The Needs of the Global Economy Workforce

A new Accenture study on working women underlines the importance of talent management for companies in both established and emerging markets

By Armelle Carminati

The global economy is brimming with new competitors and new challenges. As soon as we think we've mastered one aspect of doing business in this new environment, another, unexpected issue becomes an all-consuming priority, as we're seeing with the current economic crisis. Right now, the issues of gender, a high-performing workforce, the skills gap, demographics, and the growing confidence of emerging-market multinationals are all converging at a time of great uncertainty. This translates into increased opportunity for emerging markets—and increased pressure for established ones.

Indeed, the current financial crisis has underscored just how interconnected the global economy is. To achieve both long-term success and high performance, management must anticipate the motivations and concerns of every sector of tomorrow's workforce and plan accordingly. To better understand how prepared women and men feel to meet the coming challenges, Accenture (ACN) conducted a major study, One Step Ahead of 2011: A New Horizon for Working Women. Interviews with 4,000 women and men in 17 countries at the end of 2007 produced a surprising conclusion: 68% of businesswomen in India, 63% in South Africa, 61% in China, and 52% in Brazil feel confident about their ability to succeed in a global business world. By contrast, only 46% of U.S. women—and men—feel that they're ready to compete in the larger international talent pool.

A Talent Strategy Is Imperative

We know that many emerging-market multinationals focus on talent management and offer a wide array of inventive educational and training programs that no doubt boost their employees' self-confidence. As a result, employers in the traditional powerhouse economies will have to address significant gaps in skills readiness so that their employees can match the confident outlook of those in up-and-coming economies. Additionally, women told our researchers that a willingness to use technology, such as blogs and social networks, will be critical to business success in the next four years. They believe that any future success will come from a combination of ambition and drive, passion for their chosen careers. and family support.

At Accenture, we are taking these concerns very seriously. We offer arrangements such as flex-time, "future leave," and telecommuting that make it possible for employees to balance work/life demands—and we encourage clients to do likewise. We counsel our employees to develop successful talent strategies in the same way they build marketing or financial strategies. Finding ways to attract and retain the widest array of high performers—both men and women—is as much an imperative for us as it is for our clients.

Increasingly, I believe, women are now taking stock of their own abilities and are actively seeking the training, the networking opportunities, and the stretch assignments that will broaden their prospects for 2011 and beyond. For the businesses that employ them, this is the time to assess gaps in current training and leadership development and to pursue workforce innovations and collaborations that will attract and retain tomorrow's brightest talent. Technology and pro-active, agile career-path management tools top the list.

A Disparity in Professional Networking

Although Accenture's study found that women are developing the skills and the confidence to succeed in the global marketplace, there are several areas in which women are not achieving parity with their male counterparts. The study found that more men than women cite technical capabilities and fostering professional relationships as having helped their career advancement. More than one-quarter of all respondents said that men are more effective than women at building those professional networks.