Friday, February 18, 2000

Some notes from the "2000 Organization of the Future Conference" ~ by Mary Dawne Arden


Road-show coach and multitalented Mary Dawne Arden attendeed the "2000 Organization of the Future Conference" held February 17 & 18th at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel. Organized by  The Conference Board and the Peter Drucker Foundation for Non-profit Management and sponsored by McKinsey and Company, there was some solid information discovered. Below, a sampling of the highlights:

* McKinsey has done a comprehensive study on THE WAR FOR TALENT
*Company value is dependent on the overall level of talent.
* The supply of future executives is about to decline!
* The supply/demand gap for technical talent is huge!
* There will be a 2 million-worker shortage by the year 2003

Here is the breakdown of the shortage today and the projected shortage by the year 2003:
* The shortage today of Computer engineers, programmers, analysts, database administrators, and all the other computer scientists is 234,000. By 2003, there is a projected shortage of 440,000.
* IT sales personnel managers and marketing personnel shortage today is 375,000. By 2003, there is a projected shortage of 1,740,000.
* Customer support representative’s facilities analysts, telecommunications specialists, project consultants, quality assurance personnel, graphic artists, and others: Shortage today is 640,000 by 2003 it will be 1,960,000

* Guess what? The small young companies are grabbing the greater share of talent.
* So top Management has to get involved in the recruiting process -- they can not leave it to HR. Management needs to mentor and coach as well as recruit. Companies must insist high performing line managers lead the process.
* And of course, it is essential that appreciation grow for talent gems in the organization. If not they will leave…pronto.
* We could've guessed but of the employees polled: 67% said they were looking for new opportunities and 80% said they could leave their current job easily and immediately find a new one!