Talent has a positive and quantifiable connection to a company’s financial performance. In today’s economy, unemployment has hit an all-time high in many markets and organisations finding it difficult to recruit employees as the talent they need is in short supply.  This disparity between what companies expect from their workforce and the skills that are available in the market place is known as the talent expectations gap. This gap stems from the fact that most global organisations operate under outdated talent management models developed in 1980s and 1990s which have become obsolete due to changing market realities.
Ernst & Young, in its report “Paradigm shift”, Building a new talent model to boost growth, has stated that in order to close the talent expectation gap, companies need to change and flatten traditional organizational structures and allow for a vast diversity of culture, ages, backgrounds and geographical location and adopt new and more inclusive leadership styles. It enumerates 5 challenges that will force companies to rethink their talent management strategies:

1. Corporate workforces are becoming more global, but talent management is not keeping pace.
2. Companies struggle to invest strategically in talent management.
3. Measuring the effectiveness of talent management remains a challenge.
4. The skills and competencies required by future business leaders are changing.
5. Companies lack robust succession plans to identify the next generation of leaders.

So how do we overcome these challenges and bridge the expectations gap? Read the next blog “Talent Management: Bridging the gap” to find out!