Why talent leaders must look within

Personalwirtschaft podcast with Mike Bollinger – VP, Strategic Initiatives, Cornerstone

In 2020, Cornerstone launched a robust skills report survey a few weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. It’s no surprise that, in many cases, the pandemic accelerated problems within companies that had difficulty adapting to change. The sudden, rapid pace of digital transformation and long-term talent shortages impeded many organizations’ ability to innovate and grow.

The most compelling finding of the survey was the discovery of a significant skills confidence gap. The report revealed a 30% difference between employee and employer perceptions of their organization’s commitment to skill development.

In 2022, we were curious whether the skills confidence gap narrowed or widened, so we repeated the skills report survey and conducted a talent mobility study with 1,800 employees and 900 employers in North America, Europe and Asia. The study unveiled the striking differences between high-performing organizations and laggards (low-performing organizations) in addressing skills gaps. We found a <strong positive correlation> between organizations with a growth mindset that invest in their people and overall business performance.

Mike Bollinger, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Cornerstone, joined the German HR podcast Personalwirtschaft to discuss the findings in greater detail, how to reduce the employee-employer skills confidence gap and how to address times of uncertainty to forge a path forward. The majority of this discussion is in English.

What you’ll learn

  • The differences between high-performing organizations and low-performing organizations
  • Why managers should look internally to fill skills gaps
  • Why career development conversations and visibility into career opportunities matter
  • Remediations for talent hoarding
  • Why terms like upskilling and reskilling may have negative connotations
  • What it means to have a growth mindset and invest in your people

Listen to the podcast.

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