As a consultant who does research in the area of talent management, I am often asked – “what are the most important competencies (skills, knowledge, experience, behaviors) for organizations today and tomorrow? That’s a very tricky question because creating capability is a continuous journey – there is no steady state for talent readiness, particularly given the current pace of change in technology, our workforce demographics, and in the global economy.  “Forward looking” leaders are always in the hunt for talent with key capabilities in anticipation of the organization needs, especially in times of uncertainty.   Newly developed, purchased, or even borrowed capabilities can become important inflection points for an organization . . .  a way to seize unique opportunities ahead of competitors.  In our practice we are seeing the current economy accelerate profound changes in the fundamental structure and operating principles of organizations.  These changes are challenging people to behave in different ways . . . requiring new capabilities.  So what specifically are those changes and what do they mean for talent development?

The very nature of work is changing.  It is . . .

• Project driven . . . based on roles not jobs.  Many of us are transitioning away from job to roles based on work for some portion of our organization.  This is an important paradigm shift for leaders – ownership for talent is shared.  Talent needs to be flexibly deployed against the areas of highest value for the organization.  This is particularly true given talent may come from inside or outside of the organization.  The ability to structure work and talent in a flexible fashion increases the organization’s ability to rapidly and effectively respond to needs in times of crisis or opportunity. 
• Community based . . . the active use of collaboration tools to share information, create relationships, develop insights or create product is the work itself.   From an organizational agility point of view, collaboration allows the organization to accomplish tasks or create new business offerings in ways that could not have anticipated or even attempted with traditional organizational structures.  It also allows the organization to extend its reach beyond its borders.
• On demand . . . the style of work is ‘bursty’ meaning its discontinuous and done when required by the work not necessarily during ‘work hours.’  Productivity can be seen through results not ‘face time.’ This requires leaders to approach the goal setting and performance management processes in a very different way.
• “Golocal” . . . requires that we simultaneously take a global and local approach and mindset to work and talent.

How we do work is also changing.  Organizations are becoming more networked with a fluid structure and transparent processes.  This means that:

• Work is more horizontal and self organizing in nature
• Peer oriented with less control being provided by the center of the organization
• Supported by processes that are modular and can be assembled in a flexible repeatable way

The tools we leverage are changing.  We are already seeing wonderful examples of web based tools that reside on responsive platforms . . . that are available on demand . . . instantly reconfigurable . . . agile and adaptive to circumstances.  Competitive advantage comes from products, services, or interactions are co-created with customers and vendors. 

To enable these organizational capabilities, organizations are embracing new competencies like . . .

• Agile experimentation for innovation. This means using shorter development cycles with fast feedback enabling an organization to rapidly accelerate when the experiment is successful.
• Or Collaboration which takes on new meaning.  This means developing networks and building alliances across boundaries.  It’s about routinely contributing to and drawing from others to inform, influence, create and leverage ideas and services. 
• Or management competencies that emphasize the ability to engage talent flexibly with well supported processes for developing and maintaining an ‘on-demand pipeline.’

A new era of work is underway and it will have profound impact on the expectations we have for professionals in the workplace.   As your organization takes its own unique journey forward, why not assess your own readiness to contribute by taking the nGen Competency Assessment for Professionals.  Simply click on here to identify your own personal inflection points for change.