GHRF 2008: Global Talent Acquisition & Management Strategy

The talent pool in the developed world is evaporating at an alarming rate. Baby boomers are beginning to retire, taking with them valuable experience and knowledge that cannot be easily replaced. Compounding this, birth rates across most developed countries are slowing dramatically. In the US, 75 million people are approaching retirement, yet only 30 million members of Generation X are available as successors. In the European Union, the working-age population is forecast to fall by 48 million, or 16 per cent, by 2050.

Talent is the new oil, and just like oil, demand far outstrips supply.

Recruiting and retaining talent have always been a struggle for global companies, however the challenges are larger than ever today. With the changing supply/demand dynamic, many find that the talent issue - especially in rapidly developing economies (RDEs) - is one of their most critical challenges.

The sheer size of emerging market workforces is staggering: both China and India's individual workforces are larger than those of Europe, the United States and Japan combined. US and Japanese firms will increasingly look to east and south Asia (China and India, for example) for new talent, but sourcing talent in emerging markets will also get tougher, particularly as emerging market firms become more competitive and attractive employers, both at home and abroad.

While today's order of business involves bargaining for the best resources in the local market, talent is no longer the exclusive preserve of the western world. It is a global commodity, fought over by multiple competitors and economies from both the developed and the emerging world. Accordingly, companies will find themselves needing to harvest individuals from the global talent pool while managing and motivating the multi-generational workforce in order to retain them.

Finding talent, developing talent and keeping talent will be the new role of HR management in the future. This "talent management" - the assessment and long-term planning of a company's workforce needs - rather than the traditional filling of vacancies, will become a key differentiator for companies competing in the global marketplace.

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