Viewpoint - Viewpoint

It seems that all one needs to discover the many threats we face is to turn on the media outlets. Massive unemployment and a lack of light at the end of that tunnel leaves left many feeling discouraged and fearful of an uncertain future. Record federal spending is creating huge debt. We see no visible improvement in any sector (save federal jobs). These fearsome realities may be is deflecting attention away from a serious shortfall of talented people.

Recently, when we started to feel that we had a feasible plan for eliminating our dependence on oil supplied by our avowed enemies, we soon may need to place “Caution-Flammable Area” across our most beautiful coastal region on The Gulf.

War and conflict throughout the Middle East are costing us our brave citizens and seems to have no “end game”.

My confidence in our discovering a solution to all of these is strong. The awareness of the problem and the ingenuity of our finest people will bring us safely past these debacles. But wait, there’s more!

To avoid the risk of totally discouraging you, the reader, I will remark about one more rising crisis that I may fear may lead us into a much more destructive and costly period than any of the very real aforementioned threats to America. The War for Talent, once challenged as a false projection, is now a very serious and destructive threat to our American capitalistic way of life.

Employers from the least to largest are on the battlefield fighting for their very survival. Yes, for the first time in our country’s history, we face a huge battle for the people we need to lead and work for our American employers. Our first skirmish is with our own ignorance, avoidance and complacency about the devastating impact of having 10 million more professional jobs than American people available to do the work. These numbers are dwarfed only by the 40 million labor jobs suffering from the same talent vacuum.

These numbers are so overwhelmingly huge that most cannot “put their heads around” this very real crisis created by this demographic shortfall effect. I will put this in plain figures. Baby-Boomers (1946-1964) were a big crowd (approximately 76MM+). Their progeny, Generation-X, (1965-1983) were roughly half as many people. The relatively strong economy of the mid 1980s through the turn of the century gave rise to many successful careers among Baby-Boomers. Gen-Xrs shared the affluence in fast track careers.

Somehow, along this path to profits and progress, we lost sight of the inevitable population deficit. The ‘9-11” effect on our economy was no sooner overcome when we faced the financial market collapse less than two years later. The snail pace recovery continues to cause a diversion of attention on the impending talent crisis.

It is not surprising that the employers, regardless of size, who will suffer the most, even perish in this war, are those that are the least aggressive, creative and most complacent about not only the talent they will need, but retaining the talent the have. Many employers who are focused on employee retention lack any effective policies or processes that will attract and retain talented people.

Since the onset of the industrial boom of the late 19^th century, nearly all employers focus their attention on “hiring” and “evaluating” potential employees. Until now employers were fortunate in missing the “bullet” in economic recoveries of the past. The recoveries were swift and the fast rising demand for talented people was so intense, that poor or absent recruiting skills and processes were scoffed at as unnecessary.

A few however had the vision and competitive insight to become magnetic organizations. They are facing the same competition but are somewhat better armed.

Technological advancements in conjunction with the Internet seemed, for a while, to circumvent any serious concerns about finding talent. Frankly most employers continue to stubbornly practice a century old approach and series of “common steps” in an inept process of “hiring” versus “attracting or recruiting.

Technological tooling continues to be a widely hailed asset for that time when “everything will turn around”. This is delusional at best.

Charles Fishman (cnfish@mindspring.com) an extremely talented Fast Company contributing editor accurately foresees: …”the demand for bright, talented 35- to 45-year-olds will increase by, say, 25%, and the supply will be going down by 15%. That sets the stage for a talent war.”

While some contend that a *War for Talent doesn’t and will not exist, many who are entrenched in the process of recruiting see otherwise. *The war for talent refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees-The war for talent is a term coined by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company in 1997

Our largest enterprises and employers stand to be the biggest losers. Some of these behemoth employers will break up and/or dissolve as a result of failing to attract those people with the talent and creativity required to maintain status quo or attempt growth and innovations. “…Just as all politics are local, all crises exist in the “now.”

Getting executives to focus on the talent shortage when their crisis is reporting the current quarter's results isn't likely to happen — not until the day arrives when there aren't enough executives with sufficient business wisdom who can report those current quarter results. The crisis is real, but it won't become real until it directly impacts each company over the next few years…” (Peter Drucker)

As a search consultant immersed in this battlefield, my concern is not having adequate and available talent to recruit for my clients. My biggest concern is that many employers that scoff at this notion and fail to shore up their organization against attack will find themselves unable to proceed with growth plans and initiatives due to a lack of skill and talent. This issue is compounded by the fact that these challenging times show little potential to fade anytime soon. In these conditions, employers are likely to fail as a result of lost talent.

Another forecast condition of this looming storm is the creation of an entire generation f people who are, as I write this missive, becoming well aware of being that generation who, for the first time in modern industrial history, will be a talent driven market. Few historic shortages have failed to create a meteoric rise in the costs associated with that element when in demand. I suspect that the competition will be fierce for qualified people and the total costs necessarily jump.

Biography

Doug Beabout is the owner of a professional talent acquisition consulting firm in Destin, FL. He is also a principal partner of Career Talk Guys, Llc. Doug is a trusted advisor to employers from large to small. His experience in the search, recruiting and acquisition of crucial talent spans over three decades. He speaks to thousands of recruiters, corporate and third-party recruiters every year. He has co-created over 450 talent acquisition independent businesses across the globe.

For details about Doug’s recruiter development tools, programs and coaching opportunities, visit his sites:

www.RecruiterElearning.com

www.ResearcherElearning.com

www.CareerTalkGuys.com

Doug is available for your questions at: 850.424.6933

or email him at trainer@recruiterElearning.com