For those willing to relocate for the right employment opportunity, it is important to have a source that compares the overall work environments of different geographical locations. The Global Talent Competitiveness Index, or GTCI, is an annual publication that ranks and lists many different variables that contribute to countries’ and cities’ talent competitiveness, and it is published each year by a suite of companies: INSEAD, TATA Communications and the Adecco Group.
The GTCI is a benchmarking report that ranks 119 countries and 90 specific cities based on their likelihood of growing, attracting and retaining workforce talent. GTCI considers several characteristics, such as educational systems geared towards producing a skilled workforce, favorable market conditions and high quality of life. The study was launched in 2013 and provides a yearly update regarding the standards of diversity and inclusion in each country and city.
Correlations Between Diversity and Success
Several interesting results have emerged from the GTCI studies over the years. Namely, the countries with the highest scores in diversity and inclusion are generally high-income, developed nations with a high per capita GDP. As of the 2018 study, Switzerland leads the way in diversity and inclusion, making it one of the best places to work in the world.
The GTCI studies have shown that diversity is both a contributor to success as well as a product, creating its own self-enhancing positive feedback loop in the workplace. Nations with high regard for diversity can respond well to problems that require a high level of abstract, non-conforming thinking because they have access to a workforce full of different thinkers. This pushes the companies forward instead of keeping them stagnant and traditional.
However, achieving a high level of teamwork and collaboration is not a simple task; it requires expert levels of social awareness. Organizations who seek out employees with tendencies toward collective intelligence rather than individual expertise can achieve this goal easier than organizations who do not. However, finding these individuals can be difficult.
So how can individuals equip themselves to live and operate in diverse environments? By starting at a young age. It’s the responsibility of families, schools and governments to develop a culture of collaboration and openness by fighting bias and stereotypes through role models and by fostering intercultural exchange.
Using GTCI for Relocation
From the perspective of an employee looking for the best city or country to seek employment, the GTCI provides the standards against which one can measure their needs in the workplace. With access to this study, individuals can explore a wide variety of nations that may or may not be inclined to invest in their talents, guide them in their career choices, support them or hold them in high regard as employees.
If someone is looking to relocate for the chance to earn more for their career choice, they could sort cities by GDP per capita. Someone working remote could use the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) access variable to search for cities that best perform in that specific variable.
However, it is not necessarily an efficient use of time to read about every single nation or city and self-rank them based on the specific needs of one potential employee. In order to speed up the process of narrowing down the search based on those needs, Adecco (along with its partners) has developed the Talent Positioning System (TPI).
This is a user-friendly interface that matches the needs of a potential employee to the rank of a potential employer. Users can select between 3 and 6 characteristics that personally attract them, including “Access to Growth Opportunities” and “Sustainability,” and the TPI will list three areas that best cater to those needs.
In this way, the broad results of the GTCI can be fine-tuned to the needs of an individual looking for relocation or new employment and can confidently explore the competitive environment in a particular location.