Managing talent for competitive advantage: Taking a systemic approach to talent management
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390580000819 |
| Published date | 01 July 2005 |
| Date | 01 July 2005 |
| Pages | 28-31 |
| Author | Chris Ashton,Lynne Morton |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
ALENT MANAGEMENT (TM) IS more
than a new language for old HR work, or just
the next “hot new thing” for HR practitioners
and managers to get involved in. For many
organizations, it has become a strategic imperative.
McKinsey research1reveals that 75 percent of
corporate officers were concerned about talent shortages
and Deloitte reports that retaining the best talent is a
top priority for 87 percent of surveyed HR directors.2
This need for talent – and, therefore, its expert
management – is also driven by macro trends including:
• New cycles of business growth, often requiring
different kinds of talent.
• Changing workforce demographics with reducing
labor pools and, therefore, a talent squeeze.
• More complex economic conditions which require
segregated talent and TM.
• The emergence of new enterprises which suck talent
from larger organizations.
• A global focus on leadership which is now
permeating many levels of organizations.
The strategic importance of talent management
On the basis of substantive research undertaken for our
forthcoming report (see sidebox, right), we argue that
good TM is of strategic importance and can
differentiate an organization when it becomes a core
competence – and when its talent significantly improves
strategy execution and operational excellence.
For example, imagine your company has the right
talent in pivotal roles at the right time. What difference
will these people make to revenues, innovation and
organization effectiveness compared with having to
operate without them? What is the cost of the lost
opportunities – and the downtime and replacement costs
– of losing critical talent? What are the consequences of
having to make do with the wrong kind of leaders and
managers in the top two executive layers – or of not
having successors groomed and ready to replace them?
Yet generally, organizations still struggle with TM.
According to research, three-quarters of business leaders
have invested dedicated resources in TM – but most
say they haven’t yet felt the impact of doing so.3Why
not? Through our research, we tried to provide reasons
by asking these questions:
• Why are you doing TM? Is it for the individual, the
organization or both?
• What do you mean by talent – and talent
management?
• What are your propositions for attracting and
retaining talent?
• How do you manage and use the talent your
organization needs?
• How are internal roles and resources deployed
appropriately to support TM?
• How is TM integrated across HR processes and with
business planning and strategy execution processes?
T
28 Volume 4 Issue 5 July/August 2005
Managing
talent for
competitive
advantage
Taking a systemic approach to talent
management
Getting the right people in pivotal roles at the right
time should be nothing new to HR professionals, but
done effectively, talent management can create long-
term organizational success. Here, Lynne Morton and
Chris Ashton show how to align talent management
strategies to business goals, integrate all related
processes and systems and create a “talent mindset”
in your organization.
Chris Ashton, CRF Publishing
and Lynne Morton, Performance Improvement Solutions
19096 SHRR run 30/6/05 3:02 pm Page 28
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2005 For more information visit www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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