Development of human capital plans a necessity

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is according to Martin Westcott, executive chairman of Johannesburg based consultancy P E Corporate Services.

Westcott says South Africa currently has a shortage of 500,000 to one million skilled professionals and executives, but the country could have a talent surplus by around 2021. He justifies this comment by referring to the most recent global research on talent development in emerging economies. Talent growth in regions such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and China currently outstrips that in developed nations while Africa may be expected to join this group during the next decade.

Think creatively

The message for South African organisations is that they need to think creatively about sourcing and developing talent and invest heavily in retaining skills. Performance management needs an overhaul as well with a more evidence-based approach being adopted.

"It is vital for private and public sector organisations to actively engage with their employees and equip them with skills that promote sustainable employment and career development," says Westcott. The reasons why organisations lose talent include the impact of extreme work pressure, high stress work environments, inadequate recognition and unrealistic key performance indicators, coupled with poor coaching by managers.

In addition, career advancement tools and requirements are sometimes too vague, there is often a poor line of sight between pay and performance, and there can be low levels of involvement in decision-making. "With talent retention becoming more critical in South Africa and many other parts of the developing world, it is crucial for all organisations to carefully analyse, monitor and adapt their human capital management plans on a regular basis," Westcott concludes.