Global Markets Mean Talent Markets, Too
I’ve been watching the global business economy and talent markets closely. As you may have been noticing, the need for talent is starting to recover from the recent Great Recession. While not everyone may be feeling the recovery, there is enough recovery to be conspicuous.
During the recession, leaders of most industries across the world have shared an overarching experience – the severely changing business landscape that threw competitive markets into a super-hyper-speed for efficiency and innovation. It was a fight to survive on a global scale. This time, the recession wasn’t a roving economic beast over a rolling time cycle. What was different was that leaders all over the world experienced the survival shake down at nearly the same time.
Global Conditions Have Changed the Talent Market Forever
Of course, world markets have been flattening since the beginning of internet business platforms. Since Y2K, during every boom and recession cycle, we business leaders have been noticing and watching. However, this last one was different and I heard it in personal business conversations, conferences, and in the media. Leader after leader sounded something like this, “The future is here. This is what it means to have a flat world economy,” and no one sounded happy.
They were right. Business and markets were no longer waiting for the world to become “flat”. It was “here”. Yes, the world markets have gone through declining economics together, and together they will prosper again – off to the races so to speak, as one huge market. This is a drastic over simplification, but you get the point. And, I know you’ve been experiencing and learning about the differences of the global recession for a few years.
There’s another difference that you may not have heard much about. This global convergence of change has changed the Talent Market forever.
Why is Talent Management Important in 2014?
The Talent Market is everyone who works for your company, anyone else’s company, and everyone who wants a job or a new job – anywhere in the world. There is now one giant market of people. We’ve been noticing this growing reality over the last 10 to 15 years. However, there has never been a time before where this has been so evident, even more accessible, and most importantly so needed.
In the not so distant past, Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) Leaders would talk about searching for candidates around the globe, “What are the barriers to finding them? Communication? Understand their values and what they want? How would we move them and their families here?” Or, business leaders would talk about moving production to another country, “offshore”. Then, corporate lawyers would research the barriers to enter a different labor market, legal landscape, and economic environment.