As published in the Winnipeg Sun. Most Canadian born adults have heard the old fable of Chicken Little. It’s the historic story about a chicken who believes the sky is falling and becomes quite hysterical, believing that disaster is close at hand. Whereas the folk tale has been passed down the generations by word of mouth, it’s only natural that multiple versions have resulted. Some versions give the moral message of the importance of personal courage when confronting challenge while others suggest that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions and believe everything they are told.

This story appears to apply to the current situation regarding the lack of employee talent in our workplaces. We are all being told that the lack of skilled workers is no longer simply a local issue, it is now a full blown global crisis. Baby boomers in many countries will soon be slowing down if not retiring outright. There are less young people to fill the gaps. Not only that, young people may have technical skills but they lack the experience and expertise needed in our knowledge driven corporations.

Yet study after study is suggesting that while there is awareness of the issue, there is no action and no progress to resolving the problem. Why not? Are organizational leaders turning a blind eye or are they simply hoping to survive through raw courage? Or, are they hearing “the sky is falling” but refuse to believe what they are told?

An unbelievable number of organizational leaders admitted in a recent survey that in spite of the fact it was recognized that corporate performance will suffer in the near future, nothing was being done. Not only that, several survey participants admitted that even their current staffing represented the wrong person in the wrong job in a number of cases!

At the same time, leadership in today’s organizations is very dynamic and requires different leadership skills at different times. On one hand, our companies face fast growth, mergers, acquisitions yet in the turn of a dime, the world changes and executives who are experienced in a downturm are in high demand. This dynamism requires a very strategic approach to talent management and leadership development.

Whereas only 3% of executives are confident they are doing a good job in the area of talent management and indeed rated their overall efforts as fair to poor, it is obvious that steps need to be taken to address this challenge. The following guidelines will assist companies to begin addressing the problem of how to manage talent:

1. Identify 5 year future leadership qualities – start with the end in mind. Identify the quality and quantity of the talent needed to drive success. Some of these skills include the ability to develop and implement an effective vision and strategy. This requires the ability to constantly assess the trends and issues facing their organization and develop plans for overcoming obstacles and taking advantage of opportunities. Next, they need to be able to facilitate and manage change, make tough decisions and to motivate a team in a variety of circumstances.

2. Make talent management a core business strategy – there is no point focusing on new products or services when you can’t deliver due to lack of skilled employees. Ensure your CEO and executive team focus on talent management as a core business strategy. Ensure the strategy is integrated and is sustainable throughout your company, particularly if there are multiple locations.

3. Accurately diagnose current leadership potential – there are plenty of online assessment tools which would assist companies to identify the strengths and areas for development amongst their current staff. These assessments allow for the identification of key skills and the comparison of individuals against this set of competencies.

4. Build a dynamic executive team – use a strategy of a mixed internal/external recruitment to build a strong and dynamic team. Aggressively recruit professionals with the required traits. Look for candidates who can take your company to the next stage of development.

5. Develop internal talent - match the external recruitment strategy with an internal employee development strategy. Implement an intensive leadership training program that is concrete, practical and is delivered over a six month timeframe.

6. Engage your human resource professional – the success of your HR department depends on how much they are involved in strategic decisions. These individuals should be at the executive table, assisting leaders in their decision making rather than being brought in after the fact.

The lack of progress in talent management is quite alarming. Our companies need to wake up to the fact that a “chicken little” approach, either the application of courage or ignoring the threat will not work. Yet at the same time, these same companies and organizations have the tools and resources, and there are well known and standard human resource processes available. In addition, external executive search consulting resources are very knowledgeable in sourcing qualified candidates and are eager to help. Finally, highly qualified training professionals can assist to create internal leadership development programs that will build sustainable internal resources.

The sky is falling and it is not a dream. If companies don’t do something with their talent management in the near future, their dreams will quickly turn into nightmares.

Source: Growing Global Executive Talent: High Priority, Limited Progress. Research and review by Paul Provost, 6P Marketing.