We’ve always known that the war for talent doesn’t rage equally across all battlefields. Rather it’s dependent on how the multiple variables of job function, industry, and geography align in a given time and place. Sometimes even broader international affairs and global weather play a role.

Here are two studies on two different functional skill sets – with two different conclusions.

Issues in Science and Technology Online, published by the National Academy of Engineering in Texas, says:

Respondents to our survey reported that they were able to fill 80% of engineering jobs at their companies within four months. In other words, we found no indication of a shortage of engineers in the United States.

89 percent of respondents to the 2007 National Physician Nurse and Supply Survey are currently recruiting nurses and 86 percent are recruiting physicians. They reported:

Nurse recruiting was rated as either somewhat or extremely difficult and challenging by 86 percent of hospital administrators surveyed.

94 percent of respondents described the process of recruiting physicians to their facility as somewhat or extremely difficult and challenging.

Here’s the bottom line. Getting the right people into the right jobs at the right time has so many variables that you need to build a consistent hiring and sourcing process to cover all your bases.

Last month Jobster published the results of a quick survey that focused on Web 2.0 topics among other data points. Questions covered social networks, video resumes, and sourcing methods. Looking at the responses, we saw some interesting indications of trends and perceptions.

• 79 percent of respondents said they read recruiting blogs.

• A majority of respondents (56 percent) classified themselves as not at all familiar, or a beginner, when it comes to Web 2.0 and recruitment.

So if they read this blog and want to understand more about applying the technology and principles of Web 2.0 to gain competitive advantage in a talent acquisition process, they have come to the right place.

Taleo Enterprise Edition 7.5, our latest solution release has just been announced and offers Web 2.0 eRecruiting technologies in addition to dozens of enhancements.

ExecuNet announced in the results of their fifteenth annual national survey, the Executive Job Market Intelligence 2007 report, that:

• More than two thirds of executives and search firms believe there is a shortage of qualified talent.

• Only a third of executives believe their company is working harder today to retain top talent than one year ago.

Also included is a chart revealing some misalignment based on differing perspectives:

Successful talent acquisition – for any level or job function – requires a solid understanding of the motivation of candidates, the attitudes of third-party suppliers, and the perception of the priorities communicated by the HR professionals.

“At the very broadest level we're going from the industrial age to the information age to the talent age.” – Thomas Friedman

A Business Strategies Magazine interview with New York Times columnist, global commentator, and best-selling author Thomas Friedman echoes the remarks of Robert Reich and supports people who are using talent strategies to transform their business culture and improve performance.

Question “Are you saying that beyond cost, talent and differentiation are going to affect the key decision?”

Friedman answered, “Yes, talent is the differentiator beyond cost. There are so many people now that any company can access to do just the vanilla jobs on the basis of cost. If you don't want to get caught up in that trend then you've really got to be able to offer some really unique talent that gets you out of that pool, that vanilla pool. Talent is the skills of your work force—the ability to imagine and synthesize different products or value opportunities and then to execute them, to design them, to refine them. That's really where the great job opportunities and value adding profits are going to be.”

With increased general exposure in the business press, research and analysis of the practical economics, and proven ROI from case studies, we believe even the most reluctant C-level executives will increasingly see the advantages of funding proactive talent initiatives brought to them by HR.

The Wall Street Journal’s Career Journal Online featured a fine interview called Preparing the Work Force: An Interview with Robert B. Reich.

Mr. Reich, the former Secretary of Labor and author of The Work of Nations, articulates our views so well:

“The only unique asset that a business has for gaining a sustained competitive advantage over rivals is its workforce -- the skills and dedication of its employees. There is no other sustainable competitive advantage in the modern, hightech, global economy…”

This seminal insight outlining the talent/performance equation of talent management has been finding its way into conversations wherever innovation and business performance are spoken. The interesting thing is that we are hearing it articulated lately by more people more often.

Ken Blanchard’s 2007 Corporate Issues Survey with more than 1,000 responses from HR, training, and line managers offers some insights into important trends, including:

“Respondents continue to place leadership development, selecting and retaining key talent, creating an engaged workforce, and managerial skills as critical areas of focus.”

At Taleo, we agree that a key area of focus for all organizations should be attracting and retaining key talent.

“Creating an engaged workforce has not only remained in the third place ranking for three years, it has increased seven percent since 2003. Respondents cite this issue as being the driver for the success of many other organizational initiatives and being a key to retention and service.”

Workforce engagement truly has a measurable financial component in terms of business performance, as we noted in What is the Impact of Employee Engagement? and Is Engagement Enough?

“On the financial side of managing people, respondents cite the high cost of recruiting talented and qualified people from a shrinking labor pool for both line and leadership positions as an additional major challenge.”

Cutting recruitment costs is a major benefit of establishing a talent management system. Taleo customers have been able to cut their cost per hire in half.

Ken Blanchard was a keynote speaker at last year’s Taleo WORLD conference where he delivered a fine speech on the secret of great leaders. Taleo WORLD 2007 will feature keynotes from Tom Peters and Lyn Heward. Read the agenda and register soon.

It’s costing companies more to recruit top talent in a seller’s market. According to the 2007 Worldwide ERC New Hire report, the tighter labor market is forcing companies to offer more enticements with their recruiting strategies.

• “More than 90 percent of the companies surveyed reported having difficulty in recruiting the right people—22 percent considered the problem fairly severe.”

• “The majority of respondents (79 percent) use their relocation policy as a recruiting tool. Most companies also use signing bonuses, although usually only for select new hires.”

Here is their chart that summarizes the challenges:

The first two factors seen together paint a bleak picture. Increased competition with other companies, combined with a decreased number of qualified candidates, means the demand is steadily rising while the supply continues to shrink. Read Four Key Factors to Watch in the War for Talent for more about how market factors and technology are contributing to the scenario.

In a recent blog entry, Jim Holincheck from Gartner makes an important point: Who Owns Talent Management?

Talent management is a cultural transformation that HR naturally leads by establishing consistent processes and technology. But ownership ultimately comes down to line management. The business from the CEO on down must fully support the process to reap the ultimate benefits: improved business performance.

Read more about how this cultural transformation happens: Powering Your Organization’s Transformation into a Talent Focused Culture.

For almost a decade, the highest priority for companies of all sizes was the high cost of healthcare. But there is a rising challenge that is greater: attracting and retaining top talent.

According to Deloitte Consulting's 2007 Top Five Total Rewards Priorities Survey, the top priority for companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue is now meeting the challenge of talent shortages.

“For 2007 and the last eight consecutive years, survey respondents identified controlling the cost of health care benefits as their number one Total Rewards priority. However, for the first time there is now a clear divergence between opinions based on the size of respondents’ companies – companies with revenues of more than $1 billion see attraction and retention of a high-quality workforce as their number one priority for 2007.”

If that’s your new priority, talent management is your solution. Read Consistently Acquiring and Retaining Top Talent.

The World Wide Web has become an online simulation of reality. You can buy at Amazon.com and millions of other online vendors. You can sell at the world’s biggest garage sale on eBay. And you can search the cached card catalog of the world’s knowledge on Google. But wait, there’s more.

Virtual communities and 3D worlds have sprung up on the web to support nearly any interest from gaming to social networking. But virtual worlds are more than games and networks. Companies like IBM are taking this channel seriously for marketing and recruiting. In the PCmag.com@work article, IBM's Michael Rowe says: "If Web 2.0 is a place where everyone becomes a producer, everyone becomes a content creator, the 3D Internet gives us a whole new level of social interaction in this collaborative space."

But what does this have to do with recruiting? Plenty. In Popular Blogs Sprout Job Boards: Targeting Like Minds, we talked about building relationships with target audiences. Now you can target your recruiting to virtual worlds like Second Life. Check out the BusinessWeek feature for a quick overview.

Then read how IBM Brings HR into the Virtual World with private onboarding, training, and mentoring sites. One of the public areas is a recruitment office that whisks Second Lifers to IBM Canada's recruitment site, powered by Taleo.

To see how seriously one large recruitment advertising agency takes the virtual world, Set a Course for TMP Island “where employers can host job fairs, conduct employee presentations, build virtual replicas of their real world offices, and connect with the job seeker like never before.”

We think that if you take an innovative approach to sourcing, you can benefit from targeting like minds nearly anywhere on the web. But the key to your investment should be a clear focus on your targets.

MONEY magazine released its second annual report on the best jobs in America. There are situational categories that list 20 jobs. That they are divided by “life stage” group makes the report particularly interesting. What may seem desirable as a great job for one person may not appeal to another.

The #1 job matching each group is:
Young and Restless: Product/Brand Manager
Parents Returning To Work: Executive Recruiter
Retired from the Military: Operations or Intelligence Analyst
If You’re Over 50: Nonprofit Executive

For recruiters, this is a nice piece of research to help target a specific candidate pool. Looking for Sales Reps? Find moms looking to return to the workplace. Need a Field Service Engineer? Identify someone retiring from the military, and so on.

Once you’ve identified those candidates through targeted sourcing, make sure you also are meeting their expectations for job design and benefits. A flexible schedule is key both for parents returning to work and the over 50 group. Mental stimulation and challenges are sought by the young job changers. And a passion for the work aligns well with military retirees.

Proactive, targeted candidate sourcing and the use of automated solutions can go a long way towards filling open positions with talented employees who will stay with your organization.