Future of Talent is a community of talent executives from major corporations who meet once a year to explore emerging issues in talent management, staffing, recruiting, employee development, retention and leadership development. Yesterday we finished a three-day retreat in Tiburon, California. I’ve been privileged to act as faculty for four years now, and I always come away with fresh insights on how corporations are (and should be) interacting with their people.
Following Sunday night’s session, a dramatic scene unfolded two blocks down the street. Angel Island was in flames!
This year’s retreat focused on crossing the chasm from the old world of HR and recruiting to a new vision where talent rules the roost. To help us to explore the metaphor viscerally, I led the group on a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The weather was perfect. Breeze was light. The smoke from Angle Island had headed out over the Pacific. The air was clean and clear, the view of San Francisco as crisp as I’ve ever seen. Yum.
The evening before our walk, I asked everyone to draw a picture of the bridge on a 3×5 card. Some of the group hailed from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and even Minnesota, and a few had only seen the bridge from the window of their taxi on the way to Tiburon. Here’s what people drew before our walk:
We again drew pictures upon our return. The jump in sophistication is striking. These are the “after” pictures:
My major takeaway from the event? Talent is the new core of enterprise. Corporations won’t be telling people what to do; they’ll be configuring themselves to provide what talented people want. Here’s my shorthand for what we’ll find on the far side of the bridge:
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