'Talented people need organisations less than organisations need talented people'
18-12-06
So says Daniel Pink in Free Agent Nation. This and other developments in the 'War for Talent' were highlighted in The Economist's survey of talent (October 2006), which demonstrates that the battle is heating up and spreading to new fronts as more and more organisations recognise the bottom-line significance of the people they hire.
Given that everything else has gone global it can't really be surprising to learn that the search for talent is also now a global pursuit. And when you learn that the cost of hiring an Indian graduate is roughly 12% of that of an American one, it's not hard to understand why so many companies have turned their attention to India. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Management (IIMs), which turn out high-calibre graduates with excellent English, have entertained some enlightened recruiters for years. Now everyone is trying to get in on the action.
When we visited IIT Bombay (Mumbai) and IIM Bangalore in 2006 to conduct research with final and penultimate year students we found a recruitment environment where different rules apply. Companies that are gold-star employers in Europe and the US are accorded scant respect by the all-powerful placement offices if they have a poor or short recruiting track record on campus. Likewise, companies that are seen only to be recruiting for 'back office' roles may be penalised when it comes to the allocation of presentation slots.
It's always competitive for top talent but it seems that even in India, the supply of quality graduates is under pressure like never before - so much so that many India-based companies are themselves facing a talent shortfall.
The issue of finding and keeping the right people has, at last, made its way out of the HR department and into the boardroom. The prospects are for an escalation of the 'war for talent' - could it even go nuclear? It's almost enough to make you wish you were back at university, working hard for your degree and eschewing the delights of the college bar for another hour on your thesis 'We're all knowledge workers now.'