More than 70 people attended the first part of the IMEX Women's Forum at Messe Frankfurt to hear Mary Power, Executive Director of the US-based Human Resource Certification Institute, provide insight into the new competencies required to work in a 'truly global marketplace'.

She spoke passionately about the need for both employees and employers to understand that markets have changed significantly over the past decade. "Even small companies can be working internationally now. This is big change from 10 years ago," she said.

As a result, companies need to recruit for different skills and those seeking jobs have to market and present themselves accordingly, she told the audience gathered at the IMEX Professional Development Pavilion.

Power presented the results of a recent study among 20,000 public service organisations. They showed that the most important and desired competency in the eyes of employers is currently 'big picture thinking'. Allied to this ability to see beyond the office walls is multilingualism together with multi-cultural understanding. Other highly desirable traits are 'flexibility' and 'strong communications skills'.

"Employees in the 21st century must be able to put themselves in somebody else's shoes. If they have clients from a different culture, or who speak a different language, there is no longer any excuse for ignorance," explained Power.

She also described how the global marketplace is bigger and more democratic than ever before, with over 100 democratic countries globally in 2008 compared to just 22 in 1918.

"Lower barriers to entry and lower cost telecommunications mean you can be working across borders at any time.  The challenge is to adopt - and prove - a global mindset that matches the current shape of the world," said Power.

She described how world economic growth is set to double by 2030 with a boom in middle class demand for goods and services in particular. "The service industry will have a big opportunity to capitalise on this huge middle class demand, which will be driven mainly by India and China. Nevertheless, it will be vital for MICE businesses to understand that success does not lie in replication but in adaptability. And this is where having the right talent - with the right mindset, attitude and skills - in place can give certain organisations the edge."

Due to strong demand, IMEX is staging a second Women's Forum this year. An invited panel of guests including Avinash Chandarana, Group Director of Learning and Development, MCI; Michael Gates, Group Managing Director of Richard Lewis Communications and Herta Hieslmair, Senior Director of Field Sales Europe, Africa, Middle East (EAME) Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc will discuss the qualifications that they look for when hiring and promoting individuals in a global setting. The Forum takes place today (April 23rd).