Mapping global talent
Sukanya Mohapatra

The best engineers, scientists and managers all over the world may soon be available at the click of a mouse if a US-based University succeeds in its project to build a specialised data that maps talents from various countries.

The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce within the State University of New York has come up with a unique project of creating a database of talents available all over the world.

"Right now, companies, government and universities find it very difficult to source the right manpower — one that is directly proportional to the organisation’s requirement. Many times, hiring becomes a trial and error method, leading to human talent not only being mismanaged but underutilised," says director of Marketing and Communications in the University, Meera Kumar.

The main aim of the Global Talent Pool is to locate the current skilled brains in information technology, engineering, management, science and business-related fields. "This endeavour is the first of its kind in the world," says Kumar.

Globalisation and all its dynamic forces are the focus of our research, she says adding, "an issue of great importance today is the emergence of innovation and talent in different parts of the world, which is why we are developing a Global Talent Pool Index with China being the first country of our study."

"The information requires extensive collection of data about the various existing talents in different areas of a country. Work is already in process in China as the country could provide a great challenge because of its language and huge population, its increasing investments in research and technology and the growing culture of entrepreneurship," she adds.

Other countries which could be part of our study include India, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia to name a few, she says.

Kumar says the endeavour will help headhunters make a decision regarding recruitments and foreign investments and making the process easier in future.

Since education is one of the many critical elements to developing the global talent pool in any country, the Levin Institute has approached major universities and professional institutions of the countries for information, she says.

"The main information we seek would be what kind of talents these institutions produce and the knowledge and research capabilities of the alumni so far to know how they have fared," she says.

"A good knowledge of a country’s research capabilities is important as it is one of the cultivating factors on talent. An innovation is internationalised, R&D labs will require more talent specifically local talent," she says adding a disturbing trend is that in Asia while the required knowledge and salaries continue to rise, qualified candidates are becoming scarcer."

Another important key to the Global Talent Pool Index will be the existing government policies as they too have an impact on how the talent pool is cultivated since the government needs to identify the crucial skills needed and provide funding for programmes and organisations and experiments that attract talented people.

The data will review policies that influence or shape talents of a nation, how much change is required to enhance these talents and how retention, training and mobility affect the national security.

The data will study a country’s investment in producing these talents, like subsidies, infrastructural and technical facilities and the educational system. It will also rate manpower, educational institutions and infrastructural facilities, she says.

The data will compare talents with the help of employer feedback and also do business ratings.

The data collection for the talent pool would be done in phases, says Kumar, adding in the first phase 20-25 countries under the G-20 will be covered. "Eventually, we will expand to other countries which have global significance in terms of business and education," adds Kumar.

"The work is at initial stage in India and we had talks with educational institutions and industrial houses in cities like Bangalore and Delhi," she says. — PTI