December 7, 2014

"Charisma is a distraction to good management. You don't need to have the personality of a Steve Jobs, Richard Branson or Jack Welch to lead a business. Most successful businesses are run by people who are quiet and persistent," said Mark Faust, President of Echelon Management International, based in Cincinnati. He has been consulting with CEOs on strategy and effectiveness for more than 25 years.

Not long ago, E&Y released a report titled "Differentiating for Success, Securing top talent in the BRICs", detailing attitudes towards work and establishing the ideal employer value proposition for BRIC-based (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) companies. Though the findings focused on the BRIC countries, the lessons for companies in other countries worldwide are obvious—especially when we look at the similarities across all countries.

No matter what your industry, a chronic skill shortage can threaten growth and future prospects, making it important to lay a long-lasting foundation that will help provide companies with quality employees for many years to come.