Future of Talent

From October 9-11th on Tomales Bay in northern California, I will be hosting, along with Jay Cross, Eileen Clegg, Verna Alee and Christian Dahman, a discussion and brainstorming session on the Future of Talent. These experts, along with about two dozen practitioners from the corporate and academic worlds will engage in a series of conversations around talent. The practitioners represent recruiters, trainers and developers, coaches, and knowledge management experts. They will come from some of America's largest corporations and from other countries such as the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and China.

Why are we doing this?

We believe that talent is the only real asset an organization has and it is the only investment that will actually return significant value. We see changes and deficits in the skills workers have, we see an educational system producing people without the skills organizations need the most, we see an exodus of senior talent and expert knowledge from organizations as Baby Boomers retire, and we see a hunger for personal fulfillment and growth that neither academic institutions nor corporations are easing.

We believe that the U.S. and probabaly most of the Western world, is at a tipping point where there are so few skilled and creative workers that organizations are (or soon will be) suffering great talent shortages that lead to lost market share, lower profits and stock value. Recent books such as Tom Malone's "The Future of Work" and Richard Florida's "The Flight of the Creative Class" all underline and reinforce these beliefs.

The Future of Talent Think Tank will be an exploration -- an intellectual journey to discover how true these thoughts are and what can be done to reverse the direction we seem to be heading. The long term purpose is to begin dealing with these changes in a positive way. It is to start crafting purposeful actions to overcome, compensate for or change these trends.

The tangible result of this first session will be a set of findings that will form the core of a website devoted to discussion about these issues. Sponsors will be able to contribute to an ongoing forum and attend sessions each year that will contine the exploration and continue to find ways to develop and keep the talent we need.

If you have an interest in these issues, consider applying to attend. We are limiting the number of attendees to just 24 -- two dozen pioneers who are willing to act as catalysts for the discussions and, hopefully, experimenters with any suggested solutions. We have a few spots open and if you would like to come or learn more, please go to the Future of Talent web site (www.futureoftalent.com) for details.