It seems that some of us in Singapore are concerned with the export of local talent. Singapore Business Review reported that according to a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) and the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM), we fear a dearth of local talent by the year 2017. For those who might be interested, the pdf of "Learning, talent and innovation in Asia" may be downloaded from the CIPD site here: http://bit.ly/RuBuje. The gory details are within.

Why do you think this is so? Firstly, I find a need to clarify what people mean when they talk about "exporting talent". I thought exports were goods or services that one sends to another country or geographical location in exchange for revenue. If that be the case, why are Singaporean employers worried? Obviously when we say we "export too much talent overseas" we mean that our better people are leaving us for greener pastures, real or perceived. If so, then we ought to be extremely pleased that Singaporean talent is desired in other places, on the one hand, and kick ourselves for not expanding overseas sooner on the other.

Why is our talent leaving us? A number of reasons. First, are the goods and services we offer deemed of great value in the eyes of our customers in the rest of the world? Secondly, if the answer is "Yes!", what is the state of the leadership pipelines in our companies in general? Benjamin Zander asks "Who am I being that the eyes of my people are not shining?" Have we, the leaders, consistently provided environment, resources and notably challenging projects that cause our people to flow optimally? It looks and sounds simple enough to do so, so have you done it? And if you think you have, what else is missing? Sort that out, and our "talent exports" will not become brain drains, but genuine exports bringing in revenue for us. Figure that out!