HR Professional - December/January 2008 - (Page 27)

TA L E N T M A NAGE M E N T anada has abundant natural resources, but is also home to one of the most technologically advanced economies in the world. And while Canada’s economy is growing, with the impending exodus of baby boomers starting in 2010, a talent shortage is on the horizon. An obvious solution is to increase immigration quotas for new Canadians. Another is to import the needed labour and management skills from the United States. But an often overlooked option is to recruit more candidates from Europe. BY ANGELICA MIRZA RECRUITING INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES C Europeans have a lot to offer the Canadian marketplace. Looking across the pond Canada has strong historic ties to the European Union. Some of Canada’s most important exports are chemicals, machinery, transport equipment, computer electronics products and mining. To facilitate a better understanding of Canada’s booming energy sector and stimulate growth abroad, the Energy Roundtable was created to provide participants with competitive insight on investment trends in today’s Canadian energy market (www.energyroundtable.org). Besides trade, Europeans have a lot to offer the Canadian marketplace including global business perspectives. “An important value-add Europeans can bring to the Canadian market is their ability to interact and negotiate within a multicultural environment and context. This aptitude strengthens Canadian companies’ ability to expand overseas as well as to function better in Canada’s increasingly multicultural environment,” says David Delﬁni, head of business development, Volareweb/Alitalia. For Europeans, Canada offers an opportunity for advancement they might not get at home. In Italy, for example, it is almost impossible to move up the ranks if you haven’t dedicated at least 20 years to the company. w w w.H RThoughtLeader. c om ‘‘ Global perspective A 2007 study by Blusteps.com polled 933 senior executives worldwide (278 from Europe) and revealed that traditional values about job tenure and loyalty remain well ingrained with executives. The research also highlighted that 76 per cent of European executives cited a lack of career advancement opportunities as the No. 1 motivator to leave a company. The second most important motivator was dissatisfaction with senior management (at 64 per cent) and poor company values were rated third. Interestingly, the feedback from European executives closely mirrored the global response. However, the response that differed most signiﬁcantly was the perceived importance of travel and international relocation when considering a job opportunity. European and North American executives rated this much lower than Asia Paciﬁc executives: while 38 per cent of Asia Paciﬁc executives rated it as extremely important, 31 per cent of Europeans and 54 per cent of North Americans stated it was not important at all. “Americans are used to relocating nationally when considering job opportunities but are not keen, like Europeans, to relocate internationally,” says David Anderson, partner, Deloitte & Touche. At Deloitte in the USA, we would like our executives to have international experience but we ﬁnd it difﬁcult to ﬁnd willing candidates for a multitude of reasons including family, schooling, spousal careers, and a fear of working in another culture. The borders have changed with the crisis of retiring baby boomers and impending talent shortages. Countries are opening their doors. The world is building broader intellectual capacity and perspectives and better preparation for the global market. Europeans can offer Canadian organizations needed experience and a global perspective in a tightening labour market. ’’ Angelica Mirza is an executive search partner with Knightsbridge–Amrop Hever. D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 / J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9 27 http://www.Bluesteps.com http://www.energyroundtable.org http://www.HRThoughtLeader.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Professional - December/January 2008

HR Professional - December/January 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Contributors Leadership Matters Upfront Legal Compensation Human Capital Talent Management The R-Word Speak No Evil On Message Strategy HR 101 Interview with Donna Wilson Off the Shelf The Last Word

HR Professional - December/January 2008

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