REVIEWING TALENT MANAGEMENT

Executive Summary

1.     This briefing provides a review of talent management using five themes – assessing its implications, refreshing the talent focus, evaluating emerging practices, setting a talent agenda and tackling the ongoing challenges of talent management once initiated. A summary of Key Learning Points is provided to guide executive thinking.

2.     All talent management considerations or developments have implications which have to be assessed at one or more of four levels. They are business, HR/organizational development (OD) as the delivering function, recipient units such as operations and the quality of talent provision. The implications must be considered in terms of the external/internal drivers that are causing new talent imperatives. Key questions are provided to guide assessment.

3.     A key learning from Business Intelligence's research is that a talent focus usually needs to be revisited, refreshed or completely refocused over time because of changing drivers, new threats or opportunities, weak interventions or a need to challenge the status quo. Refocusing will impact on most aspects of talent management. Key questions will help guide this effort.

4.     A proactive approach to talent management will involve a deliberate scanning or sourcing of emerging approaches/practices that tend to come from four primary sources – applied thinking, as with 'gurus', HR/talent networks, 'best practice' organizations and as solutions from vendors. They can help 're-energize' talent management or give it a new direction. Key questions help introduce circumspection into their consideration.

5.     Most credible approaches to talent management feature a defined agenda that is appropriate, rational, achievable and stretching. Agendas are often triggered by talent reviews, and then commit the organization to action. Constructing a talent agenda should involve a range of stakeholders and is best set through open, constructive dialogues. Key questions are provided for the agenda-setting process.

6.     The one certainty of talent management, highlighted in this briefing, is that its challenges will be ongoing, because of changes to the drivers, internal shortcomings, new opportunities, or even complacency. In short, there is usually no let-up in talent efforts given their critical contribution to business success. Despite previous success, case organizations still face testing challenges.

7.     The ongoing talent management challenges of our research into case study organizations are highlighted. Broadly, they concern revisiting core values, new thrusts in talent management, questioning the status quo, rethinking the employee value proposition, staying ahead as an employer of choice, improving HR processes/systems, maintaining a balance between all solutions used and matching people growth with business growth.

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