"Adaptability to change is becoming an essential competence for young people who face the challenge of a VUCA world"
15 de March de 2017
15 de March de 2017
Of the 384 interns that worked at ManpowerGroup Spain in 2105, slightly over 10% came from the classrooms of EAE Business School. These figures were shared with us by Marta Saavedra, the Director of Talent Acquisition and Selection at Manpower, when she was asked why she had returned to the Madrid Campus to present the company and spend almost an hour and a half interviewing students individually.
"This year, we have come to present the Impulsa Program, an opportunity that gives the people that take part the capacity to develop with us, doing an internship in the different lines of business and actively participating in the fringe benefits that we offer", explained Marta over the course of the conference that she ran in the Madrid Events Hall. As she told the students, one of the benefits that she was talking about is the chance to access courses in different subjects and disciplines free of charge through the PowerYOU application.
Although the academic profile is important, Manpower acknowledges that the market is moving more towards requirements related to competences, primarily what is known as learnability, a curiosity in learning. "Training is a priority, and we already know that EAE has some really top profiles with strong language skills, but the focus is shifting more towards the personal side. We are looking for people who are aligned with the competences that we will be asked for in the future. Of course, these competences are digital, and include creativity and innovation, the capacity for management and adapting to change, the capacity for problem, a desire to show your potential, etc.
"We live in a market that is changing absolutely, characterized by a state known as a VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This forces us to keep up-to-date and live in an ordered way within the context of change", explained Marta, underlining the topic of the conference: the importance of adapting to change, whether you are a new profile, an established employee or a company.
Operating in Spain since 1988, ManpowerGroup is the leading talent strategy company, offering innovative solutions for human resources management in organizations. It is comprised of the lines of business Manpower, ManpowerGroup Solutions, Experis, FuturSkill and Right Management. In addition, the Fundació Human Age Institute specializes in the employability of people at risk of social exclusion. Based on their experience, they draft studies including employment forecasts and sustainable growth reports.
In these studies, the positions in the highest demand all belong to the digital world: online marketing, online sales, e-commerce positions, engineering, programming, etc. Moreover, the healthcare sector also ranks among the areas in the highest demand in the future. "However, we have to be aware that, even in the positions that are in demand, there once again still has to be this adaptability to change, because even though profession may be well-known and in demand today, this might well not be the case tomorrow in this VUCA world".
Another of the challenges that Marta Saavedra discussed was young talent acquisition and retention in organizations. "The talent imbalance is the result of the fact that there are positions that are increasingly in demand, positions that are not covered, and a lot of talent in the market looking for an opportunity", added the Director. She went on to ask how it can be possible to have talented people unemployed and so many positions to fill.
"Customers have become more demanding and we have a duty to guide and help young professionals to tackle these changes". To do so, as Marta added, companies have to enable new recruits to develop their full potential in the new job position. "Companys want to learn to unlearn. They want talent that is fully committed to its work", concluded the guest speaker.