Management-Issues recently reported on a survey by Manpower of almost 37,000 employers across 27 countries has found that 41 percent employers are having difficulty filling specific roles due to a lack of available talent. Can you guess the hardest jobs to fill?

If you're thinking "CEO" or "Chief Technology Officer" or something similar, guess again. In the US it's salesperson. Other people in short supply are skilled manual tradespeople and technicians.

Not too long ago, the consulting firm Bersin and Associates produced a study called "High-Impact Talent Management" which included this finding.

"'Leadership development' was identified as both the talent-management process most in need of improvement, and the function that best defines talent management (80.6 percent of respondents)."

It seems to me that the term "talent management" has been migrating up the org chart. More and more it seems to mean "potential C-Suite occupants." If you're thinking that the "talent" in "talent management" refers to executives and the people occupying the pinnacle of the pyramid, you might want to re-think. 

Late last year I worked with a Midwest utility on the issues surrounding the impending retirement of the Baby Boomers that make up a large chunk of their workforce. We found that over 80 percent of their district management was able to retire in five years. But almost that percentage of district general foremen were eligible, along with almost two thirds of the linemen.

It may seem like those top level jobs are important but trust me, you cannot run a utility without good linemen and foremen.  They come out of apprentice programs, the same apprentice programs that have been drying up for a couple of decades.

And salespeople? You can have all kinds of e-commerce and catalogs and technology, but the old adage is still true: "Nothing happens until somebody sells something."

When you look at your talent issues for the upcoming decade, don't just look at the people in the executive suite.  Look at the front line, at the people who do the hands-on work, sell your product or service and touch your customers. 

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

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