4 TALENT TALK Winning the War on Talent 2018 Turning Talent into Performance has never been more important than it is today. The job market is heating up fast! A quick internet search this morning showed 956,923 available sales positions posted on one job site alone. And the unemployment rate in sales is at a rock bottom low of 4.3%. So, what does that mean for you? It means that the war for talent is on! It means that you are at risk for losing your top salespeople to the competi- tion and it will be harder than ever to find and afford top talent. Here’s the good news. Even with the drastic changes we are seeing in the economy, the light- ning-fast advancements in technology, the perpetual and persistent innovation of our prod- ucts, and the ever-growing population of Millennials in the workplace, the core principles that continually separate the very best organizations from all the others have remained consistent. Stable. The same as always. It all starts with talent and comes down to the people. On the subject of Recruitment and Selection, Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook and founder of the Lean In Foundation explained, “No team has ever had too many strong performers. Build- ing your bench is one of the most important things a leader can do.” Steve Jobs proudly shared, “The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.” Once you build that strong talent bank and go to those exceptional lengths to bring in top tal- ent, you can’t afford to lose them! On the subject of Development and Retention, Ronald Rea- gan said, “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He [or she] is the one that gets other people to do the greatest things.” When people are growing and successful, and they know their manager has their back, they don’t leave. Even for the oppor- tunity to make more money. To help you prepare for (and win) this war for talent, we have built this issue to serve as a how-to manual of sorts, providing you with everything you need to successfully recruit, select, develop, and retain top talent. Within these pages you’ll discover facts, stories, creative ideas, and upcoming trends that will help you find the best candidates out there and ultimately keep them over time.