What trends will affect your top talent in 2009?

Ingrid Kast, CEO at DAV - March 2009

I want to share with you some of the trends we’ve picked up through talking to our cream-of-the-crop candidates every day, (including those returning to South Africa) as well as our valued clients. We’ve checked ourselves against international research so we feel sure you’ll benefit from this! Knowing what top people expect from the workplace is invaluable, especially since, even in a changed marketplace, companies still have the enormous challenge of finding the truly key people they need!

Workforce Development

• Lifelong learning will be a requirement.
• The focus of training and learning will be on performance improvement, not just skill building.
• Employees with varied skills and competencies will be valued more than those with single area depth of expertise.
• Problem solving and decision-making will become ‘must-haves’, trained through practical work problems.
• Training will be delivered ‘just in time’, wherever people need it, using different technologies.
• Companies will demand constant personal growth, and employees will respond positively to higher expectations. Team projects and special assignments will be major factors in personal development.
• People who can learn new skills quickly will be highly valued in a faster changing world.
• As the computer-savvy generation is more assimilated into the workforce, employees will become more productive in complex tasks and less dependent on other people and departments.

The focus of training and learning will be on performance improvement, not just skill building.

Work and Society

• Family and life interests will play a bigger role and influence choices about work – ‘work to live’ rather than ‘live to work’.
• Dual-career couples will prefer not to make family life sacrifices and more people (not just women) will opt out of traditional careers.
• Community involvement and social responsibility will become part of an organisation's vision.

Diversity and Culture

• Cultural understanding and sensitivity will become even more important and companies will adapt by, with great finesse, helping their people understand and work well with other cultures.

Community involvement and social responsibility will become part of an organisation's vision

Definition of Jobs

• Organisations won't pay for the value of the job but the value of the person.
• Versatility will be key in determining employee value with strategic thinking, leadership, problem solving, technology and people skills close behind.
• Positions will be organised in teams focused on a task, not around a hierarchy.
• Employees will be more independent, moving from project to project within their organisations.
• Many jobs will be redesigned to be broader in scope, especially management positions, giving leaner head counts.

Sadly, there will be more people without jobs this year. And still, it is a hard challenge to find the right talent, skills and experience - all with the right attitude. Wouldn’t it be great to have the right people ready at the right time? Key people, joining your company’s mix of talent and keeping your ‘bench’ full of enabled, competent people.

For this you have us! We can guide you on your journey to find these increasingly scarce people.

Request a call back | Send a job spec

Tags: Talent Retention, Training, Leadership
« Back to articles?

W

W - W

Request a call back | Send a job spec

Tags: W
« Back to articles?