Ten New Realities for Finding, Keeping, and Developing Talent | Mckinsey & Co.

This article shares ten talent realities companies need to face and offers suggestions for how firms can address them. And while the article is written through the lens of ‘tech talent,’ many of the realities are agnostic of role, function, and industry, such as: #3. Think candidate experiences, not recruiting process. This point emphasizes that firms tend to focus on enhancing their recruiting processes mostly by improving efficiencies. And while efficiency is important, it is critical to “think like a recruit” and focus on the candidate experience. #5. You can’t hire or outsource your way out of your talent problems. Although filling talent needs through outsourcing and contingent labor is a vital workforce planning lever, many of a firm’s core capabilities need to remain in house to enable the business to move quickly, so outsourcing can’t be the answer in many cases. To help firms determine the right mix of build, buy, and borrow strategies, Exhibit 1 includes a workforce-priority grid. The grid has two dimensions 1) The degree to which a role disproportionately affects business priorities and capabilities, shown on a continuum from Non-Core to Core roles. 2) Time constraints to fill the role, indicated on a continuum from Flexible to Urgent (<3 months). Although a segment of firms places less emphasis on roles and focuses more on tasks and activities as the basis for workforce planning, firms can use the matrix to identify what roles to build, buy, and partner (e.g., outsource). Other ideas are discussed.