Finding the solution
by Andrew Mayo

Probably the top subject for HR conferences currently is anything to do with talent. It is a subject that brings together many people-related disciplines – recruitment, retention, assessment, growth and development, and leadership. The word itself has many interpretations. The narrow definition of ‘high potentials‘ limits us to a very small percentage of the population. In many industries it is actually the ability to deliver results that is most highly valued. This column has argued before for an inclusive – and therefore multidimensional - approach to the various types of talent that organisations have.

I am prompted to return to the subject by a workshop run in April under the auspices of the excellent Whitehall and Industry Group, hosted by Accenture’s strategy department, which looked at the implications for talent – in general – in a macro sense for Britain, using scenario planning.

There is an argument, strongly advanced by those with a vested interest in the ‘people movement‘ business, that talent must be looked at today globally. Not only is so much emerging in places like India, China and Brazil, but the rapid spread of English as the lingua franca of business, and the advances in 24/7 technology, mean that ‘location‘ ceases to be a constraint.

Undoubtedly certain types of talent – proven leaders and specialist skills for example – justifiably see the world as their oyster. Companies go where the talent (or needed skill) is, and place operations close to it.

Is this any matter of concern for any one national environment? In our scenario-planning exercises we almost unanimously felt it was. A country must create and maintain a quality of human capital that makes it globally competitive. If we do not do so, there are many undesirable consequences. Jobs are not available, even to graduates; other countries cease to inves; the public sector becomes a refuge. Social frustration leads to crime, disaffection and living off the state. In short, it's not a recipe for success.

As my former CEO used to say: "Skills are the greatest differentiator we can have."

Accenture have pulled together a lot of statistics and commentary in a booklet called Skills for the Future. They show, for example, that Finland invests twice the proportion of their GDP in knowledge – education and R&D - than the UK does.

A survey of Lifelong Learning in the EU is also quoted; Britain is bottom-but-one of the table with a 22 per cent participation rate, compared to Finland and Denmark at close to 80 per cent. Although we graduate more and more students, and have a world market share of 12 per cent of foreign students (the second highest, but we are training human capital for other countries), in 2004 more graduates were in media studies than in physics or chemistry combined. We have ceased to make languages mandatory in secondary schools, and few are in doubt that standards have been lowered over the years.

The recent Leitch report says: "The UK must urgently raise achievements at all levels of skills and [we] recommend that it commit to becoming a world leader in skills by 2020, benchmarked against the upper quartile of the OECD. This means doubling attainment at most levels of skill. Responsibility for achieving ambitions must be shared between government, employers and individuals."

This is ambitious. The reality on the ground may not be quite as bad as statistics suggest, due to the UK’s tendency for more informal and pragmatic learning,but the prospect for 2020 is worrying as current trends are projected. The time between now and then is just one schooling period. Both Leitch and Accenture see a tripartite recipe for action. Employers and individuals will generally act only in their own interest, but to rely on government for all the solutions may be counter to that. All our scenario groups saw private:public educational initiatives as a key part of the solution.

For all who work, especially in private and public organisations, education or relevant institutes, I commend some time spent in scenario planning, and asking what we should be doing to enhance the quality of the human capital that is vital to our success.

This article was published in the June 2007 issue of Training Journal and is reproduced with kind permission. If you would like any further information please contact the author via this page.