By Ainhoa Murga

Having an open economy, tax stability and encouraging lifetime labour training are key ingredients to create and retain talent.

Elena Herrera is 29 years old, Spanish and a research psychologist at the University of Oviedo, Spain. On January 2015 she was granted an excellence award for her PhD thesis. During the award ceremony, she handed to the university’s rector the boarding card that took her back to Spain from Chile, where she has been living and working as a researcher since 2014. Her action “was a protest”, she explains on a phone conversation from Spain. But also a symbol of what thousands of youngsters do every to develop in the professional field they studied: emigrate.

In Herrera’s case, the destiny was Chile, regional leader for two years in a row of the Global Talent Competitive Index 2014. This report, elaborated by Adecco together with Insead Business School and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, explains that countries’ economic growth plays a key role in nurturing, attracting and retaining labour talent. On a global scale, Chile is number 27 among the 93 countries surveyed, 4 places above the 2013 results and it is particularly exceptional on the talent retention’s parameter (number 14 on a global level).

The survey, which evaluates political, economic and social aspects, shows a wide gap among the scores for the different variables. Chile’s regional leadership is the result of the combination of a positive business and labour regulatory framework, together with the capacity of attracting and “nurturing” talent” and encouraged by a great talent’s retention capacity. A major cause of this is the reach and level of taxes (9) and executives’ high salaries (1) that, when put together, grant Chile the third place on sustainability at a global level. However, this deeply contrasts Chile’s number 48 position regarding life quality, a parameter that evaluates the country’s security, environment and health services, among other aspects.
The report also points out Chile’s economic openness (15) and the access to labour growth’s opportunities (17). Among aspects to improve, the study mentions the business’ scenery (40), where competition and facility to make businesses have an influence; and the wage gap among men and women (68).

World challenge
Currently, a major challenge in the labour market is the unbalance between the demand of certain skills and the supply of adequate candidates for a certain profile.

This causes millions of vacancies to remain uncovered every year despite the fact that millions of people, particularly young people, are looking for a job. This challenge depends on both the government and private companies as, according to the report, they must accept the fact that they must invest resources to train workers, dealing with the risk of these workers going to work elsewhere, believing they shall benefit from the flujo inverso.

The study found there is a clear correlation between a country’s wealth and the way talent is looked after. Consequently, those countries that rank in highest positions (Switzerland, Singapore and Luxemburg), invest more in life-time training through formal and vocational programs; they offer more flexibility and mobility in the labour market; and are more open to migration. Two aspects that have a positive impact are an open society and a sustainable lifetime.

How can we improve?
The analysis points out that a country’s openness (regarding trade, investment, population, etc.), is a “key ingredient for talent’s competitiveness”. Leader countries are those that have “prioritized the creation of talent for decades”. In addition, countries with tax stability invest on talent development “in a clever way” as they build sustainable economies that provide optimal life conditions for personal growth.

While talent may be “nurtured” either in an internal (investing on education and workers’ permanent training) or external way (sending citizens to study abroad so that they return to their country and apply what they learnt, as China does), countries with larger levels of competitiveness combine both formulas: attracting and developing talent.

Nowadays, the development of talent goes beyond the traditional pillar of education and the frenzied technological advance makes it necessary for private companies to help workers adapt to new challenges. “Full attention must be paid on developing internal talent while hiring strategic talents for areas where there is no risk in developing them”.

https://www.df.cl/noticias/internacional/actualidad-internacional/chile-lidera-ranking-regional-en-capacidad-para-cultivar-y-retener-el-talento-ejecutivo/2015-01-30/192818.html