Warsaw’s Got Talent (and it will need even more in the future!)

June 2011: OrthoWorx eNewsletter

The recent Indiana Business Research Center economic impact study commissioned by OrthoWorx determined that the Warsaw orthopedic industry cluster directly employs nearly 7,000 employees, with the average wage for those employees more than $10,000 greater than the state or national average. In a county with 75,000 residents, that’s pretty good, right?

Too bad we can’t take a picture and freeze the current situation in time. Unfortunately, many forces are at work that will disrupt the status quo. Changes are happening in technology, regulation, taxation and other factors that define the orthopedic business environment. Meanwhile, cities, states and countries all around the globe are busy trying to be the perfect location for the orthopedic industry jobs of the future.

Today, the Warsaw region is home to the world’s greatest concentration of orthopedics. For the industry to thrive in the future and for the region to benefit as a result, we need to focus on talent attraction and retention as an intentional, strategic activity. We need to make sure that this is the place where smart people, the ones who are already here and the ones who will be recruited in the future, want to build their personal and professional lives.

The 2009 BioCrossroads study that led to the formation of OrthoWorx had this to say about the region’s challenge of Talent Attraction and Retention: “The Warsaw cluster has benefited from decades of talent which has been cultivated locally or has returned to the region, with experience and networks which enhance the industry. For this cadre, small town Indiana and a close knit local industry is a big part of why they work there. However, increasingly, the engineering, marketing and manufacturing know-how required in this globally positioned sector requires people who crave more economic and cultural amenities than the Warsaw region can offer. This may include people who have professional spouses who also need jobs, people who are single and desire diversion, or people whose religion or ethnic backgrounds can make them feel isolated.”

It’s not a coincidence then, that all of OrthoWorx’s six initiative areas can be directly connected to Talent Attraction and Retention:

Education—are we equipping current students to pursue their dreams, and are our schools attractive to those considering moving their families here?

Talent and Workforce Development—do we have the educational resources needed to meet the changing needs of the industry, and are we providing employees a way to advance their lives and careers (without moving elsewhere to do it)?

Community Enhancement—employees, especially younger ones, are increasingly focused on quality of life attributes. Diversity is critical for the global enterprise; how can we appeal to a widening set of employee interests?

Innovation/Entrepreneurship—are we providing support to those who have great ideas for new products and services? Are we connecting with the brilliant people in our nearby universities who can add to our intellectual capacity?

Transportation—do citizens feel connected to the rest of the world? Can they get there from here?

Branding and Awareness—do people, including those within the region, know about the assets represented by the orthopedic industry?

We invite you to explore the OrthoWorx website to see how we are working in these initiative areas to bring resources and actions together to contribute to Talent Attraction and Retention.

We challenge all who have a stake in the region’s future to actively think in terms of Talent Attraction and Retention (in every field, not just orthopedics). What’s your organization’s role in making the Warsaw region successful in a global competition for the future?

Remember the axiom that says, “Every system is designed to produce exactly the results it is producing?” To thrive in the future, we will need results that are different than the ones we may find satisfying today. Changes in the markets and the technology and the environment for the orthopedic industry make standing still an untenable proposition.

We have a tremendous past that provides us an incredibly powerful base on which to build. We need to keep our eyes on the future we want to create and what’s important to the talented people who will help us get there.