94 Percent of HR professionals feel their workforces are not adequately prepared

Softscape, provider of web-based human capital management software products, today unveiled the findings of its third annual ìGlobal Talent Management î survey, which offers insight into how organisations are managing their workforces.

An unprecedented 94 percent of HR professionals do not feel that their personnel are adequately prepared to meet their companiesí future goals. With a 30 percent rise in workforce preparedness concerns since just 2006, it is no surprise that the top issues facing organisations today are all related to employee retention, development, and performance. These concerns also have the full attention of senior management with the majority of respondents citing talent management initiatives as top priorities for executives.

Softscape surveyed more than 250 HR professionals from around the world with the distribution of respondents spread almost evenly across a variety of industries and among small, mid-size, and large organisations. The HR professionals were asked numerous questions about their workforce skill readiness, perceived process deficiencies, business drivers for integrating human capital management processes, and the key initiatives that are being undertaken to ensure preparedness.

Key findings from the ìGlobal Talent Management Reviewî report include:

Workforce productivity is a new focus, as organisations seek to do more with less while trying to contain costs

Individual roles are becoming more multi-functional and are requiring ongoing skill development and real-time learning and collaboration

Whether they are expanding or downsizing, companies are seeking to leverage centralised shared services to support global initiatives

As the more tactical HR functions are commoditised, strategic human resources functions are becoming further integrated and outsourced

Productivity gains and cost reductions are being realised through systematic focus on improving talent management processes

Changing workforce demographics are forcing organisations to deploy new approaches to how they plan, hire, develop, and retain their staffs

ìOngoing business transformation is prompting organizations to look for ways to rapidly evolve their workforces to achieve new levels of productivity and effectiveness, and the connection between effectiveness and shareholder value has clearly reached the executive suite,î said Christopher Faust, executive vice president global strategy, Softscape. ìTo successfully address senior managementís concerns, human resources leadership needs to embrace its strategic role as an executive partner and define and execute a holistic human capital management strategy that builds a superior corporate culture based on performance and accountability.î

The report includes important data about where organisations are struggling, how they are improving, and the top priorities for senior management, including:

92 percent of respondents say improving the quality of hire is a top priority for executives

89 percent of respondents are implementing performance-driven learning initiatives

81 percent of respondents link competencies to the hiring process

69 percent of respondents measure training ROI

66 percent of respondents say improving workforce productivity is a top priority for executives

The report also shows executives clearly understand that to effectively compete and grow their businesses, they need to employ a high achieving workforce that is not bogged down by cumbersome, time-intensive paper-based processes. Organisations are truly concerned about the current ability of their workforces to meet future plans and are beginning to take steps to fix the problem. The deployment of integrated human capital management technology is helping them improve retention, development, and the measurement of their workforcesí performance.

For more information, download the ìGlobal Talent Management Reviewî at: