I attended my first conference today as a member of the HR Management Assoc of Chicago, and I already look forward to the next one.
Common themes that came up from the panelists and my tablemates included:
- The talent shortage is here, but it’s lumpy: some areas continue to attract more talent than they can process (such as the FBI–with a special thank you to Jack Bauer), while others struggle with dwindling numbers and a withering pipeline. Especially hard hit seem to more of the sciences (this jibes with what I heard from the previous head of HR at Lockheed Martin several years ago), as there simply aren’t enough students pursuing degrees that qualify them to become certified as technicians, engineers, etc. Compounding this issue is an immigration policy that simply does not work.
- Retention continues to be a huge issue: Gen Y will not tolerate 10 years of training for a shot at a promotion, maybe. They want to make a contribution today. Companies that can provide them with the tools and structure to do this will have nothing to fear. Companies that try to mask old-school methods in today’s jargon should watch out: we’re on to you. On a related note, Rich Stoddard of Leo Burnett talked about breaking corporate structure down into small groups of connected specialists as one way to achieve this goal.
- Brand matters: what people say about your company in the market (ie, reputation effects) has a big impact on recruiting and retention.
- Gen X continues to be lost–the panelists actually had to stop and think about how they were handling this generation as opposed to Boomers and Ys. However, there does seem to be some stress hitting Xers as they enter what should be their prime, as they’re finding themselves either unprepared or still locked out by the Boomers, who will… not… go… away.
- Non-linear career paths mean that HR needs to use non-linear methods for filling the leadership pipeline. To me, this means a push toward the type of structured and behavioral interviews that I do, since recruiters will need to create a stable platform for comparing candidates’ future abilities despite widely varying backgrounds.
- Other topics that came up included increased voluteerism at all levels, flexible corporate structures and the communication- and technology challenges that creates, the need for more and more training–both technical and leadership–economic pressure on service prices (and therefore salaries), the need for immigration reform, and the increased level of project-based, collaborative work.
