Playing Matchmaker

Although the current global economic situation has increased the number of overall jobseekers, as many as 31% of employers worldwide are experiencing difficulty filling positions due to lack of suitable talent available in their markets. Really? Really!

As Manpower reports in its 2010 Talent Shortage survey, there are not enough sufficiently skilled people in the right places at the right time to meet demand. This gap will widen and intensify over the next few years as economies rebound, the nature of available work shifts, and several decades of lower birthrates throughout much of the world catch up to us.

Without an intentional approach to workforce strategy that embraces how the world of work is changing, organizations will be unable to effectively execute business strategy. Led by the CEO, organizations must apply the same rigor used to create an overall business strategy to create a workforce strategy. The resulting blueprint provides a line of sight into understanding the talent choices available today that impact an organizations’ ability to deliver on business strategies in the future.

You can’t change what is happening relative to the external world of work trends or today’s economic reality. (For more on our World of Work trends, see my article in Chief Executive.) But you can change your talent strategies to respond to those trends and position your company to gear up for growth in this context. Talent is the number one impediment or success factor to executing your business plan.

The key is to align the right talent approaches to your business strategy.

Check back tomorrow for the second in Owen's four-part series on Teachable Fit and hiring candidates for fit, not just skills.