Strategy+Business recently published an excellent article on the “Talent Innovation Imperative”, dissecting the old approach to talent and how to apply new strategies to greater effect in today’s far more demographically and gender diverse workforce. The authors cite startling statistics on the “urgency of the talent problem:”

Quotation

“Surveys conducted by the Center for Work–Life Policy (CWLP) show that between June 2007 and December 2008, the number of employees expressing loyalty to employers plunged from 95 percent to 39 percent. The number trusting their employers fell just as dramatically, from 79 percent to 22 percent over the same time period.”

What’s the solution? Quoting the authors’ four key steps:

1) Stem the leakage of the highest-quality people even as they reduce overhead.
2) Reinspire employees and reinvigorate morale.
3) Realign the company’s talent practices with its strategic priorities
4) Revamp their talent model to reflect changing demographic trends

The new 21st century talent model is for a global, diverse workforce and offers these benefits (again, quoting):

1) Allows a much broader group of people to assume positions of responsibility
2) Promotes innovation, growth, and breakthrough performance by integrating the needs of the business with those of individuals
3) When aligned with a clear and focused corporate strategy, allows top management to optimize compensation, training, and other expenses; maximize the productivity and performance of the workforce; and gain competitive advantage

The results of a “talent culture” are broad, but one I’d like to focus on is engagement. The authors highlight the primary factor of engagement as “employees who feel respected, valued and recognized” – a feat many companies failed to achieve under the old model and have little hope of achieving in the far more globally diverse, but team integrated company cultures of today. Success in meeting this critical factor of engagement relies on understanding what defines appropriate respect, validation and recognition in every culture, empowering employees anywhere to show that respect and give that recognition to their colleagues across the boundaries of culture and geography, and then making it personally meaningful and memorable for every individual.