Win the talent war

The fallout from massive workforce shifts is accelerating the fight for top talent. At the same time, technological transformation and automation are increasingly taking over jobs, from finance departments to factory floors. Upskilling your workforce with a focus on responsible management skills that will continue to grow in value is the solution leaders should look to. Turning the people you have into the talent you need stops you losing staff with deep understanding of your brand or business. Investment in education can be a drop in the bucket of what it might take to onboard a new recruit. But it’s not just cost-effective to fill critical jobs from within. “It’s also about the social licence to operate,” highlights Wailes. “There will be an increasing expectation that organisations will create these kinds of pathways in an accelerating world. It’s a really positive thing for them to be involved in.” Organisations that boost their workforce and educate them in emerging parts of the business will find that talent buys more deeply into the company vision. “When people are on board with the mission of the organisation, they will do better work, they’ll be more productive and they’ll be more effective,” says Wailes. “Values alignment is the most influential thing affecting organisational performance and reskilling will increasingly become a big part of that.”