Can anybody tell me how much money is going to exchange hands now that the US has finally decided to reform its health care system? Did you say about a trillion dollars? You are right I think. Can you tell me how much of this Malaysia is going to benefit from? Wait a minute you say. What does this first significant 'win' of the Obama presidency got anything to do with us? Plenty I say. In fact its going to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and its not us who will get to enjoy that but Indian and Philippine outsourcing firms.
Think about it! Who is going to do the paperwork and data management that will be the first tangible result of this overhaul in the American health care? Not the Americans themselves that's for sure. They have gotten used to Indian doctors reading their x-ray images and I am sure they don't mind giving a little bit more paper work for Bangalore. And imagine all that financial transaction that needs processing. Dont forget too the demand for the whole range of medical professionals and its supporting industries.
So, there you go. We had lost the game in the locker room. We had lost before the race even began. Oh, we might get some of course. Maybe. A little as what we have gotten used since the BRIIC babes came along and carted away all our suitors of the past (the additional I is for Indonesia...read the financial papers, you will see).
Its funny how most countries and organisations look at 'competition' in terms of competing with other organisations and other countries for market space. They never consider that the real competition today is not in the market or in the R&D laboratories. The real competition is actually in the talent-space. Its in the
schools,colleges and universities. The most dire need for many organisations today is not about culture change, change management or team building. All these will come to nothing if you don't hire the right people. The most critical need now is to empower the hiring ecosystem of an organisation so that it is able to identify, attract, select, develop and retain the best and most talented.
Its sad really if you think that by just copying Google style 'campus' environment, you can produce the right people. You need the right people to benefit from Google style environment. Google, Infosys, 3M, IDEO, AirAsia,the Ritz know exactly the kind of talents they need. They then hire these talents after an exhaustive identification and selection process and along the way also provide whatever it takes to retain these talents. These companies start winning the game way back in the tunnel while their competitors are vigorously warming up on the pitch waiting for the game to begin. Its game over by then really.
I think it was last year or late in 2008 that I wrote about how Africa will rise soon. I have changed my mind since. Its not Africa that will rise but rather Africans who will rise and compete aggressively. Africans who are now forming a significant diaspora community in many parts of the world will form a critical mass in the next 5 years and will displace newly minted talents from the developing world. As a continent, Africa may take some time to threaten others but as a People, Africans will rise much sooner. The war talent will go up a notch.
So where does all these leave us; both as a nation and as corporate leaders. Well, lets not worry where it leaves us but rather think about where it will take us if we ride the wave smartly. We should now start thinking about competition as a far more overarching thing than just competing for market share. We should have Chief Hiring Officers or Chief Recruitment Officers who does nothing but develop and execute strategies to attract the best and brightest.
No comments:
Post a Comment