29-06-09 War for talent subsiding or a false sense of quiet before the push?
Earlier this week I came across a study that picked up on a topic that was hot the past few years but seems to have been put on ice for the time being: ‘the war for talent.’ Has an entente been reached or is a majority of HR managers enjoying a false sense of security while others are preparing for the push?
A positive point of departure
The CIPD study 1 had the pleasure of taking a look at, suggests quiet the contrary. I say ‘the pleasure’ because the study’s point of departure was a positive one and that’s not easy to come by these days. Rather than looking at the negative impact the current economic situation has on HRM, the study hoped to find some positive consequences. Times of crisis are times of change and from an optimistic point of view, changes allow us to look at things in new, opportunistic ways.
The results
The study amongst 705 CIPD members shows that only about a quarter have changed their approach to talent management and only 3% of those questioned are considering redundancies. As the survey was limited to CIPD-members, I understand the results may be slightly coloured, but they do illustrate that many organisations have discovered the value of Talent Management.
Some of the changes organisations mention making include:
- cutting back on budgets for training and development by focusing more on internal training methods like ‘training the trainer’
- increasing efforts into talent management taking the economic dip as an opportunity to prepare the troops
- focusing on employee retention as this is often more cost-effective than recruiting new staff
- reviewing talent management investments for their cost-effectiveness
Talent Management seems to have gained its place as a top priority. In times of crisis, Talent Management is viewed as the preparation necessary to re-enter a bullish labour market as soon as the economy picks up again.
Nothing but good news then?
While the study definitely shows that awareness of the importance of Talent Management is increasing, it also shows there is still room for significant improvement. Only 6% of those questioned feel they are properly equipped to take on the role of talent manager. The study suggests more emphasis needs to be put on leadership- and management-development by coaching and training on themes like change management, talent management, talent development, people management, performance management, decision-making and conducting difficult conversations. Another action the study suggest to support managers in realising a strong sense of talent management is developing the role of the HR business partner. The HR business partner should support the manager in applying his /her knowledge of the above mentioned themes. One-to-one coaching of key figures on these themes creates internal coaches who can further develop talent management skills within the organisation.
I predict that when the economy picks up again, talent management will not only do the same, but the fruits within the companies who have continued their efforts into talent management will also be ripe for the picking.
Reaction Acerta consult
In general I concur with the position the consulted organisations are taking. The ‘war for talent’ has definitely not been resolved. The simple demographic fact that the population is ageing means that in the not-so-far future we will be confronted ever more frequently with a shortage of relevant talent. Focusing on Talent Management is a proactive way of preparing for this shortage.
Our message is that today’s focus should be
- To keep acquired talent on board. Look at those who are leaving the organisation but also take into consideration those who are staying behind.
- To look to the future. What is the business world going to look like after the crisis and what will your position be in that landscape? Is your core business going to be the same or will you need to differentiate? Do you have the necessary talent at your disposal to let your business evolve? Good talent management allows you to link vision to mission to strategy.
- To flexibly deploy employees. In times of crisis, we tend to expect more flexibility from our employees: doing more en doing different tasks than we usually do. Fixed competence profiles and fixed function descriptions no longer work. You have to look beyond surface skills to discover hidden talent that can also be put into practice and develop those competences. This not only turns out better ROI’s; motivation among staff will increase and that’s definitely a plus point hard to achieve these days.
- To model functions according to the talent you have at your disposal. Attracting the competences you need just-in-time is costly. As the war-for-talent increases once more, it will also become ever more difficult to find new talent.
- To not limit talent management to ‘high potentials’ but rather apply it to all employees. After all most employees dispose over talent that might not yet have been identified or used.
1 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Source: www.cipd.co.uk Survey Report, February 2009, ‘War on talent? Talent management under threat in times’
