Top talent isn't easy to come by, in any industry. That's the issue railway professionals are currently grappling with, as increasing competition and an aging workforce have companies scrambling to fill out their executive roles with qualified candidates.
The heart of the issue for these businesses is limited talent sources. Traditionally, they've relied heavily on promoting from within or poaching people from other companies: however, these pipelines may soon run dry. Compounding the situation are the lingering effects of the recession. Hiring and training programs were among the first things cut in an effort to stay above water, and the industry is now feeling the effects of an older workforce not fully equipped to manage the next generation.
Speaking with Progressive Railroading, David Strauss explained the difficulty of the situation. Strauss is the director of talent acquisition for Executech Global Inc., which specializes in rail engineering recruiting.
"Smaller firms find that their [top talent] is getting picked up by medium-sized companies, or medium companies are having people picked off by larger companies. There's a shuffling of expertise," he said.
As the article goes on to note, this isn't a viable long-term strategy. Eventually, there will have to be an influx of talent from somewhere.
This could be where executive search consultants have a valuable role to play. It's becoming clear the rail companies are in a bind when it comes to finding top talent: they don't have the resources to conduct an exhaustive search, and in many cases, their current talent reserves aren't sufficient. However, by consulting with executive recruiters, these businesses may be able to find the elite sorts of executives that will lead them into continued prosperity.
