At The New Yorker Conference themed Stories from the Near Future, the ever-perceptive Malcolm Gladwell focused on hiring as the biggest challenge for organizations and called it a collective crisis.

In this video of his presentation, Gladwell uses the sports analogy of scouting combine events to talk about the assessment process in hiring. His stories about attending hockey, basketball, and football combines provide insights into how you can do a better job of scouting your talent.

“In order to make that assessment, you feel you need to gather some objective data about who this kid is and what he can do. As much as that makes sense, is it true? Scouting combines are a disaster…”

Unless you represent one of the dozens of professional sports teams in the world, you may ask what does this have to do with hiring assessments? Plenty. It’s all about what he calls The Mismatch Problem:

“It is when the criteria we use to assess someone’s ability to do a job are radically out of step with the actual demands of the job itself.”

How do you deal with the problem and find a solution?

“Wait until they do their job and analyze them when they are on the job.”

Gladwell’s observations align perfectly with the need for a unified approach to recruiting and performance management. Once you are able to gather the attributes of your top performers and translate them into recruiting assessment criteria, then you can mitigate The Mismatch Problem and drive higher performance. “Life has become more complex…We want profoundly different things from workers today than we have in the past” comments Gladwell, “…but the way we hire has largely remained simplistic.”

For a lighter view of The Mismatch Problem, read Peter Norvig’s tongue-in-cheek fictitious performance review for a Patent Clerk Third Class position in the Bern Patent Office: Albert Einstein. It’s a very nice parody, but also a great talent example of missed opportunity and mismatch while demonstrating the real value of performance reviews done correctly.

There may be wacky excuses for missing a day of work and getting caught sleeping in your cubicle. But there’s no excuse for non-compliance in your hiring process. From OFCCP to I-9, you’ve got to stay current on recruiting compliance risks and rewards.

The New Components of Compliance points out that compliance awareness is not optional, and lists 10 factors to improve compliance with OFCCP regulations that can get you on the way to reducing risk and exposure. Deferring the technology investment can cost a lot more than just your peace of mind.

“In 2006 and 2007 combined, the OFCCP collected more than $100 million in settlements from federal contractors with noncompliant recruitment and hiring practices.”

Compliance 101: Work-Eligibility Verification and the IRCA offers ideas on staying ahead of the game with employment eligibility I-9 verification in the US. Stay aware of changes in your state as new laws can require immediate compliance.

When it comes to hiring compliance, there are no excuses. You need a systematic process that captures data and delivers a consistent approach across your company.

Traditional economic supply and demand curves measure the price you pay for goods and services in a specific time and place. This works fine for static commodities. But when it comes to sourcing talent, there are additional dimensions to the equation. The Economist Intelligence Unit has published two briefing papers that provide fresh insights:

Talent wars: The struggle for tomorrow's workforce echoes the need for talent initiatives to be more closely integrated with business strategy. Nearly half (47%) believe the aging population will accelerate talent shortages and 64% see recruitment and retention getting harder.

People for growth: The talent challenge in emerging markets describes how companies are struggling to bridge the ever-widening talent gap with 80% of nearly 1,000 executives worldwide expecting this challenge to grow over the next three years. Top talent is expected to cost more while creative sourcing strategies and a stronger employment brand to attract young professionals are keys to success.

These reports reinforce the prevailing idea that large international companies need a consistent global approach to talent management but also local flexibility to meet regional talent challenges effectively.

People are the difference and talent management is clearly the strategy. IBM’s Global CEO Study: The Enterprise of the Future asked more than 1,000 CEOs and leaders what will have the greatest business impact – 48% said employee skills. From the board room to the lunch room, everyone is a participant in the war for talent.

The title of Rusty Weston’s post at FastCompany.com—Gen Y's Retention Deficit Syndrome—sums up the challenges with hiring and retaining Generation Y.

Why focus on Y? Because they are your new fresh talent source. These Millennials will replace your retiring Baby Boomers. Who are they and what do they want?

60 Minutes says there are 80 million out there. And according to media articles, they want to reshape our institutions using technology, choose hotels in their own terms, and become serial entrepreneurs.

The Chartered Management Institute’s Generation Y: unlocking the talent of young managers debunks some stereotypes and offers recruiting recommendations. Study findings include:

There are some job attributes and values that are sought by all Generation Y managers. The overwhelming majority (97 per cent) are looking to build their transferable skills. …51 per cent anticipate moving to a new job within two years, and 67 per cent expect to have a range of jobs throughout their career…

For even more insights, register for the upcoming HCI/Taleo webcast: Generation Next: High Performance in Gen X and Gen Y.

BusinessWeek posted a Harvard Business article by Tammy Erickson on Today's Top 10 Talent-Management Challenges. The #1 challenge was:

Attracting and retaining enough employees at all levels to meet the needs of organic and inorganic growth.

Recruiting and retaining top talent no longer has a pure leadership focus. It’s acknowledged to be important at all levels in the organization, and calls for a comprehensive talent pipeline with unified recruiting and performance.

To improve retention, you also can revamp your performance review process to take evaluation from an annual event to a regular ritual. A personalized approach sends the message that you are making every person count.

That way you can mitigate a few of the Top Reasons Employees Consider Leaving. According to BlessingWhite, only 58% plan to stay with their current employer. In other words, a third of North American workers expect to quit this year. How many of them are your employees?