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Human Resources Online - 10 July 2009
CEOs and senior management leaders must be prepared to give room to new talent who do not look like themselves if they want their business and talent pipeline to be sustainable, says Carl Camden, president and CEO of Kelly Services Global.
Speaking at yesterday's Human Capital Insights Forum, Camden says the lack of viable talent available to fill leadership roles will force companies to re-examine the required leadership skills for their company and how their talent pipelines are built.
And as companies scramble for workers, one emerging trend seen globally is the rise of leaders who are increasingly becoming younger, Asian and female. Hence, Camden says organisations now face the challenge of how they can go beyond the superficial awareness of Gen Y workers to retain and motivate this high-performing group.
Firstly, because Gen Y employees cannot be easily confined into the confines of pre-existing programmes, Camden says companies must develop programmes that listen to the ambitions and ideas of employees and then later adapt their expectations to the work and values of the company.
"If done well, our new generation of employees will self organise and create innovative ways to extend their contribution," he adds.
Secondly, companies need to have a standardised cultural infrastructure if they want talent with mobility potential. Too often, MNCs only have standardised elements such as company financials, reporting laws, email systems and IT laws. However, many do not develop a cultural infrastructure as they deem it too unimportant and difficult to tackle.
"A country manager with exceptional skills will not move up the company ladder if he cannot communicate effectively with his colleagues outside his home country," Camden says. "We must recognise that effectiveness at a country level does not translate to regional effectiveness."
Hence, Camden says there has to be certain shared goals, strategies, values and corporate cultures across the different company locations - regardless of the local culture.
Finally, companies must also look into developing and nuturing employees even from the very beginning of the employee's career so as to help build the talent pipeline. While this approach advances intergenerational mobility, he adds that societies that often favour the hierarchical structure would struggle with this notion. But in the global economy, the competition for talent will demand a broader view of talent from organisations.
"MMCs that require their leaders to all look, think and behave alike in a lockstep progression are not only missing out on a key competitive advantage - they are also going to find their pipeline shrinking dramatically," says Camden.
Yesterday's Human Capital Insights Forum was organised by Kelly Services, NUS Business School and NUS Business School Alumni Association.
Source: Human Resources Online
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