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    WebinarResources 2008 60 min

    Winning the War for Talent

    By many accounts, the US workforce will have a shortage of about 14 million educated workers by 2020. That's not the end of the bad news. The high school dropout rate is increasing. Boomers are retiring in droves. And the most talented individuals don't even want traditional jobs anymore. Will you be on the winning side of this impending war for talent? Successful organizations are preparing by dramatically changing the ways that they recruit college graduates, train and retain promising talent, capture the knowledge of experienced workers, and change traditional job structures to accommodate employees who can afford to be choosy about when and where they work.

    Presenter

    DG

    Diane Gayeski

    You'll learn about the following initiatives and more in this eye-opening and practical webinar: -Using social networking sites -Learning to manage virtual teams -Creating seasonal or transitional jobs, helping employees to meet their needs for self-actualization and lifestyle balance -creating new spaces to encourage socialization and collaboration

    Listen up: your competition is doing all of these things, and more.

    Key Takeaways

    • 1.Organizations face a growing talent shortage driven by demographic shifts, skills gaps, and changing worker expectations.
    • 2.To attract top candidates, companies must dramatically change traditional recruitment, training, and job structures.
    • 3.The most talented individuals are increasingly seeking non-traditional jobs that offer greater flexibility.
    • 4.Retaining promising talent requires adapting to new employee expectations about when and where they work.
    • 5.Organizations must implement strategies to capture the institutional knowledge of an experienced, retiring workforce.
    • 6.Effective talent management now requires upskilling/reskilling programs, mentorship, and inclusive, flexible work cultures.

    The Intensifying War for Talent

    Organizations are facing an intensifying "War for Talent," a critical challenge in attracting, developing, and retaining the skilled employees necessary for success. According to presenter Diane Gayeski, this battle is shaped by significant demographic shifts, evolving employee expectations, and persistent skills gaps that demand new and innovative approaches to talent management.

    Key Drivers of the Talent Crisis

    The talent landscape is being reshaped by several critical factors:

    • Educated Worker Shortage: Projections indicate a significant future shortage of educated workers in the US workforce.
    • Demographic Shifts: The mass retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is leading to a substantial loss of experienced, knowledgeable employees.
    • Evolving Expectations: Top talent, particularly college graduates, increasingly favors non-traditional job structures and flexible work arrangements, moving away from conventional employment models.

    Core Strategies for Winning the War for Talent

    This session provides a framework for rethinking and adapting talent management. Leaders can build organizational resilience by focusing on several key areas:

    Modernizing Recruitment and Retention

    • Recruitment: Adapt recruiting practices to attract a diverse range of candidates, including new college graduates who have different career priorities.
    • Retention: Move beyond traditional job structures to accommodate employees who can be more selective about their work arrangements. Fostering an inclusive culture and implementing flexible work options are crucial for keeping top performers.

    Developing and Preserving Knowledge

    • Training & Development: Implement robust programs for training and developing promising internal talent through upskilling and reskilling.
    • Knowledge Transfer: Establish mentorship programs and other initiatives to effectively capture and transfer the institutional knowledge of experienced workers before they retire.

    Application for Leaders

    To remain competitive, leaders are encouraged to evaluate and modernize their talent acquisition processes by leveraging technology and expanding recruitment channels. The insights from this webinar can be applied to build robust talent development programs, implement flexible work arrangements that boost retention, and create formal systems for knowledge transfer that preserve organizational expertise.

    This session addresses the critical challenges organizations face in attracting and retaining top talent, a "War for Talent" that continues to intensify. It explores how demographic shifts, evolving employee expectations, and skills gaps demand innovative approaches to talent management to ensure organizational resilience and success.

    What you'll learn

    • Strategies for addressing the impending talent shortage and skill gaps.
    • Methods for adapting recruitment practices to attract diverse candidates, including college graduates.
    • Techniques for effectively training and developing promising talent within your organization.
    • Ways to retain key employees by meeting their changing expectations about work structures.
    • Approaches for capturing and transferring the institutional knowledge of experienced workers.

    Who this webinar is for

    This webinar is designed for HR professionals, organizational development leaders, C-suite executives, and hiring managers facing challenges in talent acquisition and retention. It is also highly relevant for leaders interested in long-term workforce planning and fostering a competitive organizational culture.

    Why it matters now

    The "War for Talent" remains a present and future challenge for organizations globally. With ongoing demographic shifts, evolving employee priorities, and the persistent need for specialized skills, the insights shared by Diane Gayeski are more relevant than ever. Organizations must consistently adapt their talent strategies to remain competitive and ensure they have the human capital necessary for growth and innovation.

    How leaders can apply this

    Leaders can evaluate their current talent acquisition processes to identify areas for modernization, such as leveraging technology and expanding recruitment channels. They should invest in robust talent development programs that focus on upskilling and reskilling the workforce. Implementing flexible work arrangements and fostering an inclusive culture can significantly boost employee retention. Furthermore, leaders should establish mentorship programs and knowledge transfer initiatives to preserve organizational expertise as experienced employees transition.

    About this session

    Key takeaways

    Watching this webinar gives you grounded, practical perspective on Talent Management. Expect ideas you can use in leadership conversations, not abstract theory, drawn from Diane Gayeski's direct experience.

    Who this is for

    CHROs, HR business partners, talent leaders, executive coaches, organizational development practitioners, and senior leaders who are responsible for resources inside their organization.

    Why it matters now

    Workforce expectations, hybrid work patterns, and AI-driven change keep raising the bar on culture and leadership. Sessions like this help leaders make smarter, more evidence-informed decisions about Talent Management.

    How to apply it

    Use the ideas here to challenge a current assumption on your team, design a single concrete experiment in the next 30 days, and bring one finding back to your leadership group for discussion.

    Frequently asked questions

    Best Practice Institute

    Best Practice Institute is the research organization behind Most Loved Workplace® certification, the SPARK Model, the Love of Workplace Index™ (LOWI™), and The Workplace Report.

    The Workplace Report

    The Workplace Report is BPI's original workplace culture research and editorial briefing series for CEOs, CHROs, people leaders, talent leaders, and employer-brand teams. It turns BPI's 25 years of research, Most Loved Workplace® certification data, SPARK findings, and current workforce signals into practical analysis leaders can use.

    The report format includes executive summaries, research-backed articles, company examples, methodology notes, and practical implications for retention, hiring, culture, leadership, and employee experience. New research and analysis is published on an ongoing editorial cadence at /workplace-report.