Future trends you can count on include:
• Mature age workers are the fastest growing workplace segment;
• Greater participation of women in the workforce;
• More ethnic diversity, particularly among younger workers;
• Shortage of workers and skills;
• Shortage of educated workers;
• Increased demand for training and development;
• More dispersed workforce due to telework etc.;
• Work-life balance conflict
Every organisation that expects to grow and prosper must make talent retention a top priority.
An Accenture Workforce Study of 250 executives in 2007 found that while 45% of them rated the retention of skilled staff a very important issue for their attention only 17% felt they addressed it very well. On the subject of finding and developing talented leaders 37% rated the issue as very important but only 16% felt they addressed it very well.
Spending money on equipment is treated, by many organisations, as a productive investment whereas spending money on training is seen as a cost. Learning and development should always been seen as an investment.
