerging force of the global talent pool, we have to study the following three shifts in business environment:
First, significant advancements in technology, communication and mobility have created a boundaryless world and virtual workplace. Time, knowledge and resource barriers have disappeared.
Second, demographics play a key role in the size, shape and fabric of this talent pool. With declining birth rates and an aging workforce in developed countries, the size of the labor force is shrinking. In addition, by 2050, for every American in the workforce, there will be six nonAmericans, mostly from the populous nations, up from the current 4:1 ratio.
And third, education and skill gaps around the world and fewer sources of qualified local knowledge workers complicate the situation. These shifts drastically change the number and composition of the available workforce for businesses just as it impacts radically an individual looking for a job.
What do all these shifts and trends mean?
In one word: hypercompetition. Companies now have to compete on cost, time and resource all at the same time, and most importantly, with the right people.
Fewer trade barriers have accelerated growth and interdependence among economies, allowing for work and customers to cross borders freely. Burgeoning growth around the world is causing greater need for resources everywhere. This in turn will create global talent wars and is resulting in workers crossing boundaries.
Irrespective of their size, companies have to fish for talent in the same pool. Hence, as the workforce population becomes more diverse, companies need to change their culture and become more open and flexible to adapt to talent coming in from different countries.
What can small companies do?
Build and grow leadership — The shortage of talent is not just for the technically skilled, but also for people with leadership skills, and especially leaders who can understand and manage the dynamics of this global talent pool. Leaders now have to energize and engage the talent through effective communication of their vision. To make that vision meaningful, it has to be translated to personal growth and enhancement of the individual. In survey after survey, employees have rated ‘ability to grow and to contribute’ as a significant motivator, much higher than money or flexibility. This will also positively impact retention of resources.
- Source and hire the right people — Hire the best person for the job. Geography is insignificant. Companies should worry less about where a person is located or about his or her origin. Rather, they should focus on the capabilities he or she may add to the team. Talent and skills come first and then attitude. I look for ‘learnability’ as a critical competence when I am hiring. When you are preparing for performance in an unseen future, ‘learnability’ is vital to survive.
- Break down barriers — Your internal environment is a good litmus test to evaluate your readiness and capability to integrate new cultures and businesses. Survey employees regarding their perception of collaboration and teamwork. Reward teamwork and encourage knowledge sharing among people and departments. Cross training is a good way to help employees create synergies and generate empathy for each other’s roles.
- Innovate — New customers want things better, quicker and in their way. Innovation can be about a product, service or process. I believe innovation is driven by culture. And culture is what leadership believes in and what it tolerates. Once you have the right people, give them the liberty to excel. Persuade people to take risks and do not penalize for mistakes. Promote curiosity; encourage challenging the status quo and creating new ways of doing things.
SUNITA IYENGAR is vice president of the Clinical Division at Devon Consulting (www.devonconsulting.com), a professional staffing firm serving the IT and clinical trial industries. Reach Iyengar at (610) 964-5749 or [email protected].