Tammy Erickson on the dilemmas and problems managers and companies must contend with
by Tammy Erickson
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Posted on Across the Ages: June 19, 2008 11:12 PM
I had the pleasure last week of moderating a panel of senior talent development officers representing three very different industries and diverse geographies: Deb Wheelock of Mercer (a high-end professional services firm, recruiting highly educated knowledge workers), Pamela Stroko of The Gap (a retailer faced with the classic industry challenges of creating a differentiating employee proposition and enhancing retention of its large workforce), and Sujaya Banerjee of the Essar Group (a diversified India-based enterprise participating in a variety of industrial sectors, including steel, energy, and communications).
Interestingly, even with this diversity of perspectives, we found our views on today's top talent challenges to be surprisingly aligned. I thought you might like to see our list—and would love to hear your thoughts on things you're wrestling with that we missed.
Here goes:
1. Attracting and retaining enough employees at all levels to meet the needs of organic and inorganic growth. All three companies are facing a talent crunch. Essar, for example, has grown from 20 thousand employees to a staggering 60 thousand in the past 3 years. Fifty-five percent of their employees have less than two years of tenure.
2. Creating a value proposition that appeals to multiple generations. With four generations in today's workplace, most