Diversity Leaders also lead on talent
Beyond the micro-economic business case for mixed teams, an increasing amount of studies have looked into the macro-economic effects of Diversity and equality on a country’s welfare. The new Global Talent Index shows that leading on diversity may well also mean a country leads on talent.
The Global Talent Index provides a prediction on how countries will perform, concerning talent production, until 2015. In this complex international ranking, the Nordic countries, represented by Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, are all up in the top 10 in the year 2011. For 2015, this picture is projected to be even more pronounced with Sweden climbing 3 places to join Denmark, Norway and Finland in the top 5. High government spending across all educational stages explain why the region outperforms other rivals on talent development.
The current Talent Index shows the UK down 2 places and the Netherlands down 3 ranks, while Germany rises by 2 and France by 3 until the year 2015. Although all four countries are expected to experience a decline in educational levels, a sizeable employment growth is expected in France and Germany along with relaxation of labour laws helping the talent market to adapt more quickly to the economy.
The overall performance of the Middle East and Africa relegates them to the bottom places in the regional rankings, although demographic trends favour these regions. Those rankings are expected to remain unchanged until 2015. North America and Western Europe continue to be projected top of the list concerning talent production and attraction until 2015. The US and the Nordic region outperform all other countries in 2011 and 2015 in their capacity to produce and attract talent.
Experts comment that these results show a strong correlation of leading equality and diversity policies and practices with an ability to develop and retain talent – also and especially on a country’s economic level. The Global Talent Index Report can be found online at
http://www.globaltalentindex.com/pdf/Heidrick_Struggles_Global_Talent_Report.pdf
