In Part 1 of this essay, I challenged SuccessFactors, based on their white paper, “Talent Management 2017,” to go even farther to take into account a “worker’s market” where individuals will take increasingly more responsibility for managing their own talent.
Although the changing model represents challenges and opportunities for talent managers (and the makers of Talent Management software, such as the authors of this white paper), more importantly it represents an exciting outlook for the project workforce. I believe the advantages of the developing “Hollywood Model” far outweigh the disadvantages. While the knowledge and expertise of the old-fashioned workforce is being dispersed as project teams form and disband, the levels of knowledge and expertise among these workers are increasing, because workers will not be stagnant. In Workforce 2.0, workers are likely to be more excited and engaged in their projects. They don’t get bored as easily, and, because they must take responsibility for their own talent management in the long run, they don’t let themselves become “legacy employees” or get into a rut.
The Workforce 2.0 model will also keep businesses sharp, and responsive to their markets and customers. I disagree with the statement in this white paper that “Talent management will drive the business strategy [by 2017].” Companies cannot afford to set course based on the skills on their rosters—in fact, when they seek the same business again and again, it indicates that they are seeking business to keep employees “busy,” to “cover payroll” instead of building business value, and their collective skill set has probably become inert.
Agile companies allow market demand (instead of their current talent pool) to drive business strategy. Then, they manage their project portfolios to meet this demand, and manage their resources and talent to deliver the projects in their portfolio. They bring in new skills to meet demand—either by developing them internally or attracting them from the global talent pool. Talent Management plays an important role in identifying and attracting right-skilled people to the organization, and by supporting the project workforce managers who require and deploy the talent.
Companies in the flat world of Workforce 2.0 will be more creative in the types of work they seek, and keep their workers engaged through their agility. In this way, they will not only serve their customers better, but they will keep more knowledge and expertise in-house because of the variety and the challenge of their projects.
