After reading some recent Twitter traffic, I was inspired to post my own thoughts on the matter. As 2010 kicks off and normalcy reigns, companies are going to get back to business as usual. And once again, the “War for Talent” will rage once more.

Or will it? In 1997,  McKinsey coined the term based on research that clearly showed that few companies had a clear handle on fostering talent. It was a watershed moment in corporate America and finally brought awareness of talent management to the boardroom. They finally diagnosed the problem! Unfortunately, they prescribed the wrong remedy.

While the prescription will not kill the patient, it certainly won’t get companies on the road to recovery. There are two reasons for this:

1. Companies still do not trust their employees, and
2. Companies have no idea what talent they already have.

The first issue is a big one. As I addressed in a previous post, companies that do not adjust their culture to one that builds an environment of trust with its employees will fail to keep their employees. It is simply too expensive to lose employees, not just in replacement costs, but in lost institutional knowledge and productivity. Companies need to give their employees a reason to stay.

The second issue speaks to where to find talent. Most solutions focus on recruitment practices, but do not provide insight into what is needed and what already exists internally. Most companies will find that the talent they seek already resides in abundance in the organization.

The challenge is to identify and align that talent to where it is most needed. Where large talent gaps exist, then companies should look to recruitment, training or more aggressive actions such as joint venture or acquisitions. The point is that before any costly action is undertaken, companies need to evaluate and measure what they have versus what they need.

We are in the era of the “Misalignment of Talent”. Those that continue to live in the “war” mentality are going to struggle keeping the employees they hire. The smart companies will however foster a culture of employee trust and measure their talent as a framework for sustained success.