As the current economic storm recedes and companies emerge to sift through the rubble, rebuild any damage done and return to normal, the realisation is dawning that we don't know what "normal" is - and some of the management systems that were considered as normal in the past were arguably not ideal. In order, therefore, to prevent a similar crisis recurring by 2020, or alternatively survive one, companies must question the fundamentals of leadership - focusing on long-term planning rather than short-term gains.

This will be essential for talent management within law firms. Over the next decade more people will retire than will join the workforce and Australia faces a potential workforce crisis by the year 2020.

Therefore, the short comeuppance graduates have received during this recession will long be forgotten and the law graduates of 2020 will be back in power. Employers will need to develop dual strategies to attract suitable young employees and retain older workers with enhanced skills. Firms that will thrive 10 years from now will have a comprehensive talent management strategy exploring every possible talent pool. Flippant recruitment strategies will no longer be an option and critical talent pools will no longer be able to be neglected.

For example, law firms today have not managed to attract lawyers who leave to have children back to the workforce. Future flexibility will be essential to tap into parents who remain valuable part-time workers.

The advances technology will have made in 10 years time can only be imagined - but it is likely they will truly change the face of the workplace and enable firms to maximise the benefits of job redesign, turning the 9-to-5 office norm on its head and welcoming the remote flexible worker as a lawyer of 2020.

Sarah O'Carroll is the editor of HR Leader