BusinessWeek’s Innovation Predictions 2008 slideshow featuring Shape-Shifting Enterprises and the power of innovative on demand software made us think about looping back to see how many predictions actually come true.

Predictive research papers carry the inherent risk of launching extrapolated trends into a stormy sea of unknowns. However, they usually carry a little more weight than the gut-feeling predictions you see published near the end of every calendar year.

As we look forward to 2008, let's first take a look back. In 2004, Deloitte published a seminal study called: It’s 2008: Do You Know Where Your Talent Is?

With 20/20 hindsight we’ll see if they got their foresight right:

The Rise of Talent Markets
HR executives often define their efforts in terms of policies and programs. Instead, they must provide analytical insights and support to help leaders improve their talent decisions, not just implement them.

Better talent decisions are based on better information. With a robust enterprise talent system of record, you can consistently make better decisions. But the importance of analyzing and reporting on the talent process itself cannot be overstressed.

The Sad Statistics of the Global Labor Pool
By 2008, a wealth of skills and experience will begin to disappear from the job market. The first members of the Baby Boom generation will turn 62, the average retirement age in the large, developed economies of North America, Europe and Asia.

Baby boomers are indeed retiring but maybe a little later than predicted. Unified recruiting + performance requires advanced succession planning tools. But as we know, many organizations are late to this party even after four years of advance notice.

The Power of Connection and Collaboration
..brand identity is clear to employees, and it helps shape their behavior…By taking care of critical talent and stoking a highly collaborative culture, the airline demonstrates the power and profits achievable by investing in people.

Brand identity clearly extends to the employment brand. And the war for talent starts at the career site where the candidate experience begins. Collaborative culture also extends into the goals, performance, career, and succession processes where you can now deliver a superior user experience.

To work best, critical employees must initiate and drive their own paths to performance.

Self-service is more than just administrative convenience. It’s the transformational gateway to empowering all the people in the organization to own the performance process and achieve a higher level of business performance.