CIPD debate to consider the successes and failings of talent management

The successes and failings of talent management as a means of helping employers get the best from their people will form the subject for a debate organised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) for senior HRD professionals and experts on Monday 3 April. The debate will take place at Claridgeís Hotel in London.

The debate will launch the new CIPD publication ìReflections on Talent Managementî, which examines what talent management means in todayís organisations and what a series of case study organisations are doing to effectively manage talent.

Taking part will be:

Chris Bones, Principal, Henley Management College

Tim Richardson, Assurance Development Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers

David May, Head of Executive Development, Royal Bank of Scotland

Mike Atkin, NHS Talent Management Programme Director

The panel will be sharing their experiences and discussing:

Is talent management something new, and if so how does it differ from earlier practice in recruitment, development and retention?

Are organisations focusing their talent management activities too much on the select few ìfuture leadersî, and missing out on the opportunity to use talent management to develop organisational capability?

How best can employers use talent management to manage the impact of a persistently tight labour market, combined with changing demographics and the evolving expectations of employees from work?

The panellistsí organisations are among the case studies of current practice featured in ìReflections on Talent Managementî. The report also draws on the findings of the CIPDís annual Learning and Development Survey 2006, which is launched the following day. This survey of over 600 employers included a focus on current practice in talent management. The findings include:

Large private sector organisations are the most likely to have adopted some form of talent management activity ñ 56% of all private sector organisations have done so, rising to 75% amongst private sector organisations employing over 500 employees.

The most likely group of staff to benefit from talent management activities are ìhigh-potentialsî ñ 40% of organisations include all of this group, with a further 31% including the majority. By contrast, technical staff are least likely to be included, with only 19% of employers including all of this group, and a further 21% including the majority.

Only 65% of respondents rated their organisationsí talent management activities as effective.

Many of the most frequently used methods of managing talent are not considered to be the most effective. For example, succession planning is the third most frequently used method, but is considered to be the least effective (only 62% of employers rate succession planning as effective or very effective). The exception to the rule is in-house development programmes, used frequently by 63% of organisations and occasionally by a further 28%, and yet securing a rating of effective or very effective amongst 95% of respondents.

The debate also marks the start of a year-long project examining talent management in greater detail.

Victoria Winkler, Learning and Development Adviser at the CIPD, said:

ìTalent management encompasses a broad range of practices. Our research will examine those that are being used effectively in workplaces in the UK and around the world, and seek to offer guidance to people management and development professionals to ensure they get the best from their talent management activities in the future.î

ìTalent management is being taking increasingly seriously by many organisations. Yet our research shows that many have yet to implement effective strategies.î