Mensa International is the oldest and best-known collective of high-IQ people in the world. Founded in 1946, membership hinges on scoring in the top 98th percentile or higher on a supervised standard intelligence test. This exclusive group counts only a little more than 100,000 members worldwide, and its members include actors, inventors, authors and even one professional wrestler.
While many think having a leader of Mensa-quality intelligence at the head of an organization is a tremendous advantage, the reality is that many brilliant leaders struggle to build enduring organizations. These leaders often fall into the trap of "a genius with a thousand helpers" and fail to develop a deep pipeline of talented and capable executives to succeed them.
Companies that achieve generational greatness commit significant time, energy and finances to the intentional development of leaders as an investment in the future of the organization. The most-effective leaders also know that the ultimate test of their influence is to build a company that outlasts them as an individual. This issue of the Leadership e-Newsletter examines the role of talent management as a competitive advantage.
Ron Magnus
Develop Them and They Will Stay
Gregg Schoppman
The construction industry has experienced its fair share of shortages and scarcity. Concrete and steel shortages have both had recent deleterious effects on various aspects of the construction industry relative to project cost and schedule. Price stability is only one of the challenges a firm faces in a volatile marketplace. Managing schedules, meeting customer expectations and long-range planning are all examples of how material scarcity in the construction industry further complicates an already-complicated process.
It is difficult to fathom that one of the scarcest resources available to contractors today is not manufactured, mined or processed. The shortage of qualified field personnel represents the single-greatest predicament facing contractors today.
The greatest source of skilled labor and field leaders will come from within, requiring firms to cultivate their own leaders and technicians in order to meet future industry demands.
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Building a Talent Pipeline: A Few Students at a Time
Kelley Chisholm
You would have to be living on a deserted island to be ignorant of the need to attract and recruit more-qualified people, especially the younger generation, to the construction industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment will grow at an average of 13 percent from 2004 to 2014, with almost a million new jobs created within that period. Despite the forecast need for more workers, the primary working age group population (those between the ages of 25 and 54 years old) is projected to decline, resulting in approximately 3 million fewer workers in this age range alone.
We need people to fill these jobs, and internships offer an ideal way to expose high-school students to the industry and its diverse work opportunities. A win-win process, internships allow students to gain practical, real-life work experience while employers evaluate their current skills and future potential.
Through an innovative approach to talent development, Gilbane is building a customized talent pool while at the same time supporting its local community.
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