At Talent & Transformation, we have in-depth understanding of the challenges facing the Healthcare industry. Although they are similar to the issues that employers in general are facing, Healthcare has a very specific variation.

We understand that talent shortages are a challenge for Healthcare, and that competition for newly qualified talent is intense. Added to the difficulty, is the growing cadre of retirees, and the dwindling amount of university candidates who are able to afford healthcare-related studies – especially medical school.

We recognize that the recruitment process is more complex and drawn out, given the added dimension of patient safety and care.

Added to this complexity, is the time consuming processes of validating licenses and qualifications – not to mention periodic re-certification, costly ongoing training and keeping track of certifications that staff possess or must attain. All being under the accountability of H.R

In addition to the medical manpower challenges, Healthcare also bears the burdens of intensive and meticulous record-keeping of patients and treatments, as well as detailed processes that govern the maintenance of medicines and equipment. The pressure to digitize is well established in this respect.

Third-party relationships are another challenge: from having to conform to supplier-side processes and systems, such as medical insurance administration, to having to procure standardization certification of imported equipment and drugs, to the requirement for robust health, hygiene and safety processes applicable to visiting suppliers / service providers.

We know that between 17% to 19% staff turnover burdens the industry, and that the supply of new talent for the industry has hovered around the 5% mark annually in recent years. We understand the issues of low workforce morale or attrition due to burnout and due to long tenures being required from healthcare professionals before having the opportunity to be promoted. In addition, the increasing pressure on the industry of work-life balance demands from its talent is a further challenge.

These are just a few of the People Organizational issues that we at Talent & Transformation have the industry expertise to address.

Our deep knowledge and experience in Public Services gives us an intimate understanding of its intricacies. We understand the increasing pressure for Public Services to partner with the local community as opposed to simply being a detached service provider, and that this paradigm will require new efficient structures and policies, and skillsets and leadership that are highly competed for by Private Sector too.

Our experience tells us that many directorates are also facing budget cuts in today’s world of austerity. A paradox, when one considers the pressures of collective bargaining and equal pay demands. This is not helped by national negotiating machinery that is not very connected to the needs of local employers, is politically directed, and therefore concentrates more on cost management and the wider economic agenda. Complexity of remuneration management also exists from the fact that core pay, pensions and benefits tend to be separate, siloed elements in an age where the less complex and more integrated Total Remuneration Management approach is prevalent.

We know that the quest to modernize and become more efficient is complicated by the lack of opportunities to procure reliable and accurate benchmarking information and performance data, due to the sheer scale of the sector, fragmented systems and data, and a lack of peer-departments involved in the same function, to compare against. Understandably, there is a lack of time and resources -and perhaps the collective organizational management will- to review data with a view to plotting a transformation strategy; a strategy that would leverage technology more for efficiency; lower recruitment costs; transform culture; increase performance and increase attraction of skilled talent.

It is well understood that to bring about such transformation requires new-age skills, such as influencing; diversity and inclusion articulation; critical thinking; change management and social media marketing. A related issue is the emergence of new fields, such as cybersecurity, big data management and all of ESG factors (recycling, circular economy, electric vehicle infrastructure - etc.) which many Public Service entities aspire to exploit.

Public Services faces the additional challenges of sourcing these scarce new-age skills. Not only will such transformation require the necessary skills, but also an overhaul of work processes and policies, along with a multiskilled workforce in an agile, lean ecosystem, where decisions are quick, and data-driven.

Recruitment presents numerous challenges: first, Private Sector is competing for talent –especially leadership, technology and transformative talent – and Private Sector often has deeper pockets. Second, cost of talent acquisition generally runs high, as policies and procedures often mandate the use of traditional recruitment methods. Another challenge is the attrition of skilled staff, as the tendency is to retire somewhat earlier in Public Services, versus Private sector. Attracting the wired newer generation that seeks extensive use of technology in their way of working, along with flexibility in the job, creativity scope, and a less formal way of interaction in modern and pleasing workspaces, is not an easy task. It is an open fact that most Public Service ecosystems, cultures and employer value propositions do not mirror the likes of Google and Apple.

The pain of having to often re-tool and pivot towards new strategic directions set by either new political leadership installation, or new national socio-economic initiatives is well documented: labor / democrat regimes that favor ‘big government’ versus conservative / nationalist regimes that favor laisseze-faire, ‘smaller government’. Deloitte’s Report: ‘Serving The 21st Century Citizen’ makes for insightful additional reading. Talent & Transformation understands the complex people-organization task facing Public Services that comes from changes in the macro-environment – not only socio-political, but also Economic, Social and Legal. We invite you to talk to us to learn how our expertise infuses Public Services with improved organizational effectiveness.

Talent & Transformation understands the challenges facing the industries that move people and things: the Logistics and Travel industries -as well the opportunities and an array of people-organization solutions.

Our experience in the Logistics and Travel industry tells us that it is suffering from an increasing shortage of talent – not unlike many other industries. Being a manually-intensive by nature, procedurally-driven and subject to intense time and legislation pressures, along with the element of shift-work, deters talent from entering the industry. We understand that the industry is often not perceived as the most attractive, and that attracting the scarce specialized talent required is going to become more of a challenge with the newer generations entering the workplace. These generations have been raised in an era where talk of vehicular emissions and prominent activism of the “Just Stop Oil” have tainted their perception of the industry. They have also been exposed to a social-media culture where luxury and glamor are emphasized –witness the postings of Instagram ® ‘influencers’. The talent challenge is not restricted to roles such as drivers and warehousing staff: indeed, Logistics is increasingly competing with technology companies and financial institutions for A.I.; and risk management skills in the ‘war for talent.’ There is a distinct opportunity for the industry to re-engineer their Employee Brand and Employee Value Proposition as a consequence, and to begin outreach programs to potential future talent in high school senior years and tertiary education students. Student sponsorhips and Internships are significant opportunities.

We know that cost reduction pressures, the requirement to improve business processes and systems, and increasing safety requirements and government regulations also buffet the industry. There are also significant customer-driven pressures: they are demanding more agility, traceability, and resistance plus contactability in adverse circumstances - the blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021 being a prime illustration of the latter. Again however, interesting emerging or future potential opportunities exist: Blockchain; Semi-Autonomous vehicles; Big Data; Warehouse Automation and Elastic Logistics.

The Travel industry is being buffeted by external forces more than ever, that add complexity: from the ‘over-tourism’ protests in Spain; Greece and the Balearics, to the client mobility implications of Brexit, to Gender Pay Gap Reporting requirements, and the pressures of reducing carbon emissions. Additional headwinds include geo-political unrest that disrupts travel; declining client discretionary income due to inflation, and the fact that the travel industry has become a very crowded space, requiring brands to articulate an increasingly differentitated proposition versus competitors. Talent & Transformation knows that the list of challenges continues: Clients are increasingly turning to alternative online service providers, such as Google Flights, Airbnb and Expedia. Travel providers are under pressure to evolve their value proposition and customer channels. This will require scarce new-age talent competencies in the job families of Technology and Artificial Intelligence; Digital Marketing; Change and Risk Management; Leadership and Innovation. Of the aforementioned skills, technologcial skills in particular are becoming key, as Smart Platforms will increasingly need to be embraced to lower the cost and run leaner operations and lower the cost base, and along with this digital transformation, ther will be a requirement to re-engineer processes, policies and workflows in order to integrate with them.

In Travel, our deep industry knowledge tells us that the opportunities lie in personalized travel experiences; giving them more control and reassurance of safety and quality – whether it be by facilitating Virtual Reality preview tours of hotels and surroundings, or, by de-stressing the entire travel experience by effectively handling all formalities. The rise of Eco Travel and Solo Travel is a further emerging opportunity, as is Experience Tourism. The embracement of social media – especially in the form of Vlogs; Instagram ® and ‘pinnable’ pictures, also represents fertile ground for transforming marketing efforts.

At Talent & Transformation we possess the expertise and experience to help the industry address the People-Organization challenges and capitalize on the related opportunities.

The challenges of the Manufacturing Industry are clear to us, and at Talent & Transformation we are able to develop and deploy strategies that effectively address the People-Organization challenges.

An Accenture ® survey recently revealed that 55% of manufacturers surveyed reported that they either presently have, or soon will have, a shortage of skills in research and development. Half of the respondents reported a shortage of marketing talent. Although a sobering insight, we know that this is just a symptomatic snapshot that is indicative of a wider chronic skills shortage in Manufacturing. With the average age in the industry being reported as 56 years of age, and an estimated 3.5 million manufacturing positions becoming vacant over the next 10 years, we understand the priority challenge of the industry.

We know that Manufacturing tends to be affected by its less-than-glamorous image, that can serve as a deterrent to people considering it as a career.  This has resulted in fewer STEM graduates being available to enable industry growth, to innovate through research and development, and to replenish the workforce as older talent retires. The newer generations in particular have the general perception that working in Manufacturing commands lower salaries, exposes them to danger, and provides fewer opportunities for progression of a career.

It is understood that Manufacturing’s highly specialized skill-sets and best practices in the manufacturing workflow are as valuable as tangible assets, and should be curated and safeguarded in the same way as traditional valuable assets, but that they are often in reality simply safeguarded by an operating procedures manual, and are taken for granted as just normal workflow. This has problematic implications for producing accurate learning, effective onboarding programs and attractive career-pathing.

Many players in the industry have production facilities in multiple locations and countries, and within them, are differing natures of trade union involvement too. We know for a fact that this presents challenges in measuring and improving engagement, and that in general, engagement has remained a lower priority in the industry. If the global survey by Towers Watson ® revealed that only 15% of employees across all industries describe themselves as ‘engaged’, then one can imagine the inference for Manufacturing specifically.

It is clear that the industry faces a myriad of politico-legal-environmental pressures that are in addition to the most obvious one of carbon emission control – such as the recently ratified requirement for portable consumer technology manufacturers (such as smartphones) to have user-removable and replaceable batteries for the European Union, and to recycle 80% of used batteries themselves, by 2027. Small change, but huge manufacturing implications and H.R knock-on effect.

We understand that the H.R functions of many manufacturers, are not given the full scope to unleash their full potential in serving the business; they often tend to be used more for ‘policing’ purposes, instead of being strategy enablers that drive positive organizational transformation. The oft-perceived distance between the workforce and H.R together with senior leadership, creates an ‘us versus them’ fragmented cultural mentality.

There is ample growth opportunity for manufacturers. It already accounts for almost 13% of the GDP in the United States, and revenues are projected to grow between 5 to 10% annually over the next 5 years. For manufacturers to harness these opportunities, they will need transform to increase their people-organization capacity and capability. This is accomplished by talent, so it follows that sourcing and retaining the right talent is the priority. It therefore begins with upskilling and retaining existing talent, and attracting qualified, high quality new talent. Therefore, developing a compelling Employee Value Proposition; Employer Brand, Engagement strategy and an admired Culture (that disseminates not only by word-of-mouth, but is also broadcast via a smart social media strategy), is a great starting point. Once these foundation blocks are in place, manufacturers then possess talent with the right behavioral and technical competencies, that they can deploy to address the ‘hard factors’ that provide advantage: lean manufacturing; higher levels of C.A.M. (Computer Aided Manufaturing); more Supply Chain Integration; more R&D for Innovation and identifying cheaper raw materials.

Talk to Talent & Transformation to learn how you can better harness your people-organization dynamic to improve your capacity and effectiveness to better address the challenges and opportunties facing Manufacturing.

Various eminent institutions (U.S Energy Information Administration; Energy Institute, KPMG -et al; World Economic Forum; REN21) have indicated whilst alternative energy is growing, carbon fuel energy use will nevertheless continue to dominate for some time still, and in fact continue to grow -despite the dwindling deposits -whilst the transition to alternative energy evolves and gains traction.

Industry participants face the challenges of meeting carbon and emissions targets; the pressure to become greener and shifting national energy strategies, and this requires new skillsets (both in Fossil and in Renewables technology -‘Green Collar Jobs’); specialist sector regulatory knowledge and analytical skills on geopolitical energy strategies – particularly the strategies of Asia. After all, a 20 second earthquake in Japan caused a 40-year change in energy policy there. Uncertainty of supply is also driving the need for specialized skills in risk. Witness the volatility in the so-called PESTEL environment: the on-off gas crisis that erupted as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the changing ‘drill / no drill’ philosophies of the U.S's Republication and Democrat administrations that drive fluctuating market supply and pricing, and the geopolitical tensions and criminal elements that buffet the upstream and downstream operations. The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage; the frequent hijacking of oil tankers; the instability in Venezuela and the conflict in oil-rich Cabo Delgado are just some examples of challenges that require innovative solutions.

We understand that Renewables enterprizes face significant challenges too -especially that of adaptation; technological maturity and adoption: many existing electricity grids were not designed to cope with the variability and intermittency of renewable energy sources, and may face instances wherein either the grid becomes overloaded at times of peak renewable power generation, or conversely, may face a lack of available renewable energy to keep pace with demand. Renewables enterprizes may need to wait for governments to invest in grid infrastructure and balancing technologies. Further, they may need to wait for consumer trust and electric conveyances’ capabilities to develop more: the recent television images of stalled Tesla ® cars, unable to charge due to extraordinary cold weather does not inspire confidence, and ‘range anxiety’ is also real. In 2022, the first electric airliner flew. It accommodates nine passengers and has a range of 150 – 250 Miles / 241 - 402 kilometers.

Another dimension of the Renewables’ maturity challenge, is the fact that Lithium and Cobalt mining will need to ramp up to meet battery demand, and the fact that batteries -whether they be for automobiles or residences – remain expensive. There is also the question of whether PHEV cars are indeed the future, due to the carbon footprint of producing the batteries, and given the question of whether hydrogen cars -which charge in three to five minutes, and yield a longer range -will eventually see more adoption than PHEVs in the longer-term, despite their very sparse consumer adoption presently.

Against this backdrop, Talent & Transformation’s experience with energy industry clients – be they Fossil or Renewables -has revealed to us the following people-organization interface challenges and opportunities.

Many traditional energy industry players have been gearing up for a tentative and gradual transition to incorporate an element of renewable energy into their portfolios, yet have not been as proactive as they could be in preparing people strategies and talent pools with skills in biofuels; wind; solar and geothermal. Not surprising, as the availability of these skillsets in the market are few and far between, and intensely competed for. We, and no doubt, captains of the industry, understand the advantages that can be had through first-mover advantages by organizations that will have the established talent pools when renewable energy gains critical mass and comes more to the foreign the coming years.

The amount of graduates in the disciplines that are required for both carbon-based and sustainable / alternative energies will not keep with industry talent demands – both today, and tomorrow.  We know why: people are all too aware of –and discouraged by- the mental and physical demands of what are often difficult working environments of upstream and downstream energy production and distribution. Accordingly, work-life balance remains a challenge, as does the reality and perception of workforce safety. We are aware of the fact that according to Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, less than 15% of high school graduates have the necessary science and mathematics background to pursue engineering qualifications.

Further complicating talent scarcity matters for H.R functions in the industry is what we know as ‘The Great Crew Change’: crew over 55 years of age now comprises 50% of the employee base in the industry, and are approaching retirement age. Transfer of learning to the younger employee cadre, and their skill development is a priority.

Despite the urgency of acquiring skills, we know from our experience, validated by a Glassdoor® survey, that the energy industry has one of the longest interview processes and hiring lead-times: an average 28.8 days – only surpassed by the aerospace and defense industry and government roles. It is obvious that the industry is in dire need of skilled workers…yet woman are generally still under-represented, and the industry cannot afford to isolate this 50% of the potential workforce.

We understand that the industry has been increasingly adopting technologies such as Cloud solutions, machine learning and the ‘Internet of Things (IoT) to boost speed and efficiency, save money, and make field work safer. However, many H.R functions struggle to understand how to effectively hire for these skills that are non-traditional to the industry. Not only does the struggle lie in hiring, but also in developing talent who have years of experience in hard-core traditional industry skills, and who are now expected to become increasingly tech savvy. In addition, many are expected to learn newer competencies such as 'Influencing' and 'DEI', which are alien competencies to a veteran who probably started off as a roustabout working on a rig.

With the need to exploit sources of energy wherever they may lie across the globe, our clients face chronic skills shortages in frontier and emerging markets – in addition to the implications of vastly different workplace cultures and labor legislation in these geographical areas. A related consideration is crafting effective workforce mobility and remote team management strategies.

With the lines between H.R and Change Management blurring, coupled with a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the downstream part of the industry, our experience tells us that often, the original strategic objectives of M&As are not fully realized due to the challenges in merging the differing people -related strategies; policies, processes, cultures, and remuneration practices of the Acquirer and Target organizations. This often results in decreased productivity due to organizational structure disruption and uncertainty amongst the workforce that causes low morale and having to learn the Acquirer’s new way of ‘doing things’. Effective H.R strategies for Employee (emotional) Transition; Engagement; Learning and Organizational Re-structuring are key to mitigating disruption and realizing the pre-M&A forecasted benefits.

These are just a few of the many challenges that we are experienced in addressing.

At Talent & Transformation, we are equipped with the depth of knowledge and experience in the Energy industry, to articulate effective People strategies to harness talent that can drive organizational capability and capacity to address the challenges and opportunities.

We understand the challenges and opportunities in the Media and landscape.

The industry players are under pressure to prove the trust and reliability of their brands, given the recent phenomenon of so-called ‘fake news’ and the political minefield that comes with audiences in this day and age.

A related threat that is emerging, is that of regulation: the much-discussed withdrawal of Section 230 of Title 5 of the Telecommunications Act of the U.S.A, as well as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation that is the toughest security and privacy protection regulation in the world currently, combined with a recent regulation that media and tech giants in certain countries will need to pay sources that generate news stories, are prime illustrations.

With all of the media brands that are shouting for attention in an ocean of information, the industry players are also under pressure to generate the freshest, unique and most attractive content, to remain relevant and enjoy a share of voice. This brings cost pressures into play: producing such content is costly – from scripting, to producing a video, to crafting a segment. 'One-man-show' news channels are increasingly popping up on Youtube®, and their cost base are a fraction of traditional media outlets.

Audience data security is a significant issue: whether it be the physical robustness of the technology to protect data, or, the political and consumer push-back against harvesting and aggregating user data, or even the recent discussions by national law-makers on the controversial issue of exporting and storing user-data in offshore locations with less rigorous data-related legislation.

It is also well understood that it is no longer sufficient for media and technology to produce an off-the-shelf generic offering - user personalization is the new challenge. Accordingly, the industry is being increasingly driven to perpetually improve its abilities in the use of algorithms and Big Data. Technology players – specifically B2B, are also being looked at to evolve their products from being purely technological tools, to becoming corporate strategy enablers – from offering integrated smart platforms, to robotics and advanced A.I, to tools that drives strategies. It’s now all less about the software, and more about the broader perspective of how it integrates into, and powers outcomes or even private consumers lives.

These are just a few of the challenges that comprise our deep understanding of the industry –and meeting them is going to require smart strategies to attract; reward; develop; engage and retain scarce talent. Further, to retain and grow audience or market share is going to require equally smart lean; agile and automation-enabled organizations, with optimized organizational designs; processes; policies; innovation-supportive structures, and an appropriate workplace culture.

At Talent & Transformation, our experience and expertise can help you to surmount these challenges in the people space.