,HE AL T H W E AL T H C AR E E RF UT U R E - P R O O F I N G H R B R ID G ING T H E G A P B E T W E E N EM P L O Y ER S A N D EM P L O Y EE S,2,A W A K E - U P C A L L F O R H R 85% of organizations participating in the study say that their talent management programs and policies need an overhaul. Managing this amount of change will be a challenge for even the most skilled professional and can only be achieved with support from the top. With merely 4% of the surveyed HR professionals reporting that HR is viewed as a strategic business partner in their organizations, there has never been greater urgency in getting that overhaul underway. At the same time, the study shows that even employees who are satisfied with their current organization say that they are nevertheless seriously considering a move within the next 12 months. Underlying factors include a lack of development, outdated processes and discontent with their managers role all areas in which HR can play a critical role. The time for that HR overhaul is now.,2016 is shaping up to be a moderately positive year, yet many organizations still face uncertainty about the future. Geopolitical headwinds, instability in Europe, slowing economies in Asia and looming job disruptions due to automation, digitization and globalization are all contributing to this climate of caution. One thing is clear the future will not be a continuation of the past. And as Talent remains a C-suite concern, this places HR in the eye of the storm. The world of work has been experiencing seismic shifts: in the composition of the workforce, the skills that drive business performance, and the talent pools that will likely fuel future growth. These shifts require looking at talent development with a new lens re-examining how we think about the nature of work, the concept of employment and what it takes to build a thriving workforce. In this Era of the Individual, employees have more options about where, when and how they work than ever before. They are demanding a new value proposition that provides greater career support, combined with new flexibility in managing their work and building their skills. Are their employers up to the challenge?,Mercers 2016 Global Talent Trends study, which highlights current issues in the world of work and identifies priorities that demand immediate attention.,With a unique focus on the employee voice, the study calls out potential gaps between employees emerging needs and the actions being proposed by HR today.,To find out, Mercer gathered the views of both employers and employees on what drives todays workforce and how organizations are responding. More than 1,730 HR leaders and 4,500 employees across 15 countries provided input. The result is,F U T U RE - P R O O F I N G H R BRI D G I N G T H E GA P BET W E E N,E M P L O Y E R S A N D E M P L O Y E E S,1http:/www.wsj.com/articles/how-demographics-rule-the-global-economy-1448203724 2As an advisor on the Future of Jobs Global Agenda Council, Mercer helped shape the World Economic Forum report titled The Future of Jobs. The full report is available at http:/www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf. 3,According to HR professionals around the world, these are the major workforce trends expected to most significantly impact their talent management priorities in 2016:T A L E N T S CA R C I T Y A N D T H E R I S I N G C O M P E T I T I O N F O R T A L E N T F R O M E M E R G ING E C ONOM IE S,Nine out of 10 employers surveyed for this report anticipate that the competition for talent will further increase in 2016 and more than a third expect that increase to be significant (see Figure 1).,Continued moderate economic growth and a shrinking working age population1 across most of the world contributes to this issue, as employers seek the talent they need to fuel growth. But the dilemma isnt simply a lack of available talent unemployment remains high in many countries today. Rather, the issue is a lack of the right talent where and when it is needed to drive competitive advantage and deliver results to the business.,Demand continues to outstrip supply for talent with analytic, leadership and people development skills, as well as specialized technical skills in growing,T RE N D I N G T O T H E T O P : M A J O R C H A L L E N G E S,The WEF Future of Jobs report forecasts that over a third of what we see as core skills today will change by 20202.,areas such as STEM and IT. Also in short supply are those with the skills to manage in complex, global organizations, especially in industries facing the prospect of disruptive innovation.,Employers from both mature and emerging markets in this study concur that they face shortages for these critical skills. Yet not all regions are equally concerned. Organizations in Asia (most notably Hong Kong and Japan), South Africa, and the United States are greatly concerned about the impact of talent scarcity. The majority of European companies, on the other hand, are more sanguine about the availability of needed talent, with only ten percent listing talent scarcity as a concern for 2016. Their slower economic growth has led to lower turnover rates a double-edged sword. On the one hand, this ensures stability of talent pools and helps with institutional knowledge. On the other hand, we are witnessing a “stagnant middle”, where one in four employees is staying with their employer despite dissatisfaction citing a lack of outside opportunities as the underlying factor.,