Talent!!!

John Hagel, reflecting on the main messages from the World Economic Forum in Davos:

Jobs

There was a lot of talk in Davos about jobs – especially how to continue to create jobs in the West to compensate for slowing economic growth and offshoring trends. I participated in one of these sessions, where I suggested that framing the issue in these terms tends to miss the point.

Of course, we are all concerned about the availability of jobs, but the more fundamental issue is talent development. If people don’t develop appropriate talent and don’t continue to refresh that talent, there will be no sustainable jobs and certainly few, if any, high value jobs. Reframing the issue as talent development also highlights the increasing importance of talent as a source of comparative advantage in global markets.

Most people immediately assume we are talking about educational policy when we focus on the importance of talent development. In fact, we argue that education is becoming more marginal as the bulk of talent development occurs outside of traditional educational institutions. As one example, the rationale for the corporation is shifting from reducing interaction costs to accelerating talent development. As we begin to recognize that talent development is a continuing process and not confined to one stage of life, we will have to broaden our view of the institutional platforms required for talent development.

Once again, we managers need to trek up to the balcony to gain the perspective to look further into the future. From up here, we see beyond transactions and events to processes and long-term consequences. We recognize that building relationships is more important than making one-time sales. Time-to-satisfy the customer’s next need becomes more important than time-to-market right now. From here, we envision new ecosystems, not new factories. We look at value chains with global reach, not what we control. We focus on life cycles, not just where we are today.

Tragically, most American business managers are chasing carrots that never dangle more than three months ahead of their noses. China and India are looking much further ahead. They are playing for more than a big score on Wall Street. It’s time to wake up.

I tell CLOs that tweaking Learning Management Systems is analogous to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Building the skills of workers to enable them to excel at delivering service to customers is vital; so is breathing air. These are what get you into the game. For staying power, you need to focus on creating, nurturing, and keeping talent.

This is why I’m participating in The Future of Talent in early May. A group of no more than twenty very senior talent executives will convene in Santa Cruz, California, for an extended weekend to share how they’re dealing with the talent challenge. This is a reprise of an extremely well-received event held last October on the shores of Bolinas Bay. The Future of Talent event is something of a mini-Davos.

John Hagel concludes:

Bottom line, I came away from Davos with a renewed appreciation for the role of the World Economic Forum in creating a vibrant platform for debate and discussion on a global scale.

Live Davos, the Future of Talent is invitation-only. If you’re seriously interested in talent and work in a Fortune 1000 company or equivalent, drop me a line. Vendors are specifically not invited to attend.