Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage

Chapter 1. Talent Matters

In the last several decades, an avalanche of business books, articles, speeches, and seminars have stressed the importance of human capital—people—in gaining competitive advantage. Executives seem to be paying attention. According to a recent survey of senior executives from all over the world, the two most important management challenges are

• Recruitment of high-quality people across multiple territories, particularly as competition for top talent grows more intense

• Improving the appeal of the company culture and work environment

Fifty-five percent of the respondents to that survey reported that they expect to spend more time on people management than on technology in the next three years. More than 85 percent of the respondents ...