Start thinking of maximising minorities

We are still not using the minorities in our societies very well. I have mentioned this before and make no apology for the repetition.

• Immigrants: while the US tries ever harder, most of Europe stumbles. Countries like the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Holland all have large immigrant minorities who still do not make it, even after three generations, into mainstream business. Many of them become increasingly angry at being disenfranchised because few ever break through the glass ceiling that prevents their integration. If you as a business cannot contemplate the idea of a major change in the racial and religious mix of your workforce, you will have a problem - it's called being starved of talent. In a few more years we will need to draw more and more talent from emerging markets. Talent, for example, that is rooted in Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu cultures. How are we going to make that stick? How indeed? Most organisations don't even know how to start that discussion, but they are going to have to do so. Without it you will not only starve the bottom end of your business, but you will have no experts or new managers either. Being a talent magnet isn't about being glitzy and perceived to be a great place to work . . . it's about knowing what is really happening out there in the real world and capitalising on it in the best way you can.

• The socially disadvantaged: technology brings the opportunity for many long- term unemployed, out-of-work single mothers and the handicapped to do meaningful work that removes them from welfare dependence. Companies need to think this through more imaginatively. An example might be to enable a single mother to be an ˜at-home' call centre , fielding enquiries from customers in another time zone when her children are in bed. Simple, inexpensive technology enables this type of option, creating a new talent pool.

• Sandwiched employees : our caring society has created a major problem that few are fully aware of - people live longer and longer and longer. Because of this, many employees find themselves with the double whammy of dealing with both childcare and eldercare; sandwiching employees in a vice that creates stress and causes major money worries. Corporations have to recognise this (in some countries the figure for ˜sandwiched' employees in the workforce is put at 20 per cent and rising ) and have flexible systems that can help employees either cope or find alternative options. Failure to do this puts a lot of unhappy talent on the market that will happily work for someone who can help to solve or alleviate these problems.

• Women: in many countries and industries, women are still not recognised as key players in business and some wonder if they ever will be. The fallout from the major corporations (often due to frustration at the lack of recognition or opportunity) shows little sign of abating. Industries like oil and gas, engineering, transport and financial services are, in the main, still boys' clubs. But if you want to be a talent magnet is it to be a ˜men only' magnet, and can you afford for that to happen? And just in case we delude ourselves into thinking that the women in management initiative is going anywhere soon, let's remember that less than 1 per cent of executive directors in the US are female . But we are running out of options, and it may be time to change that. Although I think I first wrote that last sentence about 20 years ago!

Get ready for a rush of retirees

Again, too few senior executives have really thought through or even begun to admit just how much talent is on the brink of departure . This is strange , because in many cases it includes themselves! Some companies in the US claim to be facing the loss of up to 60 per cent of their executive talent pool over the next three to five years as the 55s and over take the money and run to the country club (not surprising when nearly half of the US workforce is nearly 50 or over). The story is the same in Europe and Japan. The biggest concern here is that there are few replacements due to the downsizing of the early 1990s. So companies have to turn on that talent magnet just to get these people to stay - even for a few valuable hours each week. Savvy managers say that they are already putting highly flexible, and lucrative offers in place that include:

• part-time assignments

• mentoring roles

• telecommuting (cross state/cross-border)

• shared jobs

• variable pay, based on time worked and goals met.