Talentmax report

Research conducted by talent management consultancy TalentMax found that many business leaders see talent management as one of the most important ways of creating competitive advantage. Despite this, only 31% of organisations have an active talent management strategy. 128 professionals from sectors including financial services, TMT, professional services, FMCG, utilities, engineering and public sector comprising 39 business leaders, 42 HR directors and 47 achievers took part in the research.

ìFew organisations do more than pay lip service to talent management,î said Susannah Pringle, Director. ìIn the knowledge economy the ability to translate talent potential into profits and performance dictates organisational success or failure. Employees need to upgrade, repackage and proactively market their talents to survive. Employers and employees who neglect the new career status quo do so at their peril.î

The research found that talented individuals are more mobile than ever:

-Only 15% of them feel that their organisation is making the best use of their talents.

-87% said that bad management extinguished their talents

-80% said that their primary reason for leaving an organisation was their manager.

The HR directors interviewed acknowledged that it is not enough just to hire the right talent. Bringing in people is the easy step. The real challenge is to nurture and engage talent over the long term. 90% of HR directors interviewed believed that for talent management to succeed it must be championed by the Board then implemented by line managers. Yet only a quarter of the HR directors said that their organisation was currently able to accurately and consistently identify high and low performers.

The research discovered that while there was still a huge gap between talent management rhetoric and reality, a minority of organisations were taking talent management very seriously and reaping big rewards. Among the organisations that had developed and implemented talent management programmes, best practice initiatives included:

-Driving talent management from the boardroom: all business decisions have talent implications so translate business plans into talent management objectives

-Making people accountable for talent management: it should be a key factor in performance appraisals, compensation reviews and promotion decisions

-Equipping line managers to be front-line talent conductors: providing coaching skills so that managers engage with, rather than alienate, their people

-Understanding what makes individuals tick: identifying and meeting personal drivers, expectations and needs creates ultra-committed, high-performing employees

-Keeping talent fresh: moving, developing, growing and evolving so that it continues to generate high performance.

ìMany of todayís business leaders and HR directors need to face up to the new realities of the talent economy. HR must be seen to leave its administrative bunker and lead its companyís talent development. Given the importance of talent to business success, the HR director of the future should rank alongside the finance director at the boardroom table.

ìTalent management recognises that all employees drive business performance not just the superhero CEO. Talent management requires a different type of CEO,î added Susannah Pringle.