Companies Must Improve Training and Development to Win in The Human Age, ManpowerGroup Reinforces at Regional World Economic Forum In Istanbul

ISTANBUL, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions and World Economic Forum (WEF) strategic partner, pushed business leaders attending the 2012 WEF on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia to improve the state of the workforce in this mega-region by personally investing in students to improve their state of job-readiness.

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"Likewise, candidates must transition their focus from job security, a short-term mindset, to career-long employment security," said David Arkless, ManpowerGroup President of Corporate and Government Affairs, while hosting the breakfast session "The Age of Talentism—Transforming the Talent Ecosystem" at the WEF today. "They can only do this by strategically upskilling their skill set. Successful upskilling requires an acute attitude shift toward proactive career planning. It's not enough to be graduate-ready in today's competitive workplace."

Also, while leading a subsequent session "Youth Employment Crisis – Time for Action," which was moderated by Nik Gowing of BBC World News, Arkless summarized how collaboration across industries, governments and between employers and individuals is needed to identify and upskill workforces across regions. 

"Without relentless collaboration among educators, governments and employers focused on identifying skills in demand, more and more candidates, particularly recent graduates, will be sitting on the bench --- missing out on critical opportunities needed to catapult their careers," said Francoise Gri, ManpowerGroup President of Southern Europe, who is also leading WEF sessions this week. "High levels of jobless youth are the biggest long-term threat to economic prosperity. If students and recent graduates don't develop the right skills soon, companies won't be able to seize business growth opportunities."

Many companies still don't recognize the ROI offered by training when compared to the causal effect of not hiring or training new workers to replace retiring workers, according to a new ManpowerGroup survey on training. It found that 60% of companies in the European region and more than 50% globally just don't have formal training or apprenticeships.

Six in 10 European companies offer no formal training or apprenticeship program, ManpowerGroup's survey also reported. Slightly less than half the companies in the rest of the world offer no training whatsoever.

In an Insight Paper launched today in Instanbul, "How to Advance The Capabilities of Today's Workforce," ManpowerGroup defines solutions for improving tomorrow's workforce: including forecasting their workforce needs, communicating and collaborating with employees, customizing training across all company levels and functions, prioritizing student programs such as internships, and making innovative training as accessible as possible to proactive individuals.

Successful companies forecast their talent needs years in advance and build a robust workforce strategy to ensure they will have the talent they need to win. Companies today must detail skills currently needed and factor their business goals and variables, such as understanding internal supply and factoring the amount of natural churn due to retirees. Weighing all this together will enable companies to develop effective training.

Business leaders must be directly involved in training and development initiatives within postsecondary schools and economic development organizations to help younger workers develop the technical and softer skills they need. Businesses can provide feedback that will enable educators to link classwork to business.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,800 offices in 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined — because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success. 

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup