The "War" for Talent

There are many views that center on the best strategy to win the so-called “war” for talent. A more succinct outlook comes from Seth Godin’s recent blog entitled “The truth on the war for talent,”: It’s about attitude.

"An organization filled with honest, motivated, connected, eager, learning, experimenting, ethical and driven people will always defeat the one that merely has talent. Every time.

The best news is that attitude is a choice, and it's available to all. You can probably win the war for attitude with the people you've already got [emphasis mine]. And if you're looking for a gig, you'll discover that honing and sharing your attitude goes a lot farther than practicing the violin all day.”

- Seth Godin "The truth on the war for talent"

I believe the war for talent is misguided and lures organizations into an ailment I call the "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome. Essentially organizations do not try to understand WHY other organizations are successful, they focus more on WHAT was generated, especially from the talent they seek. Their focus is on short-term financial results, which—in economic parlance—are lagging indicators of performance. 

As our economy transitions from a service economy to a knowledge economy, more pressure will be applied to organizations to find brain power, rather than brawn, to solve problems. Having kicked boxes and licked labels, driven trains, passenger buses, and tractor trailers, I can attest that the brain power already exists in every organization. It needs to be cultivated, not sought after elsewhere.

I believe one way forward for organizations is to create a What's In It For We (WIIFWe) mindset, essential in showing how working together will create more value. Then share that value. This is the attitude that our supply chains need, especially as relationships become more important in how we do business successfully for the long term.

But the talent already exists… instill the right attitudes that come from trust and WIIFWe, and use them!

 

Image: talent by wwwmarcello23 via Flickr CC