HR leaders need to work with executive teams to bridge capability gaps

While organisations talk about strategic talent development, many initiatives are either reactive or too tactical in approach to adequately address core talent needs, according to a recent research report.

It found that 36 per cent of Australian respondents reported their organisation lacked skilled talent for key positions and 18 per cent reported a shortage of talent at all levels.

“Current leaders must work alongside human resource professionals to ensure all talent development initiatives are based on a strategic framework to develop the most important capability needs of the organisation,” said Rosemarie Dentesano, regional leader and talent management principal for Right Management, which conducted the research report.

“Employees should be supported by their employer to develop critical skills through ongoing training and mentorship, not be left entirely to their own devices.

“However, just as importantly, employees must take a proactive approach to talent development and work to acquire skills independently.”

Leadership development
The research report, Talent Management: Accelerating Business Performance, found that only 13 per cent of organisations expressed confidence in having an ample high potential pipeline, due to underinvestment in development over the past few years, which has eroded the leadership capability pipeline

As such, leadership development was highlighted as a key priority for investment, with 44 per cent of organisations planning to undertake new leadership development initiatives in the coming months.

“The lack of investment in talent development for high-potential leaders in the past few years has eroded the leadership capability pipeline,” said Dentesano.

“Effective leadership development initiatives should start with the alignment of the executive team and then cascaded to all leadership personnel.”

Australian employers are also concerned about middle management bench strength, with just 18 per cent reporting their organisation had a robust middle management team.

“An increase in retrenchments, redundancies and job mergers following the global financial crisis – in particular across the middle management level – has led to a disconnect between executive level leaders and front line employees.

“Organisations are under continuous pressure to perform for stakeholders, meaning too often they adopt a ‘business as usual’ mindset following large scale restructures instead of stopping to assess and reset.

“Business leaders should take the time to re-evaluate their strategic direction following restructures, assessing how they will manage their new workforce to meet long term objectives,” said Dentesano.

Areas for development
More than one in four organisations globally said they plan to refine their overall talent management strategy, and the report said this suggests that talent managers and HR professionals have instilled in senior management the understanding that talent is the primary source of accelerated business performance.

Across the Asia Pacific, 48 per cent of organisations plan to undertake leadership development next year, followed by the development of skills critical to the organisation (47 per cent) and an assessment of skills throughout the organisation (38 per cent).

A further 44 per cent of respondents plan to invest in team building and 39 per cent will focus on executive coaching.

Given that most organisations globally plan to invest more in leadership development and skill development at all levels, the report said it is not surprising that 48 per cent said they will broaden their employee engagement programs to ensure they reap the benefits of those investments.

This was consistent across all regions, with the greatest response coming from Asia Pacific where 59 per cent of respondents said they plan to do so.

With outplacement and workforce transitions ranking lowest on the list of talent management priorities, the report said it is clear that organisations will be focused on investing in talent rather than further cutbacks and restructurings.

Some 40 per cent of respondents globally reported their senior management team makes the connection between investing in talent management and its business impact, while another 48 per cent said they “sometimes” see the connection.

“This suggests that talent managers and HR professionals have instilled in senior management the understanding that talent is the primary source of competitive advantage,” said the research report, which took in more than 2000 HR executives and employers in 13 countries (including 150 Australian respondents) across 24 industries.

“Boardrooms around the world are more focused on talent issues, elevating the importance of how HR can drive business success.”

3 steps for optimising employee engagement
1. 
Define. Identifying the right engagement metrics does not have to be difficult. The first step is defining the questions a business needs to answer to shape its workforce strategy.

In this regard, it is better to focus on key workforce priorities that are truly critical to the business, rather than trying to do everything at once. The right metrics can go a long way towards helping companies think more strategically about their workforce needs.

2. Listen. Asking the right questions is not sufficient to ensure meaningful data and insights. Business leaders need to demonstrate they are open to feedback and ready and able to respond effectively.

Creating communications channels during the process is an important step in supporting active listening and a critical factor in setting the tone for how metrics will be used. The insights gained may not be perfect, but they could be all that is needed to tackle pressing needs and challenges.

3. Engage. Enlisting leaders and employees – especially key talent – deepens their commitment and enhances employee programs and processes.

Through these efforts employees understand how their contributions will impact the business, and leaders will have the accountability for taking action. Companies will not get the right results if their attempts at approving employee engagement ends with the survey.

Source: Talent Management: Accelerating Business Performance, Right Management

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