(From PRWeb) -- Today's workforce is increasingly diverse. Our lean organizations must utilize the unique talents of all their team members to effectively compete in today's global marketplace. Microinequities, negative subtle messages we send to our coworkers, can restrain workplace productivity and ultimately drive talented employees out of your organization.

Today an organization's brand is largely driven by social media. When employees feel disenfranchised, they frequently voice their complaints in cyberspace. Organizations without a diverse intellectual workforce cannot compete effectively in today's global marketplace. Many companies support diversity, but diversity does not always equal inclusion.

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Tags: diversity, microinequities, global workplace, inclusion

Categories: News | Research

Thunderbird, in partnership with the Xenel Group, has delivered the first three modules of an executive development pilot program for middle and upper-level managers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The program began in March and covered strategy, finance, marketing and leadership. It mixed classroom instruction and Saudi-based case analyses with hands-on involvement in real-world projects. The modules jointly blend the best of current academic research with a detailed knowledge of the Saudi Arabian operating environment.

The role of professional development is shifting, according to Dr. Ahmed Gabbani, Xenel’s executive education director and one of those responsible for bringing Thunderbird and Xenel together.

"In the past, its focus was to provide managers with management knowledge and prepare them for promotion, and it was also used for reward and recognition,” he said. “Today it is about moving it up a level in terms of business outcomes. As we all know, staying competitive in the global marketplace demands new skills and approaches to business.” 

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Tags: Saudi Arabia, executive education, global workplace, leadership development

Categories: International | News

(From India PRwire) -- The critical importance of strong talent management programmes for finance professionals following the global economic crisis has been revealed in a comprehensive global study by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

The report, called Talent Management in 2010 shows that whilst talent management practices are becoming more widespread, there is still an informal approach to finance talent development in many organisations around the world.

The survey of more than 1,400 individuals from 105 countries shows that talent development programmes were hit in the downturn, with recruitment put on hold and investment in training reduced. The downturn also exposed skills gaps across the finance function. The survey follows up on a similar survey four years ago.

While a wide range of finance talent management activities are available to organisations - such as secondments and experiential learning - the survey found there is significant under-use of activities which respondents perceived to be most effective, with potential over-use of activities seen as less effective. ACCA says that organisations may need to reconsider current offerings, and possibly rebalance their talent investment.

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Tags: talent management, economic downturn, new economy, global workplace

Categories: News

Kenexa, a global provider of business solutions for human resources, announced today that it has been named a major player in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Talent Management 2010 Vendor Analysis(1) for the second consecutive year. Kenexa was judged a major player based on the strength of its global talent management capabilities and strategies.

In its analysis, IDC said Kenexa is a major player "with strengths in global reach, tools to help prospects and clients justify investment, and a large R&D organization that takes advantage of offshore resources."

"Organizations are looking beyond the traditional management solutions and searching for offerings that meet complex business needs. The talent management marketplace has become a crowded one with differentiation becoming harder to attain. Kenexa has a global reach and cost management strategies that enable it to stand out as a major player and its marks for innovation and R&D have risen," commented Lisa Rowan, IDC's program director for HR and Talent Management Services.

IDC's most recent MarketScape report profiles and ranks the leading providers in the worldwide integrated talent management market. IDC MarketScape vendor analysis reports utilize a rigorous scoring methodology that produces a definitive assessment of each vendor's current market capabilities and strategies for competing in the future. These providers were evaluated using detailed criteria that IDC identified as key factors contributing to vendor success in the worldwide integrated talent management market. IDC defines the complete talent management suite as comprehensive solutions to perform recruiting, learning, compensation, performance, succession, competency management, assessment and career planning.

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Tags: talent management, global workplace, performance, career development, learning

Categories: News

Ungainly as the word is, it well describes the complex relationship between corporate universities - company-owned educational entities for optimising employee learning and knowledge - and more conventional public or private universities.

The first corporate universities date back at least to 1926, when the General Motors Institute (now the Kettering University) was established in the US. Following World War II, aided by a liberal legal definition of what constitutes a university, a steady stream of companies such as McDonald's, Disney and Motorola, founded corporate universities.

The heyday of corporate universities was reached in the 1980s, as global companies across the world competed to build prestigious in-house learning facilities. Perhaps the best known of these was General Electric's Crotonville campus. Here, after receiving a personal welcome note from feted chief executive Jack Welch, GE's managers and key customers would attend three-month residential courses presented by top academics and GE executives, including Welch.

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Tags: australia, learning, corporate universities, training, global workplace

Categories: International | News

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Tags: global workplace, skills gap, career development

Categories: News | Research | T+D

With the nation's unemployment rate at a 26-year-high of 10.2%, more Americans are hunting for, and landing, work overseas, according to staffing companies and executive search firms.

Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower, the No. 1 U.S. staffing company, says about 500 clients are seeking jobs abroad, up from a few dozen six months ago.

"It suddenly looks like there may be better opportunities outside the U.S.," Joerres says. "It is a phenomenon we haven't had before."

While the number of globe-trotting job candidates is still relatively small, the trend reverses a longtime pattern of far more foreign workers seeking jobs in the U.S., Joerres says.

Fifty-four percent of executives said they'd be likely or highly likely to accept a foreign post, according to a survey of 114 executives Friday by talent management company Korn/Ferry. Just 37% of those surveyed in 2005 said they'd go abroad.

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Tags: global workplace, career development, relocation

Categories: News