Global Titans vs. You

Are you on the wrong side of ‘The Great Talent Divide?’

Are you on the wrong side of ‘The Great Talent Divide?’

The 1% phenomenon has now occupied the world of talent. The so-called ‘War for Talent’ is ending tamely. The big are winning and getting bigger. Everyone else, which probably includes you, is struggling to attract talent.

On July 15, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported:

“While top companies are getting more productive, gains are stalling for everyone else. And the gap between the two is widening, with globalization and new technology delivering outsize rewards to the titans of the global economy.”

In addition to technology, talent flocks to big firms. While small firms think they are ‘awesome’, in reality, they are ‘consistently worse run.’

Click here for the WSJ article

If your business has any dependency on digital technologies, you are already a victim of this ‘beggar-thy-neighbor’ trend.

This trend is reflected in outcomes such as high price for talent, high attrition, compromise on quality and delay in finding people.

What can you do about this great talent divide?

Reverse the Demand-Supply equation

As you face a situation of short supply, your response is to pay a higher price. You soon realize that no price is high enough. Talent is just not looking in your direction. It is lining up at the doors of big-tech. Your conclusion is: “I need to build my employer brand.” You turn from the Talent Acquisition team to the Marketing team. You just made the familiar ‘Frying pan to fire’ leap.

While brand and price are valid concerns, you are probably overlooking the nature of work that you offer. Even in the current oligarchy of talent, smart people want smart work. There are plenty of people, smarter than the hordes at playful campuses of big tech, toiling away at shared spaces of small teams, pursuing an interesting goal.

If the nature of work you offer is interesting, you will suddenly experience a reversal of the demand-supply equation in your favor.

Re-design your Business Model

If you are consistently unable to attract the right talent, that may be a sign. Is your business model unable to draw out the right value from high quality talent? You may not have a price problem. You may have a value problem. You may be looking for digital talent but deploying digital labor.

High quality digital talent thrives in a business that creates high profit per employee. In a shortage economy, when the price of talent is high, it is obvious that its deployment must generate high revenue.

Re-orient your Leadership and Organization

Shoe-horning current talent in a legacy organization or a traditional leadership environment is waste of value all around.

Transforming your strategy without transforming your organization reflects lack of conviction or a disproportionate influence of legacy leaders. If a reputation about unfulfilling work or a heavily directive leadership is built in the market, it will be difficult to do a makeover.

Hunting to Farming

Let us be realistic. Business models cannot be transformed overnight. Even after transformation is over, you may find yourself competing in the middle price bracket, unable to attract top talent. In this scenario, you will have to invest in building your own talent.

Your source of talent will shift to campuses that have smart talent and an unpretentious brand. Investment dollars will be allocated to in-house training and time on bench. The strategy would shift from hunting to farming.

Relocate

Yes, talent likes to live where the action is. Maybe you cannot physically relocate to access talent conglomerations. But, you can virtually relocate by building partnerships with talent supply organizations. Such a capability is not easily built in organizations rooted in an ‘employer-employee’ model. Yet, those that build it will move fast past their own frustrations.

Reputation, not Brand.

Talent is connected to talent. In this networked world, word spreads fast.

You may not have a great brand; but the nature of work, a high value environment and a smart organization design can help build a reputation for you.

That is all you need to play successfully in this great talent divide: A good reputation.

#HR #Talent #TalentDivide #SHRM #Leadership #tech #HRTech #business #technology #reputation #relocation #reevaluate #HumanResources #innovation #culture #value #digital #DigitalHealth #career #EmergingTech #Management #Success #FutureOfWork #HRBlogs #workplace #hiring #newtalent #technews #data #productivity #leaders #coaching #jobsearch #futureofHR