The Leader - September 2007 - (Page 14) closIN G th e ta le Nt G ap : co mp aNI e s aNd co mmuNI tI e s te am up Collaborative Strategic Management – the complete integration and coordination of human resources, facilities and real estate management, and information technology. And on the supply side, local communities are facing their own version of the talent gap. The old economic development equation that focused on incentivizing new businesses to locate in the region isn’t enough anymore. The simple fact is that in our information-based, talent-driven economy local communities have to make themselves attractive to talent first and foremost. It’s a bit of “If you build it they will come” – meaning that if your community is attractive to talented folks, they’ll come, settle down, raise their kids, bring their work with them, and drive local economic growth just by being there (they’ll “import” revenue by exporting their work, and then spend their income locally). That means that to survive the next decade every organization – public and private, large and small – needs a strategic human resource strategy that includes four key components: n An attraction/retention program to ensure that you can find, hire, and retain the talent you need n A work force development program to grow some of talent you need in-house (and to keep the talent you’ve got from going elsewhere) n A location strategy component that tracks where the talent you need to attract is choosing to live n A flexible/remote/mobile/distributed work program that enables you to employ talented people no matter where they want to live the ecoNomIc developmeNt sIde of the equatIoN assessment of the quality of life in your community today, match up your own attributes with the kinds of things that knowledge workers value and expect, and then work on fixing your shortcomings. what attracts knowledge workers to a community? Our strong belief is that first and foremost knowledge workers value self-control and autonomy. And they view their careers and their personal life as something they want to plan and take care of on their own. Having the opportunity to choose among alternatives is thus a key component of what knowledge workers are looking for. But self-control and choice by themselves are not enough; knowledge workers also want to be part of strong communities that meet their other personal interests and needs. The short answer to the question of attraction is community. Although the physical attributes (weather, recreational opportunities, cleanliness, livability) of a region are important, the equation is far more complicated than that. It is, frankly, about the psychology of the region. We are convinced that you can have all the roads, schools, airports, business services, Internet access, and hospitals you want, but if you don’t have a meaningful sense of community you won’t see much in-migration. It’s not that roads, schools, airports, business services, Internet access, and hospitals are unimportant or trivial. Indeed, without those basics no region will be able to thrive in today’s global economy. Our contention is that those resources are just the price of entry. The more important question is what it takes for a region to And if you represent a local community or economic development agency, we recommend that you do a careful FI G. 1 uNIted states labor d ema Nd aNd supply (IN mIllIoNs) 250 200 150 100 50 0 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 labor needed labor available source: employment policy foundation and bls data th e le ade r 14 september / october 2007
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