The human resource management stream has for long complained about talent or the lack of it in the existing market. This shortage was first referred to in an article by McKinsey. But now the problem is so well understood that talent management as a domain has become a full time vocation for the HR department. McKinsey’s report was initially meant for senior managers but now this crisis seems to have permeated to all levels. However, this crisis has also baffled many who feel that this is simply an excuse for not managing to recruit the best of the lot available. If anything universities and institutes across the globe are producing better trained professionals than ever before. Mobility has also increased and young professionals are ready to venture beyond borders. A case in point could also be the military which recruits so much raw talent that has never fired a gun or driven a tank. Yet West Point or Sandhurst still manage to train these recruits.

Communication technologies have long been present in various formats such as emails, phone calls, voice calls or even tele-conferencing. However, none of these have been able to replace the intangible benefits of face-to-face communication. That is where the concept of Virtual Reality can come in to bridge the gap. People have been grappling with ideations and best ways to incubate business innovation. The usual approach is to assemble a bunch of talented people at one place with the idea that eventually something new will develop. While people obviously need to come together to collaborate, virtual reality might enable boundaries to be blurred and allow professionals from across London, Boston, Shanghai or San Francisco to work together.

In order to excel at employee management and retention, a number of firms are using HR based business analytics. Convenience store chain Wawa uses a software which not only analyzes but also predicts performances of its employees across its 700 plus stores. This goes a long way in improving store sales. SAP has devised an application known as Success-Factors that is cloud based and helps assess talent levels of individual employees. HR metrics and analytics tools also help out in decoding questions such as best candidates for particular position, who should be recruited early and in whose case chances are higher to accept offers. And then there is Workaday whose predictive analytics recommends candidates to prospective employers using an algorithm similar to what Netflix uses to suggest movies to users.

The world of talent management is getting a major shakeup as far from being a support field, it is now considered amongst the most important aspects of HR management. Netflix and Zappos are two of the newer organizations which are setting benchmarks in the field. A lot of other organizations though seem mired in traditional models in a similar way as Henry Ford once spoke about the Model T car that could be bought in nay color by customers as long as it was black. An advisory has suggested a few HR models which can be experimented with at various workplaces. The JIT model works best with volatile businesses involving digitally enabled teams including IT professionals, facilities experts and the actual executives. The professional services model seeks to eliminate the presence of silos within firms. The talent segmented model segregates employees as per needs dividing on the basis of markets, generations, work patterns or other means. The crowd-sourced model as the name suggests uses social media to engage crowd-sourced performance reviews, onboard each another, recruit new people and execute transactions. The lean HR model seeks to reduce duplications to the minimum by having a core team of only few specialists along with a support team consisting of planners and analysts. Finally, the federated model uses a decentralized style where various functions are divided across the organization

Emotional resilience is increasingly being considered as crucial for individuals to thrive at workplaces. It includes an ability to mask real feelings and getting on with work at professional level. Workplaces have several layers of complications and politics, so it becomes essential for employees to work under such baggage. Talent recruitment firms are looking for aspirants who are good at their work but do not let emotions cloud their individual and organizational value systems. Organizations need to stop ignoring emotions though in the long run and address such issues rather than expecting employees to simply not care for them at all.

The IT industry is unique and some predictions have been made for 2016 relating to the industry’s workplace. Talent management will take precedence over all other aspects this year as industry leaders battle it out to capture the best brains. This focus on talent will also lead to several benefits added to the package and this will convert into competitive advantage for respective organizations. Corporate training programmes will now involve components on employees’ wellness. Sustainability will also be added as a recruitment tool. Workers’ rights have often been disregarded by employers but this is set to change with strict regulations that need to be complied with as per directions from present government. Certain Greenfield technologies will no longer be considered under that category thus leading to increased regulations in mobile and scheduling systems. Overall though, investments in mobile based technologies are set to expand further. Organizations are entering that stage where it is time to groom the next generation of leaders. The freelance economy will rise further as younger employees will seek increased flexibility. The traditional office space will thus be reconfigured to suit modern trends and requirements.

Being a rebel has long been associated with negative perceptions. There are rebels who do so just to avoid work. However, there are many others for whom rebellion is only part of achieving something that is better for the organization or larger society. Rebellion is now accepted as part of startups which are looking to disrupt the conventional business world with their business innovations. But large organizations are still very often at fault of encouraging obedience above all. Giants such as NASA, GM and Kodak have been found at fault where their excessive bureaucracy led to crucial decision making getting stalled. The good rebels after due diligence must be encouraged as they bring positive change. They think about the future and so align their ideas with company goals. They show proof on how changes benefit the organization rather than comfort of existing ways alone. Importantly, they deal with conflict using creativity.