What the smart boards will talk about first: talent issues are being driven to the top of the agenda.

• Author: Cadigan, Steve
• Position: ENDNOTE

Talent is the largest driver of value creation in any organization. As the world continues to shrink and technology enables companies to accelerate growth, how employers recruit, grow and manage their most precious resource --talent--is more crucial then ever.

General Electric has epitomized for decades a company that places a massive priority on talent. From leadership academies at Crotonville to progressive talent reviews and detailed succession plans, GE has always placed a high value on talent. Unfortunately, if you wonder who is leading the way today with compelling talent strategies, it's a very short list

I believe one primary reason for this scenario is that a board of directors rarely has individuals with the right experience in creating effective talent strategies.

While often a member or two on the board will possess experience in hiring, developing and optimizing talent, it is rare that you will find someone dedicated to these areas. It's even rarer that a board has recruited a member exclusively because of talent expertise.

This is going to change. Boards of the future will need the skills and experience in how to build and drive compelling talent strategies. Over the next few years, not only will we see a dramatic increase in the importance of this topic within boardrooms, but the topic will rise to the top of what the smart boards talk about first. It also will be the subject they discuss most.

Growing transparency is the greatest driver of this trend, as visibility to what is actually happening inside organizations is increasing. Thanks largely to social and professional networks, the ability to share and gather information about company practices is at an all-time high.

You have the growing cacophony of tweets, status updates, blogs and feedback posts by employees inside of companies around the globe, increasingly on sites like GlassDoor; that means true visibility for previously hidden topics like compensation, morale, and perceptions of the CEO. Talent records for enterprises are more exposed than ever before; it's only going to increase.

For some organizations it's a terrifying reality, especially those where the employees are unhappy with management, and even worse when the employees are actively expressing their discontent online

Ten years ago it was easy for companies to contain contentious talent issues, like gender and diversity. Today companies such as Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter volunteer their gender...