9 reasons why talentomics is changing HR

9 reasons why ‘TalenTomics’ is changing hr

inTroducTion

2 | four facTors ThaT shaPe careers

Despite ongoing global economic instability, and large variations in employment rates, finding the right people is harder than ever. Now, we operate in a knowledge economy, and the means of production (as Marx would describe it) truly rests in the hands of the worker.

This is what we call ‘talentomics’—the ‘economics of talent’—and the supply-demand equation that

underpins it has changed.

A couple of hundred years ago, talent (or labor) was a simple commodity. The rich and powerful had

access to as much labor as they needed, and those with the discipline, skills and ability to work, did.

The supply chain, and the transaction between employer and employee, was straightforward.

But that was then.

Now, HR professionals have to get to grips with a different kind of ‘talent’ supply chain.

They have to know how to find, secure, develop and retain the right talent at the right time. And

the nine key factors of ‘talentomics’ are going to have a significant bearing on their ability to do this

going forward.

Talentomics is global, it’s trans-generational, and it’s about managing the talent supply chain in

sophisticated and technologically driven ways. In this ebook, we hope to show you what it really

means, why it’s happening and how to evolve your HR practice to adapt.

home inTroducTion iT’s a global village

hr 3.0 is here

your ceo’s concerns are your concerns

PlenTy of labor, limiTed TalenT

work is virTual

The knowledge worker is The new rock sTar

if we don’T change, millennials won’T sTay

free agenTs are increasing

hr TalenT suPPly-chain managemenT

geT The full rePorT

lance Jensen richards, gPhr, sPhr

The world today is very much like the

global village that was first envisaged

in the 1970s. We have evolved into a

global, knowledge economy, and as

a result, the tight geographical bonds

between producer and consumer are

gone—permanently.

Human resourcing is already global.

In industries where skills are highly

transferrable, there is little to stop

workers from being recruited for

assignments in any location around

the world. For many people, this

globalization of talent brings incredible

opportunity. For others, it feels like a

threat. For those still resisting it,

there is some bad news: you’re

already part of it.

Even if your business or role doesn’t

require it yet, globalized talent

sourcing is going on all around you,

and it’s changing the game for both

employee and employer. Even if you’re

not sourcing talent this way currently,

you can be sure at least some of your

competitors are (or will be soon). And,

if your competitors are tapping into

other talent pools, they may well be

accessing skills and just-in-time labor

that you’re not, which will absolutely

deliver them a competitive advantage.

So, globalized talent is here. It’s

everywhere, and it’s affecting you even

if you don’t know it yet.

ThaT which you can’T

avoid, welcome

• Understandthattheneedto

source talent globally isn’t

only about cost. It’s also about

business performance. There

is clear academic research that

demonstrates how well-managed

heterogeneous teams outperform

homogenous teams.

• Consideryourtalentsupply-chain:

if you can’t find the talent you need

in your existing market, what’s

stopping you from sourcing it

from elsewhere?

01iT’s a global village

3 | nine reasons why ‘TalenTomics’ is changing hr


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Tougher economic conditions have

increased the need for creativity,

productivity and innovation, and HR is

no different.

HR has evolved. Its genesis was in

transactional excellence: payroll

processing, record-keeping and

compliance. When HR 2.0 emerged

in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the profession

moved upwards along the value chain

into employee relations, performance

appraisals and training. But despite

this evolution, IT has not swallowed

the critical mass of HR tasks, and

the function has still not been fully

enmeshed in a central strategic role

of corporate life. This is all about to

change.

In the HR 3.0 environment, HR people

need to think more like corporate

executives. They need to move out of

the HR silo, and put themselves in the

minds of those who are guiding the

organization.

This entails putting aside the narrow

metrics of HR activities to focus instead

on broader business outcomes. It

means consistently thinking about how

the ‘people element’ adds value at

every stage of the organization, as well

as the factors that both enhance and

dilute that value.

Instead of being transactional,

we must learn to talk about HR

issues as business issues. We must

be transformational. The3.0 HR

professional must know business,

and they must know how ‘the people

element’ informs, and transforms, the

business agenda at every level of the

organization.

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The challenge is not to make

people issues count on the executive

agenda, (they already do) it’s to help

solve them.

OftheTopTenconcernsofCEOs,

seven are people-related. This means

that 70% of HR’s priority work is of

directimporttotheCEO.

The 3.0 HR professional must

communicatewithCxOsaboutthese

‘top concerns’ and let them know that

these also constitute the HR agenda.

And, they must work to understand

more about other areas of the business

(not just HR) to know how the people

elements in other functions are

affecting productivity and the strategic

agenda. This is the gap that only

HR can fill.

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challenge score

1. business growth 1.65

2. Talent .74

3. cost optimization .72

4. innovation .70

5. government regulation

.59

6. corporate brand and reputation

.42

7. customer relationships

.40

8. sustainability .37

9. international expansion

.29

10. investor relations .09

2011: ceo’s ToP 10 global challenges

Source:ConferenceBoardCEOChallenge,2011


A major demographic shift is almost

uponus.Companiesarefacinga

demand-supply impasse that is virtually

locked-in for the next 40-50 years, and

HR professionals must hold the key.

While it’s true that unemployment

levels in many countries remain at

historical highs, the issue facing

HR is an increasingly critical talent

shortage: those individuals who

bring specific knowledge and skills

to an organization, and who make an

immediate, lasting impact.

Population growth in many major,

developed economies is well below

replacement rates and has decreased

significantly since the 1970s1. This

means there will be fewer people of

traditional working age, relative to

thetotalpopulation.Unfortunately,

many of the countries with fast-

growing populations do not have

the educational infrastructure to

develop enough skilled labor to

meet the shortfall in industrialized

countries. This results in a paradox:

high unemployment despite the global

shortage of talent.

To be clear: we don’t have a people

shortage, we have a talent shortage.

The trend is marked and becoming

more acute. There is a limited global

pool of skilled labor at a time when

workplaces are demanding higher

and more specific levels of skill and

knowledge. The new operating reality

for human resources professionals is

that they will need to keep recruiting

irrespective of short-term cycles. The

best-educated and skilled technical

and professional employees will be in

greater demand, harder to find, and

command a premium.

avoid The imPasse:

• HRprofessionalsmustconsiderways

to address the lack of supply of

particular skills and talent, in much

the same way that countries modify

their immigration policies to counter

population decline.

• Recruitmentmustconsiderlong-

term skills shortages, and these

must be weighed up against the

need for short-term cost-cuts.

04PlenTy of labor, limiTed TalenT

1 Source: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/37/59/40192107.pdf


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The way we locate and deploy talent is

changing.Companiesseethepotential

of tapping into a vast, global talent

pool, but they need their HR partners

to show them the way.

The world of work is becoming simpler.

An increasing number of jobs can be

tasked to individuals anywhere in the

world. Now, instead of moving the

talent to where the work is, we can

move the work to where the talent is.

This is workforce virtualization.

In the growing knowledge economy,

there is virtually no limit to the

breadth and scale of functions that

are open to globalization. E-health

means that diagnostic tools can be

accessed remotely. In construction

andmanufacturing,standardizedCAD

techniques mean that design elements

can be outsourced. This is truly

revolutionizing the way that we locate

talent and distribute work.

Workforce virtualization is something

quite new, wholly enabled by

accelerating technology, but only

delivering results to those select firms

that understand this sea change. It

also opens up a new set of challenges

around the recruitment and retention

wars that are unfolding in this era.

Essentially, managers will need to

know how to work with a virtualized

workforce, and they’ll need the tools

to do so. This means that the way we

coach and measure the performance

of managers is going to change.

Increasingly, we’ll need to look at

their ability to take knowledge, or a

skill, competency or behavior, and

make it work across multiple locations

and cultures.

undersTand how Technology

suPPorTs workforce

virTualizaTion, and The skills

managers need To use iT:

• HRwillbeexpectedtobecome

proficient with a range of

technologies and platforms that

support an ever-broadening set

of functions.

• Increasingly,HRwillneed

knowledge of labor markets,

cultural differences, key recruiting

methods, technological enablers

and labor laws in a variety of

different jurisdictions.

• ThewayHRhelpsbusinessestrain,

coach and evaluate managers needs

to change—it must now evaluate

and improve managers’ ability

to manage talent, skills and tasks

across borders.

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The process of engaging with people

who may not actively be looking for

work, or who may not be where you

want them to be, poses a new set of

challenges for HR.

They extend across sectors including

IT, healthcare, education and

agriculture. They are the source of

much innovation and competitive

advantage. They are the repositories

of specific expertise and frequently

the agents of change. They are the

knowledge workers, and they are the

new ’rock stars‘ in the escalating search

for talent. Yet, they are in short supply.

The task of locating, nurturing, and

harnessing the expertise of those who

operate in the knowledge environment

has become the Holy Grail for many

HR professionals. Employers must

adopt recruitment approaches that are

aligned to the type of social networks

and gathering points where these

workers congregate.

build neTworks, sTarT

a conversaTion:

Some of the techniques that must be

mastered to tap into the increasingly

sophisticated labor pool include:

• Nichewebsites&socialmedia:

niche sites can enable better

targeting of candidates with

industry expertise. Facebook, XING

and LinkedIn and even Twitter

can become part of an evolving

conversational landscape, to

pique the interest of even passive

candidates.

• Knowledgesharing&leadership:

authoring or sponsoring papers,

writing blogs, and presenting

webcasts can start conversations

with potential ‘knowledge workers’.

• Internalapplicanttrackingsystems

(aTs): previously considered

candidates who were not chosen for

one position may be qualified for

another opening.

• smiling and dialing: cold calling,

and maintaining personal rapport

with experts in the industry is still a

good way to build your database

and access referrals.

• And,expectcandidatestodo

theirhomework:there are now

many tools available to candidates

to help them understand and vet

potential employers. Sites such as

vault.com or glassdoor.com are just

two examples.

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Gen Y is the first truly globalized

generation of workers. They have

grown up with technologies that have

shrunk the workplace and the world,

expanded their horizons, and made

them feel comfortable operating in a

borderless environment.

Gen Y’s attitudes to job selection,

tenure, work-life balance,

remuneration, promotion, and not

least of all, their use of technology, is

providing food for thought for most

organizations.

For Gen Y, the workplace is not

solely about work—it is a place

for social interaction and shared

learning, and the old “9 to 5” means

nothing. Millennials have grown up

with the kind of technology that

makes it possible to work and remain

connected, almost anywhere.

As such, younger generations have

never experienced the requirement

to be ‘in the office’ to communicate

and work effectively. Instead, their

emphasis is shifting to what some call

‘the third place’ —a place between

home and the workplace where the

demands of both can be balanced.

As workforce virtualization increases,

this desire for a more flexible

approach to ‘work’ is being forced

into the mainstream. And workplaces

are evolving, but they will need to

evolve further to meet some of the

expectations of younger generations.

The influence of Gen Y can also felt on

issues of ethics, the environment, and

social responsibility in the workplace,

which challenges the hierarchical status

quo for older generations.

Millennials demand meaning in the

workforce, but few employers really

know how to offer it.

in The mulTi-generaTional

workPlace, hr musT Provide

Trans-generaTional soluTions:

• Millennialsarelessinterestedina

career ladder, but they are intently

focused on a career lattice. Lateral

movement, new opportunities,

continual development, and

intellectual challenge are of greater

interest and value to them.

• Theideathatorganizationscan

simply make Gen Y’s conform to

the way things are is flawed. If

organizations don’t evolve their

workplace for this generation, Gen

Y will leave and Gen Z will never

darken their door.

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The rise of the contingent workforce

is shaping new patterns of business

behavior around HR practice.

Recruitment needs to take account

of the shifting needs of business and

the availability of a pool of workers

with specific expertise, suited to

particular projects.

One of the most important workforce

trends of the past two decades

has been the rise of a new breed

of independent free agents—

consultants, freelancers, contractors,

and ‘micropreneurs.’ Many of these

are professionals who have been

dislodged from salaried careers as a

consequence of business restructuring

and economic upheaval.

According to a Kelly research, close to

halfofallworkersintheU.S.(44%)now

classify themselves as free agents. In

theU.S.,FreeAgentsoutnumbertotal

Unionmembership—somethingwe

never thought possible.

Those who describe themselves as

self-employed are a rising share of

the workforce in many industrialized

economies. And, as people go solo,

they necessarily need to become

more flexible, entrepreneurial, and

responsive to the needs of the market.

They do not operate under the security

of permanent employment, and thus

need to think afresh about the skills

and competencies that will sustain

them for the long haul.

How then, can an HR organization find,

let alone recruit, such talent?

managing The

‘JusT-in-Time’ emPloyee

• Recruitmentpracticesneedtoadapt

to the shifting needs of business,

and take account of workforce

analytics, and workforce planning,

across the enterprise.

• Ifkeypeoplecanjumpfrom

one assignment to the next, HR

must consider how it will protect

knowledge and intellectual property,

project by project.

• Jugglingmyriadlegal,financial,and

regulatory issues across jurisdictions

will be unavoidable

• HRprofessionalsneedto

understand what makes Free Agents

‘tick’. They are always looking to

upgrade their skills and differentiate

themselves, so the business must be

flexible enough to consider work in

term of ‘assignments’, and to make

those assignments attractive to

agents looking for ways to expand

and enhance their skill base.

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HumanCapital,thepeoplewho

actually deliver results for our

companies and enterprises, has

become the last, and possibly the

only, differentiator in a world of

commoditization.

Our ability, as an enterprise, to

compete in a global economy may

well be determined over the next few

years by how well we manage a supply

chain of talent (not a supply chain of

minerals, parts, foods or fabrics). If

we look at a classic model of supply

chain management, it boils down to

having the right materials, in the right

place, at the right time and cost. And,

these must be utilized the right way to

create and deliver specific goods and

services. In a knowledge economy, the

same is true of talent.

Thinking about talent in terms of

supply chain requires us to ask

and answer these questions: First,

assuming I can find the talent I need,

does my enterprise have the resource

acquisition mechanisms to deal

with multiple markets, and multiple

sourcing techniques? Second, do we

have appropriate terms and conditions

in place to secure the resources and,

third, must I move the resources to

make use of them? Finally, once I have

my resources in place, can I manage

effectively against inventory shrinkage,

spoilage, obsolescence or theft?

Enterprise HR groups, which aspire

to being part of HR 3.0, must start

thinking about HR—and about

talent—as mission-critical supply chain

management. We have to understand

how disruptions in the talent supply

chain can directly hammer (impact is

too nice a word here) our business.

To manage TalenT suPPly chain,

The hr Professional musT:

• knowandunderstandthebusiness

itself, just as well as she knows and

understands HR

• haveaviewoftheworkforce,which

includes logistics and metrics and

accountabilities

• havearobustunderstandingof

labor markets

• helpthebusinesstoshifttheway

it manages people and defines the

‘workplace’

• createanewdefinitionof

‘work’, one that reflects the new

requirements of our resources

• rethinkwhetherwemoveworkersor

we move work

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eXiT

This ebook is extracted from Talentomics:

9 Ways HR Must Adapt to Find Talent.

DownloaD your free copy toDay.

about Kelly

Kelly Services, Inc. (naSDaQ: Kelya, Kelyb) is a leader in providing workforce solutions. Kelly

offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing

on a temporary, temporary-to-hire, and direct-hire basis. Serving clients around the globe, Kelly

provides employment to 480,000 employees annually. revenue in 2009 was $4.3 billion. For more

information please visit kellyservices.com.

about Kelly outSourcIng anD conSultIng group

Kellyocg is a global leader in innovative talent management solutions in the areas of recruitment

process outsourcing (rpo), business process outsourcing (bpo), Human resources consulting,

career transition and organizational effectiveness consulting, executive Search, and contingent

workforce outsourcing (cwo), which includes Independent contractor Solutions. Further

information about Kellyocg may be found at kellyocg.com.

about tHe autHor

lance JenSen rIcHarDS, gpHr, SpHr is Vice president, global workforce

Solutions of Kellyocg. He has overall accountability for the practice on a

global basis, in addition to providing thought leadership, business planning,

and strategic direction.

http://www.kellyocg.com/Knowledge/White_Papers/Talentomics_-_9_ways_HR_must_adapt_to_find_talent/

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9 reasons why talentomics is changing HR