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.