Download The Evolution of the Talent Function

The Evolution of the Talent Function
Our autumn round table debate featured key figures in the field of talent and focused
on evolution and disruption within the talent function. Below is an overview of what
was discussed and what we see as the key challenges for talent leaders.
O
ver the past few years, ‘talent’
has been consistently cited as
a key contributor to business
success, yet with companies such as
PwC claiming that “only 30% of CEOs
are ‘very confident’ that they will have
access to the talent they need over the
next 3 years”, we are drawn to consider
the current and evolving processes of
talent acquisition and retention.
Disruption
Analysing the past 10 years within this
space gives an indication of the disrupting
factors. Technology has revolutionised
the recruitment industry, from faxed
CVs to LinkedIn’s semi-public online
profiles, ATS and HCM platforms, social
media and data analytics. The advance
in technology is driving new data-led
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decisions which are now fundamental to
talent strategies.
Ian Dykes, a talent leader from SAP,
identified that technology is playing an
important role in eroding administrative
processes. Increasingly, candidates
are being assessed through unbiased
automated programmes. Issues of
diversity and inclusion will eventually be
solved automatically and anonymised
data will be used to balance the workforce
and predict business demand needs.
Another talent leader at our event, Steve
Baron from JP Morgan, stated that
companies need to use data analytics
to “understand where talent comes
from” but also, to map the path of top
performers to get a greater idea of what
good talent is: companies can then use
New Street
this data to inform future talent acquisition
and development strategies.
The changing role of the recruiter/
talent leader
With technology streamlining the
administration processes, freeing up
valuable time and driving data, the role of
the talent leader is changing. Where talent
used to be a reactive function, jumping
to the needs of internal stakeholders,
it is evolving into a consultative role.
Matthew Cresswell from TUI expressed
that talent leaders now need to be
“transformational”, as the increasing
reliability and volume of data will free up
HR/talent leaders to become consultative
and crucial in the design and development
of corporate strategy.
As talent teams look to take a more
proactive approach, talent acquisition will
change from sales to become more akin
to marketing. Talent acquisition teams
will need to build communities to ensure
their target candidate market understand
who they are, their culture, ambitions and
what their employee value proposition
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(EVP) is. By doing this they get to a point
where talent approaches them for roles
and they become an employer of choice.
This not only allows a company to recruit
some of the best talent on the market but
it also significantly reduces their reliance
on reactive recruitment channels.
“ Succession planning is
crucial. Talent leaders need
to know their businesses. ”
The panel agreed that through these
changes, “succession planning is crucial”
and talent leaders need to “know their
business”. They should be looking to
move to a proactive acquisition model
where they use data for the groundwork
to allow them time to research external
markets. This will enable them to make
more informed recruitment decisions,
acquiring talent that will develop to
support future needs, rather than just the
immediate requirement.
New Street
“Only one in four HR
organizations have effectively
integrated their talent
management practices…
with the company’s strategic
objectives.”
2013 CEB Study
and views with “a lack of resources,
technology and infrastructure – impacting
an organisation’s ability to effectively
compete”. This ability to consult and
influence at an executive level is the
biggest transition for talent leaders now,
as opposed to a few years ago.
All of this being said, the key challenge for
most talent leaders is in gaining executive
sponsorship and with it, the budget to
enable the evolution of the talent function.
A recent Bersin by Deloitte paper states
that “mid-market organisations often
struggle to address the demands of their
growing workforce” and highlights the
risk should talent leaders not be able to
drive this change in corporate mind-set
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Charles McIntosh,
Principal Talent Consulting
Get in touch
[email protected]
+44 (0)7487 894 515
New Street