Three years ago, Fast Company reported on a breakthrough study by McKinsey & Co. that described the “war for talent” in business and the high stakes associated with how senior executives fought that war. Last summer, McKinsey released a new report on the same theme, called “War for Talent 2000.” The report, which takes another in-depth look at this critical issue, is a survey of 6,900 corporate officers, top executives, and midlevel gen-X managers in 56 companies. Here is an excerpt from the report on the seven “talent imperatives” that are essential for winning the war for talent.
1. Instill a talent mindset at all levels of the organization — beginning with senior management.A talent mindset is a deeply held belief that having high caliber people in the most value-creating jobs and having a strong bench are critical to achieving the aspirations of the company. The talent mindset must be reinforced with accountability for the strength of the talent pool at all levels…. A rigorous and candid review process is essential to identify high and low performers, outline individuals’ strengths and weaknesses … and identify specific actions to address issues around under-performers.
2. Create “extreme” employee value propositions (EVPs) that deliver on your people’s dreams- EVP是有才华的人想为您的公司工作的令人信服的理由。EVP以极端的形式制作，将使一家公司能够占领其超越其人才的份额。您会知道，当以下情况下，您已经拥有了EVP的四个要素
Great company:The company genuinely cares about its people and the people, in turn, truly care about the company. Trust and open communication are the fabric of each interaction. Each person is motivated by the company’s mission and aspirations. There is an enormous pride in being associated with the company’s success and each individual’s role in it.
Great leaders:伟大的领导人确实会以信任和尊重对待人们，并尊重所有为机构做出贡献的人的才智。他们设法在给人们独立性完成伟大的事情与提供指导甚至指南之间的平衡之间找到平衡，以帮助他们做到这一点。伟大的领导者建立了实现成果的能力，因为他们知道他们通过释放人民的才能和职业道德来做到这一点。他们知道自己的人民并了解自己的梦想。
Great job:简而言之，人们必须喜欢自己的工作以及与之做的人。一项出色的工作是要求和伸展，并且充满了个人发现有趣而重要的内容。对工作感到良好的感觉是对自己独特的才华所重视的结果。
Attractive compensation:Today, money buys the house and the bacon, but it equally represents recognition and fairness. Talented people expect their contributions to be acknowledged and their compensation to reflect their impact.
3.建立一种高性能的文化，将强大的绩效道德与开放和信任的环境相结合— company culture is a critical element of the EVP. One of the signal insights of this survey is that the combination of a strong performance ethic (the relentless desire to outcompete the competition) and an open and trusting environment achieves the greatest satisfaction with culture. The performance ethic, which some people misconstrue as a mean-spirited management approach, not only drives satisfaction with culture … it also drives financial performance.
4. Recruit great talent continuously— the most aggressive companies are always on the prowl for talent. They have a keen sense of who they are looking for, and they do their looking in new ways and in new places. They bring in talent at all levels of the organization, even senior levels.
5. Develop people to their full potential- 每个公司都留下了巨大的人类潜力，因为其人民的发展不足。有效地构思的伸展工作，再加上非正式的反馈，教练和指导，是巨大的发展杠杆。
6. Make room for talent to grow- 公司因不影响表现不佳的负面影响而遭受巨大的成本。表现不佳的人无法吸引顶尖人才，不要培养下面的人，阻止他们周围的人的机会，破坏他们领导的团体的士气，并最终导致表现更好的人离开公司。行动的最大障碍是人性。无论是在新职位还是从公司之外，继续进行表现不佳的人，既是一项艰巨的任务，也是领导者的义务。
7. Focus on retaining high performers- 如果公司希望保留有才华的人，则必须真正兑现其EVP承诺。除EVP外，公司还必须证明他们重视和欣赏他们的人民。简单地帮助高潜力的人们感到与业务的未来保持联系和至关重要，这可能是一种有力的保留策略。让他们知道他们被想要！