The War for Talent : Attracting and Retaining Key Staff

The War for Talent continues to be fought. The increased strength and attraction of emerging economies brings a greater number of battlegrounds where companies must fight for talent.

It will become even more difficult to attract and retain the best performers, over the next five years. This is because the leaders of existing organizations are approaching retirement at a time when the labour market is shortening. 40% of organizations lack a succession plan. America alone is expecting a retired population to increase from 35M to 70M from 2008 - 2015 as the "Baby Boomers" retire. The growth rate of China's working population will reach zero% shortly after 2015.

Companies need to plan to keep valuable knowledge in their businesses. Many businesses are knowledge driven, dependent on R&D, manufacturing know-how, and specialized knowledge. With so many experienced workers getting ready to retire, how will you make sure that the business can continue without that hard-earned knowledge? Will you write it down? Hire retirees to consult part-time? Expect new workers to have several degrees and already understand the industry? This is going to be a bigger challenge than most organizations realize. Get ahead of the curve or you risk losing valuable knowledge.

In Asia, the significance of China's economic influence and its strategic importance to global business means that there is a particular importance in this market for companies to focus much more on succession planning and the development of management talent.

Key questions to consider are :-

1. What are the competencies existing in the organization today? How do these relate to the future leadership and competitive needs?
2. Which employees exhibit the identified competencies and leadership skills?
3. What are the business plans for future development and where does the market appear to be heading?
4. Make a plan, develop the competencies required and ensure that it extends throughout the entire organization.

Professor William J Rothwell of Pennsylvania State University describes succession management as a top down process where the leaders of today identify and develop the leaders of tomorrow.

At P&G when Alan Lafley was appointed CEO in 2000, the process to groom Bob Macdonald to be his successor in 2009 was commenced. P&G operates an internal talent pool process to identify successors. They operate a running scorecard for manager that is regularly evaluated to monitor the pools of talent required after succession. Where candidates have development needs, assignments are designed to prepare them.

Successful succession planning requires an understanding of industry, marketplace and business strategy over the coming half decade to be able to identify the personality, ability and experience of the next generation of leaders.

China's business success is important for Asia and the global economy. Succession planning is crucial as without leadership a company will fail. Prepare for the scarce commodity of talented young workers. Just as industries become fare more specialized to remain competitive, the overall pool of applicants is shrinking. Get ready to cultivate young talent now or face the consequences of the rush to hire good candidates from Generations X and Y when the crunch is on.

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