The Global Talent Crisis That Will Impact Every-Single-One-Of-Us

We have a massive global crisis on our hands around work and livelihood.

The numbers speak for themselves.

• 48% of Americans view themselves as underemployed. In other words, they are living from paycheck to paycheck. It is impossible for people to have self-esteem if they are not having a direct experience of productivity. Essentially, this number indicates that half of today’s workers are not keeping up with change.
• Only 13% of the world’s workers fit the criteria of being engaged. That means that 87% are not fully awake at the wheel. Billions of profit are lost to these figures every single day.
• Today’s college graduates will change careers, not jobs, four to six times.

The exponential growth of knowledge is transmuting our previous world into one that requires an awakening within all workers. Employers that aspire to play any type of economic leadership will recognize that everyone is responsible for the retooling of tomorrow’s worker. Inaction and a one-dimensional fixation on short-term gains will rapidly grow the problem. The problem is bigger than simply making profits. Without a mindful intervention, obsolescence eventually becomes everyone’s problem.

Right now, the government is distracted by turf protection with little hope it will effectively lead an awakening with the necessary scope. On the other hand, employers have a vested interest in developing awakened talent to stay competitive or perhaps, even in business. Right now, arguments can be made that employers are doing more to positively change the world than any government. We see many glimmers of hope but the wave of change around us requires that we inspire more leaders to awaken as well as everyone around them. For those of us who are aware of the problem, a case can be made that we are even more responsible for helping others along.

In The Workplace Engagement Solution (Career Press), I propose that building engaged workers is our future. When employers develop engaged workers, not only are they creating the most productive environments on earth, they are also solving the malaise of underemployment. You see, our problem isn’t economic. Our problem is one of consciousness, wakefulness, enthusiasm, and above all, growth. The current state of disengagement isn’t just a business problem because it infects every aspect of our culture.

Through the success of our programs, I have reached the conclusion that we cannot have engagement unless we teach people how to change. In fact, learning and the development of talent are becoming two of the most important facets for a bright future. Talent executives play a critical and courageous role in this venture. Give them more latitude than developing a few executives or teaching a few technical courses. The truth is most organizations need a fully reinvented workforce to make use of the changes coming towards us.

The skills to change one self, to pivot on a dime, to stay ahead of the game, are all learnable. Employers have a growing need to build the very workers that understand how to do this. That light at the end of the tunnel is a bright wave that will wash the past away. The swell is actually filled with opportunity. But, to make use of these opportunities, we need to help anyone that works to develop the skill and gifts that drive effective reinvention. We need to help everyone who works to shift from the notion that security is satisfied through that old quest for predictability and survival. The new game to derive our security from our capacity to learn and change. For those of us who get this, great fulfillment can be derived by mentoring others.

If we do not take care of our workers today, who will take care of them tomorrow?

If we help all workers learn how to change and engage what kind of outcome can we expect our organization, our economy, and the community around us?

Brought to you by David Harder – Founder & President, Inspired Work, Inc.

(C) Copyright, 2017, David Harder – (All Rights Reserved)

Buy a copy of David’s new book The Workplace Engagement Solution here.