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by Tom Holden

UK Plc's Got Talent!

Oh yes it has! And we are bombarded with talent programmes on our television to prove it!

But apparently British and American attitudes to the talented are different. The Americans want to share in their fame, whilst the British want to make sure they keep their feet on the ground!

And with that attitude, is it any wonder that UK managers often fail to recognise talent then don't know what to do with it when they find it! Often they let it go or push it out of the door because it is within someone who is old'!

As a country this will hurt us deeply! Starting in 2010 there will be a shortage of 60,000 people reaching working age and by 2020 that number will be 600,000!

If the UK economy grows at a rate of 2%, by 2020 the country will need a further 1.5 million people just to make sure it meets output targets. Even that number would not fill the 1.7 million vacancies expected to be created in the same year.

Less than a third of the FT Share Index's top 100 companies seem to have taken those facts on board!

We can ease the problem by use immigrant labour! But that also means creating an underclass' within the UK! And when conditions improve back home' the migrants are expected to return to their countries of origin.

In 2006, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, almost eight out of ten organisations were struggling to hold on to their staff. It was seven out of ten in 2005!

Only 29% of organisations currently look inwards to find the talent to fill the gaps.

As managers we need to know what talent exists within or organisations, what talent we need to meet future demands and how to fill that gap.

Some tips:
Conduct a skills audit within your own organisation. Get help if you can't do this yourself.
Be creative and ask for all skills not just those that are job-related.
Look ahead as far as you can and identify the skills your organisation will need.
Invest in your staff and train them.

If you think training is a waste of money, ask yourself, "What would be the quality of my service or product, the retention of my staff, the effect on the bottom line of my organisation if I didn't train my workforce to their job properly?"

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