Results from a new global survey have proved New Zealand is well on its way to becoming a world leader after it was revealed the country has jumped five places when ranked on its ability to develop, attract, and retain talent.
The annual IMD World Talent Ranking draws on more than two decades’ worth of data – including interviews with thousands of executives – to complete a league table of 61 different economies in order of their competitiveness.
With an overall score of 79.7 out of a 100, New Zealand secured 13
th position this year, taking it ahead of the USA and only 0.2 points behind Canada.
The overall score represents an aggregate of three categories – appeal, readiness, and investment and development.
While there is still some room for improvement across all categories, New Zealand performed particularly well in regards to readiness where it climbed an incredible 12 places to secure 7
th position.
The category is comprised of factors such skilled labour, international experience, competent senior managers and university education.
New Zealand also managed to climb three places to 13
th position when rated on its appeal factor – which is comprised of factors such as quality of life, brain drain and talent attraction and retention.
Incredibly, New Zealand ranked third in the world for attracting and retaining talent and fourth in the world for quality of life.
However, when it came to investment and development – comprised of factors such as employee training, female labour force, and apprenticeships – New Zealand dropped one position to 21
st place.
Professor Arturo Bris, Director of IMD’s
World Competitiveness Center, said struggling economies could learn something from their Nordic neighbours.
“It’s especially striking that nearly every Nordic nation features in the top 10. This is mainly because their education systems feed the economy with the required talent,” he said.
“Language barriers and a high cost of living mean these countries aren’t really big attractors of foreign talent, yet they invest public resources in developing the right competencies.
“The opposite situation applies to many Asian countries. They might be amazing attractors of foreign talent, but they don’t invest enough in nurturing local talent.”
The top 10
Switzerland – 100
Denmark – 90.7
Belgium – 85.8
Sweden – 84.6
Netherlands – 82.8
Finland – 82.5
Norway – 82.5
Austria – 82.5
Luxembourg – 81.7
China Hong Kong – 81.4
The bottom 10
Venezuela – 38.2
India – 42.8
Peru – 43.6
Mongolia – 44.5
Bulgaria – 45
Mexico – 47.6
Argentina – 47.7
Colombia – 48.6
Croatia – 48.7
Romania – 48.7
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