A look at current trends and data

Citation

Nolan, S. (2013), "A look at current trends and data", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2013.37212baa.010

A look at current trends and data

Article Type: Research and results From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 12, Issue 2

Sara Nolan

Global shift in supply and demand of talent

Businesses around the world are experiencing a profound market shift that will impact the supply and demand for skilled talent over the next decade. This is according to a research study conducted by Oxford Economics in partnership with professional services company Towers Watson, along with BAT, the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California, Cummins, Edison International and others, and in collaboration with the Organization of American States. The research reveals a race between technology and education as technology fuels demand for highly skilled workers, while emerging economies increase the supply of talent through greater access to education.

The study, which includes a global survey of 352 HR executives and in-depth interviews with leading multinational firms, examines how rapid globalization and the transformation of business models in virtually every industry will affect workforce needs in the future, and the implications for senior business executives and their HR leaders. The study also includes an extensive economic modeling exercise of 46 countries and 21 industry sectors to identify where pivotal changes in the demand and supply of talent will occur over the next decade, based on government data and Oxford Economics’ own forecasts.

The study reveals that the balance between supply and demand of talent differs from market to market in ways that will significantly impact the global workplace over the next ten years. Specifically, as the skills employers require become more complex, labor shortages are projected in many mature markets, including the USA, Germany, Canada and Italy. Meanwhile, a surplus of skilled talent is likely to emerge in locales such as Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa.

Talent surplus versus talent shortage

The survey suggests that a decade from now, eight of the top 10 countries with the largest talent surpluses will be in the developing world, led by India, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa. In these economies, the increasing abundance of skilled workers will compress the wage premium for talent, allowing for investment in new technologies and business models that will fuel growth well beyond 2021. By contrast, mature economies like the UK, USA, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Italy will confront shortages of skilled workers, in part because of their aging demographics.

According to survey respondents, the most dramatic jump in employment demand will be in emerging Asia, where the need for new employees will jump some 22.2 percent. Other emerging markets that will see above-average growth in required staff are Latin America (13.4 percent), the Middle East and Africa (13.2 percent) and Eastern Europe (10.5 percent).

Employment demand in Western Europe, by contrast, is projected to grow a rather modest 3.5 percent, according to the survey. In industries such as business services, energy, travel and transport, and life sciences, staffing levels will actually decline. Somewhat stronger job growth is expected in North America, where surveyed executives expect overall employment to rise 6.1 percent over the next three years.

Realignment of global workforce

“Our study underscores the need for executives to prepare for the major realignment of the global workforce, which is already under way,” said Lou Celi, president of Oxford Economics America. “These changes in the talent landscape, brought on by rapid technology adoption, continued globalization, shifting demographics and increasing competition, are significant – and permanent.”

For more information

An executive summary of the report is available for download at blogs.oef.com/globaltalent2021

Mixed ROI with learning and development activities

While many organizations invest significant funds into developing their senior leaders, research from The Institute of Executive Development (IED) uncovers that only a small proportion of the activities are likely to drive meaningful results. The implications are significant, as executives do not currently have a way to discern which of the many available development options are actually wise investments and which do not have the impact that warrants their continuation. Common development activities, such as executive coaching and the use of job rotations to broaden a leader’s exposure and experience, while very useful in some situations, may have little impact depending on the context in which they are used.

According to Jeff Munks, IED associate who helped conduct the research: “This is the classic ‘80/20’ rule at play – a small proportion of activities drive the bulk of the results. The question is always, which is the 20 percent that makes a difference, and now we have insight into this fundamental question.”

These findings come from a statistical analysis of the IED Index©, a diagnostic and benchmarking tool that has been administered in dozens of global organizations across eight distinct industries including 3M, Boeing, Intel, and McDonald’s, as well as public sector organizations. The Index tool examines the frequency and effectiveness of different executive development practices. Following are some of the findings.

1. 1.

   In the aggregate, the top three practices that impact success are:

   • •

     The use of assessments to determine development needs.

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     The collaboration between development professionals and HR partners.

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     The presence of a clear and compelling executive development strategy.

2. 2.

   The top practices for building a successor pool for the CEO role include:

   • •

     Custom designed programs for executives that support company-specific initiatives and business goals.

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     Development strategies that are integrated with other talent management activities such as talent reviews and succession planning.

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     Encouraging executives to seek opportunities outside their immediate roles to support their own development.

3. 3.

   Organizations lack alignment on the primary goals of executive development. Respondents report a lack of strategy, as well as a lack of utilizing metrics to measure the impact of their executive development programs.

4. 4.

   A wide variety of development practices are utilized. Likely a by-product of the lack of strategy, most organizations are executing at least a dozen and at times over 20 unique development activities.

5. 5.

   Three common practices have relatively low impact on an organization’s overall executive development activities. They are:

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     Board involvement in the succession planning and talent reviews for key executive positions.

   • •

     Ex-pat assignments to develop leaders.

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     Active use of executive coaching.

For more information

Visit www.execsight.com

HR failing to future proof employee skills

A survey of 769 HR leaders across the globe show that over a third of HR leaders believe they have not sufficiently prepared their workforce for tomorrow’s skills demand. In addition, 50 percent of survey respondents revealed that HR is not delivering to its full potential in providing employees with the right training and knowledge for their role.

The survey, commissioned by Lumesse, provider of integrated talent management solutions, found that 80 percent of respondents agreed that employees have to learn more and faster to succeed in their role than they did five years ago, yet exactly half of HR leaders confirmed that they are some way from delivering to their full potential when it comes to providing employees with the right training and knowledge for their role.

Other key findings include the following:

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  Only 10 percent worldwide believe HR is seen as an “extremely useful partner” by employees for skills development.

• •

  Over 70 percent of HR leaders believe that employees see HR as providing little or no learning, or just the minimum skills for them to succeed.

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  Forty percent of HR leaders believe that employees would not seek help from HR if they needed to develop new knowledge or skills quickly.

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  The majority of employees see their colleagues as a more valuable resource for acquiring new skills or knowledge than their internal learning management systems.

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  HR managers believe more than 30 percent of their employees feel insecure in their jobs because their skills and knowledge are not up-to-date.

For more information

Visit www.lumesse.com

Mobile roles on the rise

At a time when global unemployment rates are hitting record highs, results of research from Antenna Software finds that the mobility sector may be a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy labor market. The responses from HR managers at 600 enterprises surveyed for the project found that 74 percent of US and UK businesses currently have mobile positions to fill, with almost one in three companies (29 percent) bringing on a “mobile strategist,” indicating that as businesses think through the secular impact of mobility, a growing number are assigning ownership for development and execution of business-wide mobile strategies to a specific individual.

Antenna’s research also reveals that the demand for workers with mobile skill-sets will accelerate in the next 12 months, with more than half of all companies surveyed (51 percent) recently creating mobile-specific roles. In particular 20 percent of companies are planning to create one to two new mobile related roles in the next year, with some US and UK businesses, roughly 5 percent, planning to create as many as five to ten new mobile roles in the same timeframe.

Among those companies with mobile positions to fill, 25 percent have found it difficult to find the right workers, and of those companies the vast majority (93 percent) has indicated it is not due to a lack of applicants, but rather the absence of someone with the right qualities for the job. In fact, the volume of applicants was actually cited as the key reason that 40 percent of organizations have been easily filling new mobile roles. These findings point to the importance of clearly defining what skill sets and qualities are most crucial for these new roles as they are created.

For more information

Visit www.antennasoftware.com