War for talent: Difference between revisions

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Definition

The war for talent is a term coined by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company in 1997, and a book by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod, Harvard Business Press, 2001 ISBN 1578514592, ISBN 9781578514595. The war for talent refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees. In the book, Michaels, et al, describe not a set of superior Human Resources processes, but a mindset that emphasizes the importance of talent to the success of organizations.

Demographics

The war for talent is intensified by demographic shifts (primarily in the United States and Europe). This is characterized by increasing demand along with decreasing supply (demographically). There are simply fewer post-baby-boom workers to replace the baby-boom retirement in the US and Europe (though this is not the case in most of East Asia, Southeast Asia. Central Asia Central America, South America, or the Middle East, though Eastern Europe tends to have similar demographics, namely an aging and/or shrinking labor force.

Knowledge Work

While talent is vague or ill-defined, the underlying assumption is that for knowledge-intensive industries, the knowledge worker (a term coined by Peter Drucker) is the key competitive resource (see the Resource-based view of the firm). Knowledge-based theories of organizations consistently place knowledge workers as a primary, competitive resource.

Definition of Talent

Relevance during Economic Downturn

The 'War for talent is seen by various sources as becoming irrelevant during economic downturns. However, there have been highly visible talent poaching by solvent firms of others who have economic hardship (e.g., JP Morgan was raided by a European firm in March, 2009).

References

External links

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 == Definition ==
-'''The war for talent''' is a term coined by [[Steven Hankin]] of [[McKinsey & Company]] in 1997, and [http://books.google.com/books?id=simZCd_YUC4C a book] by [[Ed Michaels]], [[Helen Handfield-Jones]], and [[Beth Axelrod]], [[Harvard Business Press]], 2001 ISBN 1578514592, ISBN 9781578514595. '''The war for talent''' refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for [[recruiting]] and retaining talented [[employees]]. In the book, Michaels, et al, describe not a set of superior [[Human Resources]] [[process|processes]], but a ''[[mindset]]'' that emphasizes the importance of ''[[talent]]'' to the success of [[organizations]].
+'''The war for talent''' is a term coined by [[Steven Hankin]] of [[McKinsey & Company]] in 1997, and [http://books.google.com/books?id=simZCd_YUC4C a book] by [[Ed Michaels]], [[Helen Handfield-Jones]], and [[Beth Axelrod]], [[Harvard Business Press]], 2001 ISBN 1578514592, ISBN 9781578514595. '''The war for talent''' refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for [[recruiting]] and retaining talented [[employees]]. In the book, Michaels, et al, describe not a set of superior [[Human Resources]] [[Business process|processes]], but a ''[[mindset]]'' that emphasizes the importance of ''[[talent]]'' to the success of [[organizations]].
 == Demographics ==