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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 1 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 2 (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 3 Charles McIntosh, Principal Talent Consulting Get in touch [email protected] +44 (0)7487 894 515 New Street