Winning the Talent Wars
Attracting and retaining a new generation of talented staff

Overview

There is a lot of talk about "talent" in the workplace these days. But really, most companies don't want talented people. What they actually want is consistent, high performing staff. In the past, companies could get what they wanted by offering security and a benchmarked remuneration package. Today though, research shows that a good salary accounts for less than 25% of the motivation for employees. And, to make matters worse, security is not on offer. It's no wonder, then, that most companies - across every industry, and around the world - are battling to attract and retain staff. They're in a war for talent.

The problem is, you cannot win this war. In the same way that physical wars are won by those who recognise the need for new mindsets and strategies, so too the war for talent cannot be fought by simply updating old approaches. The rules of engagement have changed so much that no matter what you do, the war for talent is already lost. The key to the future for your organisation is to face this reality and change your mindsets, leading to new strategies, attitudes and behaviour.

This presentation or workshop focuses on seven critical aspects of corporate culture that must be addressed for an organisation to have a competitive edge in attracting, retaining, inspiring, leading and getting the best out of the next generation of young employees, and it deals with what it means to help these young people be both consistently high performing and innovatively talented. These seven issues are a roadmap for analysing your current culture, and choosing your future.

Most companies know that they need to change some of their policies and systems in order to be more effective, efficient and attractive in the future. But almost none of them know what to change (and what to leave untouched). They don't know where to start, nor do they know what will work. Based on a synthesis of some of the latest research and insights into the future of the world of work, this presentation or workshop provides some clues, case studies and creative ideas to begin the process of changing the workplace forever. The outcome will be a more focused, engaged and productive workforce, and a company with an enhanced employer brand able to attract the best and brightest young talent.

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Take Home Value

The presentation provides a framework for understanding the new generation talented employees and customers. Beyond mere understanding, though, participants will be given many practical applications, and many examples and case studies of companies already experimenting with some of the seven issues dealt with in the presentation. Specifically, participants will gain the following benefits:

• Improved ability to attract, retain, motivate and get the best out of your talented staff (and customers).
• A clearer understanding of the concept of talent management.
• A definition of talent that goes beyond "we'll know it when we see it".
• A framework for understanding, attracting, retaining and motivating talent.
• A clear vision of the type of workplace culture, environment and structure that will be attractive especially to younger talent.
• The beginnings of a strategy for sustainable competitive advantage in a connection economy.
• A better understanding of how to manage and lead a new generation of employees, and how to connect with a new generation of customers.
• Better interaction between younger and older members of a multi-generational team.
• How to become a legend to the new generation!

Click here to read what previous participants and clients have said about Graeme and this presentation.

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Practical Business Applications

Graeme goes well beyond most platform speakers, offering much more than just motivation or simplistic "how to's". He helps audiences to understand why things are happening. In order to ensure his clients are able to get the maximum benefit from the understanding and "shared vocabularies" that Graeme creates in his presentations, he has worked with an international team of researchers, practitioners and experts to develop a set of Practical Application Modules. Graeme draws on this work to customise his presentations for each client. The TomorrowToday team is able to use these modules as a basis for developing bespoke interventions, workshops and presentations for many different applications, functions and industries.

The following are some of the most successful practical business applications of this presentation, with the most immediate impact on our clients' bottom lines:

• Work-Life Integration
- practical steps to implementing schemes and programmes to help your staff get the most out of their life and their work.
• Leading and Managing Talent
- We help you work with your top skilled and high performing individuals, including recruitment and retention consulting, with a particular focus on attracting, retaining and engaging talented young staff, and leadership and management development.
• High Performance Organisation
- Corporate culture is one of the toughest things to change. It requires long-term thinking and an integrated approach, fully supported by top leadership. We use a variety of methods, including: (1) Audits of corporate culture within organisations. The focus is on identifying areas of strength and weakness with regard to the seven issues dealt with in the presentation or workshop. This is an important step in understanding not only what needs to change, but also why. (2) Corporate narrative mapping - a method used by TomorrowToday to uncover the very heart of corporate culture. At a simple level organisations can be divided into three levels.
1. Level one is what the market engages with. Your products, services, marketing, etc, etc.
2. The first level is built on 'how you do things around here'. The second level is made up of your values, beliefs, behaviours, etc.
3. And underpinning both these levels is your history. It's the story of how you've arrived at this point in time. Your story is what guides and determines the two levels above. Losing touch with your story can leave you with no rudder, at the mercy of the environment and the forces around you, as you get knocked from pillar to post attempting to 'find yourself' in the midst of the seeming chaos around you.

TomorrowToday engages with clients at level three, assisting them as an organisation to collect their story, crafting it into a format that can be broadcast to everyone in the organisation, stakeholders and customers. It is off of this platform (the broadcasted story) that the next chapter can be built. TomorrowToday has a highly experienced and skilled team of facilitators (Story Hunters) who work on these projects.

• Being Talented
- We speak to your talent, and help them connect more effectively with your organisation and give you their best.
• Turning Retirement into Retyrement
- This module is linked to Prime Time, and focuses on your older talent.

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Download a summary of the slides

PDF versions of all Graeme's presentations are available for download. Click here for the full list, and to download a summary of this presentation.

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Links to resources

See a video extract of Winning the Talent Wars at YouTube - Winning the Talent Wars.

Graeme, and the rest of the TomorrowToday team, write regularly on all these issues on their blog. Click here to go directly to the appropriate category at ?iC@TmTd.

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Multimedia used

Graeme uses many multimedia clips in his presentations, including movie clips, songs, adverts and videos. Under the banner of TomorrowToday, he has a performance license for all multimedia used. Where possible, specific permissions have been obtained from the copyright owners. Where no response was obtained to such requests, and where the Music and Performance Rights certificate does not cover the media used, Graeme claims international fair use policies.

Please note that because of these copyrights and permissions, Graeme cannot make any media available to third parties. Graeme recommends AdCritic for all latest adverts. It requires a subscription, but is well worth it.

Depending on the version of the presentation you saw, the following media could have been used - follow the links to purchase the albums or movies:

• Coming soon

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Related Presentations

Either as a follow up to "Winning the Talent Wars", or as stand alone presentations, the following are related in content and approach:

• Mind the Gap - the generation gap; why younger and older people have such different expectations and approaches to life, leadership, work and relationships. Understand and more effectively connect with staff, clients, family and friends. Understand why other people are like they are, and why they act as they do.
• Invitational Leadership: The Future of Leadership. New times require new scripts. The new realities of business in the 21st century require a new leadership framework. This presentation (or workshop) highlights five critical shifts taking place, in the leaders's context and task, the new metaphors for leadership, what leaders measure and the leader's challenge.
• "Hannah's Rules": The Rise of the Ethical Consumer - the impact that a new generation of consumers will have on business as they care less and less about what you sell, and more and more about who you are and how you sell, and strategies to connect with them before your competitors do.
• Prime Time - How to retain your retiring 'baby boomer' workforce in innovative ways that meet your business needs as well as their 're-tyring' goals. Help them to retyre, refire and rewire, and also harness their talent and wisdom. In all other life stages the 'baby boomers' have changed the world and as they reach the traditional age of retirement, they are set to change that life stage as well. This is the wealthiest, largest, aging population the world has ever seen. Are you ready? Do you know what they want and why? As a workshop, this framework also explains how to harness their marketplace power to your advantage.

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