Innovation

Secondly, getting and recognizing input from employees is needed for innovation. Skill shortages will cause companies to lose employees to companies that recognize and support them.

Innovation can be defined as an original or new breakthrough idea, something different in your products, services, processes, and technology, or something that gives your organization a foothold in the marketplace.

Considering this definition, it is imperative to look at innovation and ask what value this innovation provides to your customer, or how it improves your customer's satisfaction.

Grey Tsunami-Talent Management

Thirdly, the drain of knowledge and know-how of baby boomer managers, as many will be leaving the workforce through retirement, will affect your sustainability. I call this the grey tsunami. If not captured before they leave your organization, the lack of this information or know-how could have a huge impact on the success of your organization. Succession planning is crucial now. Do you know how many people will be leaving your organization in the next year or three to five years?

Having a management system structure (data management) in place to capture these managers' know-how is critical. The time to act is now, by acquiring and documenting in your management system structure their know-how.

Mentoring programs would also assist in this transition. Bringing in the young to work with the old assists in the turnover; however, the young think differently than the old. This will provide a new approach to the way business will be done in the future.

Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global private management consulting firm with 81 offices in 45 countries, is one of the leading advisors on business strategy, helping clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage since 1963. In December 2013 it issued a press release entitled “Talent Management and Digital Readiness Are among Most Significant Blind Spots, Says a Global Survey of Business Leaders"

It is interesting to note that it found that “business leaders around the world felt least prepared to execute on strategies for driving growth – among them, large-scale transformation, open innovation, digital channels and talent management – according to a global survey they released which included 1,000 senior executives from different sectors and regions.^[1]

• [1] Details on the survey can be obtained by viewing the media release at bcg.com/media.