 Make good sense of a fickle economy: select the right peoplePublished Date: 2008-12-02 04:14:47 WorkOnInternet.com
When a business recognizes that a revolution is under way, its responses are often feeble, held back by fears of leaving the comfort of the old model, especially if it had been successful. Organizations in the past were designed for the industrial age and strategies were developed accordingly. Today organizations need to mobilize the mind power of the workforce and tap into under-utilized talents, knowledge, relationships and skills. Businesses have unprecedented opportunities to blend the best of the old with the innovation of the new. A golden opportunity exists during this tumultuous business environment to create a durable competitive advantage and generate high returns going forward. To convert these opportunities into a competitive advantage, management first needs to understand that an essential asset - talent at every level of the organization - required to execute their plans is in short supply and will only get increasingly worse over the next 10 years. Any meaningful change will therefore involve understanding how game-changing workforce trends will change the way business traditionally has recruited, selected and retained employees. But talent is only the means to the end. First and foremost in taking advantage of the golden opportunity is the design of a business strategy that creates a durable competitive advantage and generate high returns. This requires management to grasp the gravity and complexity of the situation and then to identify and plan for innovative strategies that positively disrupts the status quo within their organization and changes the rules in their favor in the marketplace. Workforce trends are complicating an organization's ability to come up with a winning strategy and then to execute it expeditiously and effectively. An article published in The McKinsey Quarterly (2007 Number 2) summed it up best: "Strategic-minded executives may not be able to control the weather, but they can design a ship and equip it with a crew that can navigate the ocean under all weather conditions." Executives who select the right people will win the race regardless of the conditions. From this point forward, an organization's success will only be as good as management's ability to decode the rising tide of complexity and its workforce?s ability to execute the plan. ------------------------------ As president of Success Performance Solutions(http://www.super-solutions.com), Ira S Wolfe has led his workforce consulting firm to national prominence, helping organizations find and hire the right employees and identify high-potential leaders. He is an expert on hiring, workforce trends, managing the generations, and the author of several books including Perfect Labor Storm 2.0: Workforce Trends That Will Change The Way You Do Business.
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