Implications for Employers
Staying Competitive
We are at the earliest stages of a significant workplace transformation that will profoundly affect how businesses approach people management and how individuals approach the workplace.
The big question employers are thinking about is: Will companies face greater challenges as they compete for talent on a global basis?
In mature economies there are few signs this will be a widespread issue in the short term. In fact, Towers Watson tells us that the next “war for talent” is likely to be waged inside organizational walls. The picture is quite different in the emerging economies – competition for talent in the external market is already heating up.
More Key Findings
- People need security in good times as well as tough times.
- The challenge for employers not is to find creative ways to help people build their own sense of security.
- In a world made smaller by technology and a more homogeneous global consumer marketplace, we’re not seeing a corresponding homogeneity across workforce attitudes and behaviors.
- Employers’ need to be better understood workforce differences and create a more customized work experience to fully draw out people’s discretionary effort and performance potential.
The basic emotional connection people need to form their jobs may be harder to sustain in the virtual environment, but they are all more important given the instability prevalent in the rest of the work environment today.
Equipping employees with the capabilities and tools to secure their own futures will not only help retain and engage, but also eliminate the kind of personal stress that can affect productivity.
The full study is available on the Towers Watson site.
