Changing Faces Around the Executive Table

Times have changed. The standard concern of most Board Room executives to attract and retain the best talent will not work in the new economy of today. Mounting research, studies and senior leader discussions have found that the next leap in business performance requires a profoundly different approach to the way companies attract and engage talent.

Leaders who have consciously maintained sustainability at the forefront must now adapt and invest critical energy in understanding talent-related issues facing their workforces, and also become disciplined in their approach to integrate talent management. The result will be their personal leadership contribution to the organization's journey. History will eventually judge the sustainable impact that today's leadership has had upon their respective companies and society as a whole. Did our present leadership successfully engage all available talent in the workforce portfolio? What kind of legacy will the leaders of today leave behind?

The key to the desired success is found in stewardship; talent stewardship to be precise. The Chief Talent Steward (CEO) must be supported by a Talent Leadership culture which includes members of management and human resource executives. The task of a Talent Steward is not to be minimized or taken lightly and is evidenced by how leaders' performance will be measured in the future. Talent Stewards ensure that people with ambition, character, competence, emotional intelligence, integrity and learning agility to relearn and reuse their skills at various levels and times are invested wisely within the organization. They fully accept the responsibility and hard work that comes in discovering hidden talent, innate capabilities, and creative potential both internally and externally. Rather than limit themselves to the confines of a narrowly defined job description or understanding of talent, in a talent culture, savvy leaders and organizations embrace a multifaceted strategy that extends to partners, customers, and vendors.

Why the need for a Chief Talent Steward?

The results to date of the economic chaos we find ourselves in have served to highlight the sheer magnitude of global issues that await and create a heightened sense of urgency. In order to achieve sustainability in the future, executives and organizational leaders must critically analyze the way organizations lead and engage their talent. How leaders recognize and define economic, societal, and environmental impact is equally important to enabling future growth and ensuring successful business outcomes. Wider uses of technology, rapid exchange of data and information have virtually redefined national borders as we have known them. The result may mean fewer low-value added and low skilled jobs in the future. The forecasted postponement of retirement by a large number of workers for at least five to seven years and critical skills shortages has only added to the existing complex talent formula.

According to a UK Commission for Employment and Skills study the current skills base is challenged to build the economy over the next 10 years even though the UK possesses an exceptional talent pool. The study anticipates that by 2020 approximately 2 million new workers will be needed in managerial and professional roles. However in contrast the study found that elementary occupations are projected to decline by one million positions and possibly more. The implications that these shifts create present unique challenges for business and government leaders. Reflecting upon the projected global economic output, we find that China is on track to becoming the largest economy in the world. Together China and India are producing more graduates each year than any other nation. The talent pools within these two nations may prove critical to the future of many global companies.

According to a Bayer Facts of Science Education XIV survey, approximately seventy-seven percent say significant numbers of women and underrepresented minorities are missing specifically within the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, otherwise known as STEM, within the U.S. workforce. The study found that the lack of identification, encouragement, or nurturing to pursue STEM studies at an early age was a root cause for the imbalance.
Chief Talent Stewards recognize the implications that underrepresented women and minorities present to an organization's capability for long-term growth and sustainability when diverse thought and blended leadership qualities are lacking.

How will we inspire future talent?

The talent of the future varies greatly among nations themselves and generations. The level of personal ambition and the desire to escape poverty often shapes employee behaviors and drives demand for quality education and skill enhancement in many developing nations. In sharp contrast nations such as the U.K. and U.S. have young talent that have benefited from the material prosperity of their parents' hard work and the contributions of generations past. Committed Talent Stewards in the 21st Century will strive to create new value and continually test their preconceived beliefs and presuppositions regarding the root causes of under representation of talent. They will be disciplined in their own learning to remove barriers and seek to optimize the best of all generations within the workplace for the benefit of the organization and customers. This will require a Talent Leadership culture to re-think how their structures adapt and enable talent to flourish.

One global executive of a company listed in Fortunes' 100 Great Places to Work recently opened his inner circle of strategic advisors to include a number of high-potential Millennials to help speed organizational innovation and enhance his learning of their generation. In recognition for their contributions and time, each Millennial advisor was given company time to contribute to his or her favorite charitable organization which aligned with the company's philanthropic goals.

Talent challenges are beginning unveil a number of exciting innovations for smart companies that have become energized to be more inclusive in building sustainable and highly competitive organizations in the future. They are creating strategic competitive differentiation and impact on the bottom line through creative communities and culture. Lego creatively involves the talent of its customers by tapping into their key interests and enabling them the ability to use their Lego Digital Designer tools to test their ideas virtually. The experience is further enhanced by Lego allowing the designs and models that consumers create to be displayed on-line inspiring others and creating a sense of community. Customers can directly order the specific parts on-line thereby generating revenue from the ideas that were inspired by consumers themselves.

The commitment, productivity, creativity, and ability of our workforces to add value will help keep companies competitive and sustainable. The time has come for Chief Talent Stewards in the executive suite to seize the opportunity before them and prioritize integrated talent management and culture design initiatives; emerging from 2010 with their business models in tack and ready to lead the future forward.

What steps are your leaders taking to strengthen people and enable sustainable talent management disciplines?
We recommend preparing for greater opportunities by making the brave decisions now.

• How well do our leaders understand the composition, capabilities and potential of our workforce portfolio both within and outside their areas of accountability?

• Are we prepared to prioritize our organization's strategic talent agenda to optimize the portfolio?

• Are we able to identify potential gaps in how we invest and focus on talent?

©2010 All rights reserved. Judy White, SPHR, GPHR, HCS is the President of Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina based The Infusion Group ^TM LLC, a next generation people management consulting and executive coaching firm. For more information, go to www.theinfusiongroupllc.com

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