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People & Culture Dinner: Key Talent Themes
What happens when you gather a number of Chief Talent Officers from a range of global organisations around a table? Apart from good connectivity over some excellent food courtesy of Coya’s team in the City, we also had a lot of discussion around shared challenges in the talent arena. Check out the topics we discussed at Wilton and Bain’s People and Culture Dinner.
Global Mobility
Everyone agreed on the challenge of internal mobility as a standard route for senior career tracks. The appetite for international assignments has significantly decreased in a new hybrid world. The allure of living and working abroad, to immerse in the culture and experience different working practices first hand no longer holds the same appeal. A shift in priorities to being more present in family life, spending less time ‘on the road’ and not making the time sacrifices that previous generations of international leaders have typically had to do is leading talent functions to have to think more creatively about international career growth opportunities. One option is looking at shorter term international rotations of a few months, another is to focus on the intention of international experience and how this builds into the next career move.
Skills Based Careers
Generational differences in career management are also challenging traditional development paths. Gen Z-ers are much more focused on building skills and capabilities through experiences without the same dedication to a linear career route. Instead, they look to enrich and broaden laterally if it keeps them ‘fresh’
and constantly learning. In the context of radically changing workplaces including the impact of GenAI, existing executive teams need to accept that ‘up or out’ structures no longer attract the best talent to compete to get to the next level. Instead, organisations need to think about the type of work that needs to be delivered and divide it up into skillsets and deploy individuals according to their existing and developing capabilities. The question to business leaders today is: ‘What are you doing to develop the skills in others to be successful in the workplace of tomorrow?’ Skills-based career routes are becoming prevalent and managing this type of career growth should take advantage of AI tools to plan for future needs.
Total Talent Workforce
We also talked about how multigenerational workforces are becoming more prevalent. Having a workforce spanning five or even six decades will not be abnormal, yet tapping into part-time workers is still desperately under-utilised. In an economy where labour is in short supply, flexibility to engage skills vesting in older workers alongside their broader life experience can lend a grounded maturity and resilience to less experienced workers. Employers who can adapt and embrace more diverse engagements will steal a march on those who are more prescriptive, and are likely to end up with a more committed, engaged team with less flight risk. This stability could also be just the tool to combat younger generations’ flightiness in search of fresh, new experiences. Total talent workforce management will be a key differentiator in engagement and productivity. Few shareholders will turn their noses up at that.
What Next?
Tim Baker | Partner
Chloe Watts | Partner
