Summary: I am continuing my interview with Thomas Becker of ManPowerGroup. Tom and I further expand our discussion on talent management and how leaders can manage their current and future talent needs. Thomas Becker is the Vice President of Recruiting for Manpower Group and is responsible for developing the strategy and overall operational framework for all North American billable resource recruitment activities, with a focus on creating a sustainable world-class recruiting organization across all of ManpowerGroup’s Lines of business. Examples of these responsibilities include: · The creation of innovative recruiting/sourcing delivery models and a strong center of excellence · The development of recruiting process frameworks and standards · The creation and deployment of an integrated recruiting technology strategy · Serving as the designated thought leader for billable resource recruitment · Collaborating with recruiting leaders in the business and functional leaders to drive results A summary of the continued interview is below: Is the fear of being displaced by cloud services a reasonable fear? We are seeing a trend, but a great developer, project manager, tester, etc. if they are really good and savvy they are able to move from one area of the business to another. You need to be confident in yourself to know you can leave full-time employment and consult to take up a new skill. You almost have to constantly refresh, if you don’t you get caught behind very quickly. What if our boss challenges you on our development activities? That would be almost like debating with your boss some years ago about the value of email. I think the talent mindset is about the business benefit to the employer. So I would suggest making the practical application of the work you are doing to the business you are in. It sounds like the career path is no longer linear? We are seeing a lot of that. The truly exceptional people did not take a linear path. For example if you are a project manager and you want to become a program manager why don’t you go into Finance or Human Resources for a time? Rotating people through multiple jobs isn’t something new, but you as an individual need to see the value in it. Many business leaders cannot accomplish their goals without technology? When you think about the leading companies in their space, for example the best travel companies are they really a travel company or a technology company? If you look at any of the best of breed companies, ask yourself, “are they over investing in technology” and the answer usually is yes. Kayak’s founder Paul English says that if he hears of a great engineer he focuses on hiring the individual in seven days. Google does something similar; they hire for talent first and find the job second. The companies that get the talent mindset are winning in the marketplace. Access to capital used to be the driver of business success, we believe it is moving to access to talent. Do you have the right talent for your organization at all levels? Where do we start if we want to shift our organizations to thinking about talent? Start first with alignment to the business strategy then infuse talent into the conversation all the time. Align your workforce planning model to your strategy; ask, “What are we doing to attract, engage, inspire, and then rehire top talent?” Do your organization’s investments align to your talent and how are you measuring it. How do you see this talent displacement evolving? I don’t want to be an alarmist. It is more like a death by a thousand cuts. Look at the economy, we have a jobless recovery. Companies are looking to reinvest internally. Yet those who are leading in their sectors are focusing on talent. We do have time but it is about challenging ourselves at every level. Ask this question, “when the economy slows down do you see it as an opportunity to go get talent or are you focusing on reducing your headcount?”
