Will the 2020’s be the era of “talent transformation”?

To explain what we mean by this we’ll take a quick step back in history.

Digital Transformation

The 2010’s was dominated by the buzz of “digital transformation”. You couldn’t find a large enterprise company in the world that wasn’t going through a “move to the cloud” or had multiple large digital transformation projects on the go. IT Consultancies grew rapidly and were embedded within these companies, driving transformation from the inside.

Automation and Technology now underpin everything we do and will continue to dominate for generations to come. However, is it still a “transformation” or is it now “normal”?

The technology being created today is transformational and cool as hell, but are we still in the “digital transformation era”?… maybe… maybe not.

Talent Transformation

At Bond, we think the next big transformational era could be “Talent & People Transformation.” We believe the 2020’s will be dominated by radical change around talent and people strategy… which is super cool!!! Looking back in history most transformational era’s haven’t ever actually been about people….

They have been about Engineering (the first Steam Train), Manufacturing Process (Henry Ford), Science (modern medicine), Technology (the internet). They have never been centred around arguably the most important asset of all… people.

Two concepts driving a possible “Talent Transformation” era are broken down below (on top of the obvious remote trends that have driven huge change in people operations):

1) The demanding employee

Employees are now incredibly demanding. Rightly so, employees want a voice and they are more than happy to use it. They expect and demand near perfection from the companies they choose to work for…

Fair & competitive remuneration, constant training & development, a clear purpose, DEI, Environmental policies, modern management, freedom, flexibility, accountability… the list can literally go on forever.

This is a great thing and should be encouraged and embraced!

However, you need a Talent and People function that can keep up, rise to the challenge and create world-class working environments. It can be relentless and move at an incredible pace… Blink and you’re out of date again, behind the curve and the “demanding employee” will be sure to let you know.

The companies that can’t rise to that challenge or choose not to listen to their employees will probably find the 2020’s very painful.

2) The educated candidate

Candidates these days are a lot more educated on what a good employer looks like and seem to be able to see through the smoke and mirrors:

Grew by 200% last year?… Great, but what’s your work-life balance like and how are you protecting people’s mental health?

You have the best tech stack… Great, but where does DEI sit on your agenda and what substance do you have behind your DEI policies?

The pension looks fine… but what I would love to know is what’s your position on Carbon Policy and environmental suitability? Are you certified and is there substance behind your “green initiatives” or is this just “green washing”?

Flexible working policy… what I really want to know is can I work from anywhere? At anytime? And take as much holiday as I need?

Candidates will now be asking these questions. If they’re not asking them directly this is what they’re assessing in their heads when they are engaging with a company.

In Summary

Basic Talent & People strategy just isn’t going to cut it anymore, and if you want to hire the best talent you better have some pretty good answers with substantial credibility behind them to some of the questions above. Your value proposition needs to be perfect these days!  (Perfect is impossible but we all need to keep striving for it)

Talent & People functions have often been the most undervalued, underinvested, and underdeveloped functions in most businesses…

However, if there’s a “talent transformation” on the horizon, every business will be turning to us for answers, solutions, and vision. This is exciting and puts Talent at the top table.

The “Talent Transformation” journey is only 5% complete and at Bond, we’re excited to help deliver the other 95%, side by side with our clients. Read more – our embedded consultancy model