Much is currently being written by journalists, business leaders, academics, and management consultants on the increasingly complex and diverse world of talent. We are being warned of the ‘Great Resignation’, that the “global jobs market recovery has ‘gone into reverse’ ”, and are being asked “are employers heading for a talent shortage perfect storm?”. But what are the causes of these issues and how can organisations respond to the changing face of talent management?

In a recent 2022 CEO Deloitte survey, chief executives reported optimism about growth amidst uncertainty marked by talent supply chain disruptions and the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Talent remains a top concern for CEOs, with 71% of CEOs citing global labour/skills shortage as their top external challenge to their business strategy. From a global talent perspective, there are generally five key forces creating a perfect storm for change and the race for talent:

• Changes in the workforce

• The digital age

• The shifting geopolitical climate

• The rise of (domestic and international) remote working and increasingly dispersed talent

• Evolving employee expectations
  

To counteract these forces, many organisations are now taking a more global view of talent and, as a result, are unearthing many potential opportunities for both their business and their employees. Some of these opportunities include:

• Increasing the talent pool available to an organisation.
• Enabling the career aspirations of existing employees through a greater number of opportunities.
• Increasing an organisation’s ability to deploy key skills to where they are needed most within the organisation

To help businesses take advantage of these potential opportunities, we are proposing a new model for global workforce management which will allow organisations to respond to the changing forces influencing the world of talent. Through a proactive consideration of the broader business strategy, the Global Workforce Model cuts across traditional functional silos to minimise handoffs and offer clear mobility types available on a self-service basis. Return on investment is transparent and constant iteration ensures repeated value is delivered to the wider organisation.