McKenzie declared the “War for Talent” in 1997 and the mindset around talent have not changed much ever since. Based on an assumption that few, specific critical roles in organisation has a huge disproportional contribution to the overall result of an organisation, Talent Management has been reduced to a race for and heavy investments in the few highly skilled and “High Potential” individuals who can take up these positions.

While it’s still critical to have roboust succession planning for the most senior roles, it is clear that a narrow focus on few individuals is not reflecting how people in general create value and we’ll need to rethink how we invest more broadly in talent development and in creating an environment where diverse talent thrives.

Further, we see strong trends and significant changes in how future talent will connect with organisations and work-life in general. No doubt that we will face stronger requests for ongoing feedback and development, and future talent will ask for room to explore alternative career routes. And don’t be mistaken, if we don’t manage to inspire, it will be followed by a firm decisions to exit and seek a meaningful career in a different organisation.

Together with a lot of other chaning aspects of future work, primarily driven by technology and internationalisation, we need to rethink our talent approaches for the future. This will involve new views on how talent look and where to find it, and I offer a structured approach to how you align with your business environment and strategy.