UK universities and management schools rated top for talent

RA Now

The UK ranked seventh out of 103 countries for competitiveness based on the quality of talented people it can produce, attract and retain.

It came top of the list on the quality of its universities and management schools in the ranking by French management school INSEAD.

The Global Talent Competitiveness Index, based on research in partnership with the Human Capital Leadership Institute in Singapore and Adecco, rated Switzerland, followed by Singapore and Denmark to be the best performing countries for talent.

Taking into consideration how each country scores against six factors – Enablers, Attract, Grow, Retain, Labour and Vocational Skills (LV) and Global Knowledge Skills (GK), which each has 48 variables – the index combines data that measures talent, ranging from government policy and quality of education to sustainability or lifestyle, for example. The index represents 86.3% of the world’s population and 96.7% of the world’s GDP.

European countries have heavily dominated the index, with only two non-European countries in the top ten – Singapore and the US, ranked ninth. The top-ranked nations have in common a long-standing commitment to quality education and a history of immigration, among other factors.

“There are differences among the 103 countries covered by this first edition of the GTCI: rich countries need more global knowledge skills to foster innovation and a job-rich recovery; developing countries still need the labour and vocational skills required to build infrastructure, health and education system,” said Paul Evans, the Shell-chaired professor of human resources and organisational development, emeritus, at INSEAD, and report’s co-author. “But all of them have to build better environments to grow, attract and retain the skills and talents they need.”

“There is a widespread mismatch between what companies need in terms of skills and what local labour markets can offer. Educational institutions are under pressure to supply the employable skills that the new global knowledge economy demands. Obviously, these issues require a collaborative effort among government, business, organised labour and global business schools such as INSEAD. While the approach may not be uniform across various economic environments, the provision of fact-based quantitative indicators such as the GTCI can help identify options and facilitate action.” commented Ilian Mihov, dean of INSEAD. 

Patrick De Maeseneire, CEO of Adecco Group, added: “The talent champions foster and develop locally-available talent by making their labour markets more flexible, by investing in lifelong learning and by promoting geographical mobility. Governments and companies need to work closer together to build labour markets where education systems create the right skills to match employers’ needs.”