Engaging and Developing Is Key to the Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the fact that there are millions of unemployed people in the United States, there remains an acute shortage of talent that is transforming today’s business world. Top-level talent is scarce and becoming even more so because of two factors: the retirement of baby boomers and a growing skills gap.

 

The first members of the baby boom generation are hitting their early 60s, and over the next 15 years the proportion of the workforce made up of people 50 or older will snowball. What’s more, the nation’s education system is not keeping pace with the increasing complexity of business and technology. Only 70% of U.S. public high school students graduate on time, and only 32% leave high school qualified to attend a four-year college.

 

Consequently, companies that want to excel must be able not only to attract and retain talented employees but also to engage these workers as never before. Jobs that have become increasingly dynamic will require companies to train and develop employees simply to keep pace with change. At the same time, individuals need to be afforded greater flexibility in their career paths, and organizations need to reap greater flexibility from employees.

 

Companies traditionally have responded to tightening labor markets by launching recruitment bidding wars, but we challenge this thinking. Even the best recruitment tactics will not be enough to combat today’s talent challenge. High compensation packages and bonuses are easily matched by competitors. Instead, a more discerning response is required.

 

This article outlines the major factors precipitating today’s talent challenge, a few assumptions about effective ways to rethink approaches to that challenge, and methods companies can use to address today’s diminishing talent pipeline.

 

What is the talent challenge? Primarily, it is the rising demand for capable performers and the dwindling supply of such employees. The approximately 76 million baby boomers in the United States (those born between 1946 and 1964) are beginning to retire in great numbers. The 66 million U.S. members of Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1983) and even the 75 million U.S. members of Generation Y (those born between 1984 and 2002) will not be enough to fill the gap.

 

Paralleling this development is a lack of engagement in the education system among new-generation students. In many ways, the current high school system has not kept pace and is not teaching tomorrow’s workforce how to apply logic and problem solving in order to tackle the complex challenges of our fast-changing world. One result is that students are becoming disinterested in or are dropping out of high school, compounding the talent shortage. Consider these statistics: 70% of public high school students graduate on time, yet 85% of jobs require education beyond high school, 60% of new jobs in this century will require skills possessed by only 20% of the current workforce, and 79% of companies will see a significant shortage in the talent pipeline (40% of companies say this is already an acute problem).

 

A second reason for today’s talent challenge is employee churn and growing discontent. Satisfaction levels among all workers, regardless of age, income, or location, have been in decline for two decades. Less than half of American workers are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61% 20 years ago. And less than 39% of workers under the age of twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs.

 

A third reason for the talent challenge is the increasing complexity of today’s jobs. Globalization, technological advancement, and information overload complicate today’s work environment. With the reach provided by modern information technology, people are globally connected 24-7, receiving nonstop information and a barrage of cognitive demands. One study found that the average employee switches tasks every three minutes, is interrupted every two minutes, and has a maximum focus period of 12 minutes. This constant switching saps creativity, impedes decision making, and weakens performance.

 

With fewer bodies, growing job dissatisfaction, and increasing job complexity, there is a clear need for organizations and their leaders to engage people as never before in order to strengthen their capacity to attract and retain talented people.

 

In seeking approaches to engage today’s workforce, three assumptions can be made. One is that employees work for more than a paycheck. They seek jobs that challenge them to learn and grow. Employees offer their best when they feel they can make meaningful contributions toward a vision with purpose and backed by a clear strategy.

 

A second assumption is that new strategies are required to meet these employee desires. The traditional response to talent shortages has been to acquire and retain people—that is, to recruit them and keep them “in their seats.” Such strategies focus on metrics that are important to an organization. To truly engage people, however, talent strategies must focus on what matters most to employees—their development—in ways that promote learning and growth, their deployment into roles they care about, and their connection to the people and things that help them do their best work. Not surprisingly, organizations that create experiences that spark people’s fullest capabilities attract and retain—and create—the best talent.

 

A third assumption is that learning must be knitted into the fabric of work. Such learning will include both formal interventions (classroom programs, online courses, and executive coaching) and workplace learning (mentoring, expert networks, and collaborative spaces).

 

How, then, can organizations start meeting the growing talent challenge, short of radically restructuring their business career-track models? As a starting point, here are eight practical approaches that companies can employ right away.

 

Be strategic about bringing on new employees. A new employee’s first experience shouldn’t be about orientation courses and human resource manuals. It should be about connections. It takes about six months to socialize new hires. Leaders can accelerate the process and foster loyalty by connecting new hires with experienced “buddies” and mentors. The tacit knowledge that emerges from these interactions can convey values in much more compelling ways than bullet points or mission statements can. It is also useful to encourage recruits to observe and ask questions about policy and processes, rather than jump into the old ways of doing things.

 

Match people to roles that suit their strengths and capabilities. Each individual is capable of doing many things, but people are more likely to put forth their best efforts in roles they love performing rather than in roles where they are asked to perform only the things they’re skilled in. To help them realize these best efforts, many leading organizations provide internal support centers and coaching to help employees navigate their careers. These companies also give employees the flexibility to try out different roles in order to find their niche. This is an ongoing process that benefits both employees and companies: as people’s capabilities and interests shift during their careers, companies’ needs also shift.

 

Encourage productive conversations. Conversations shape relationships, and relationships are the number-one reason why people stay or go. Moreover, work gets done through conversations, and conversations are the primary source of learning. More than 70% of what people know comes through informal interactions with others. Consequently, leaders at all levels must look closely at opportunities for conversations—both theirs and others’—in situations such as meetings, day-to-day interactions, and performance reviews. Many organizations benefit by becoming more intentional about conversations—for instance, encouraging ongoing performance dialogues instead of highly stressful annual or semiannual reviews. Some organizations encourage peer assists by bringing together seasoned practitioners and less-experienced team members in one- or two-day knowledge-sharing sessions. Such interactions build morale in junior employees because the opportunity to work with senior colleagues is a form of recognition.

 

Explore existing and emerging collaborative tools and approaches. A number of new technologies and methods have been developed to make communication and collaboration more efficient. One focus is e-mail. Because roughly 60% of e-mail is spam and only 8% is truly important, establishing best practices for e-mail can significantly improve efficiency. New online media also can be powerful tools when used responsibly. Blogs are opening a new level of knowledge sharing and dialogue, and wikis—Web sites that allow users to add and edit content collectively—are enabling co-workers to collaborate in real time. However, the focus here must always be on the quality of the collaboration, not just on the tools that enable the collaboration.

 

Cultivate strategic communities. Communities have always existed in organizations, but now technology allows people to connect in new ways that promote learning and innovation. Companies can provide forums where employees can exchange ideas and work through issues of complexity and change. These communities also serve as magnets for commitment. Employees considering departing a company may think twice about leaving colleagues who have shared interests and experiences. Communities have the potential to foster an esprit de corps and a mindset of innovative thinking that teams operating in traditional hierarchies cannot easily achieve.

 

Stimulate networks of high-quality relationships. Informal social networks also engage employees in ways that promote learning and growth. One approach begins with social-network analysis—a map of relationships that provides an X-ray of the way projects are completed. Once they understand the ways that people connect, collaborate, and share knowledge, managers can create conditions that lead to optimal individual and organizational performance.

 

Design physical workspaces to foster connections. Workplace designs that offer dedicated spaces for formal collaboration, quiet places to concentrate, and informal areas to relax and brainstorm are critical for effective communication and collaboration. When workers are more than 30 yards apart, interaction falls off precipitously. The design of a space should reflect intent. When collaboration is important, open workspaces can be more effective than closed ones because conversations spill over and informal networking occurs that might not otherwise.

 

Build an organizational cushion of time and space. As the pace of business speeds up and decisions become more complex, employees need time and space to learn, reflect, and produce work with tangible results. What are leading organizations doing? Some allow workers to pursue professional projects of personal interest. Others offer employees the flexibility to choose work locations and methods that match their natural rhythms. No matter the approach, leaders must act as role models for the practices they advocate and be mindful of the messages they send. Leaders who glorify emergencies and view long hours as noble and heroic can trigger stress and family conflicts that hurt performance.

 

In coming years, most companies will have to rethink their talent strategies. In addition to addressing shifting demographics, improving the performance of critical employees directly improves organizational performance. Organizations should look within for the critical skills required to execute the company’s most important jobs. By developing, deploying, and connecting these people the right way, leaders can raise individuals’ performances—and the performance of the entire organization.