A number of key trends in talent management have been identified following our global research into the world’s leading employers – and business leaders will have to adapt rapidly to stay on track.
According to the *Talent Management Best Practice Report we published earlier in the year as the Top Employers Institute together with international partner FCTB (a Dutch management consultancy), the accelerating rate of business change, the influence of technology, globalisation, and the influence of Big Data mean both business and people management will need to adapt, and will require clear strategies to do so effectively.
Businesses increasingly need a workforce that has the resilience and agility to be able to adapt quickly to new and rapidly changing markets. This resilience and ability is influenced through well thought-out development and management strategy, fundamentally rooted in clear talent management and workforce plans.
Diversity
For global organisations, the diversity of the employee population poses unique people-management challenges framed in a multicultural environment. Equipping managers with the tools they need to effectively manage across language, cultural and national differences will critically influence the effectiveness and performance of the teams they manage.
EY was named by the Top Employers Institute as one of SA’s Top 3 employers for 2014, ranked 6th in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list; and was named The 2012 DiversityInc Top Company for Global Cultural Competence. According to Seshni Samuel, Talent Leader for Africa and EMEIA at EY, diversity is key to their strategy, as it fuels and supports innovation. “Our policies and practices are designed to promote working environments where all our people feel accepted and empowered to achieve their full potential and leverage their unique skills and attributes.”
“We make diversity networks and professional development support available to our employees. We are committed to accelerating transformation in the professional services environment; we also provide support to external organisations that promote diversity, and our corporate social responsibility programmes also promote transformation in our communities.”
Technology
Technology will continue to impact the design of workspaces, workforce planning, HR systems and the way many businesses view the workday in the upcoming years. Technological innovations like cloud-based applications and mobile devices make it easier for the workforce to collaborate and work anywhere, any time. This influences HR policies around flexitime, remote working, social media and many other areas.
So too, the explosive growth of collected data and innovations in data analytics software has an impact on the way decisions are being made. This trend, also known as ‘Big Data’, results in more data-driven and faster decision-making.
This technological influence has certainly played a role in technology company and certified Top Employer Avanade, where employees use Microsoft’s Lync to work remotely while being able to take calls from clients anywhere, any time.
“At Avanade we implement technology solutions for our clients, but the same goes for our employees,” says Innovation Manager Rudi Greyling. “Social Collaboration Technology tools give our employees flexibility and let them instantly see the status of their colleagues. They can start a chat or conference call, which can include an online presentation where they can share and contribute ideas on documents. All they need is an internet connection. In addition we have created social communities where employees can keep abreast of the latest developments and contribute on topics of their choice.”
Workforce Planning
In terms of workforce planning, 96% of Top Employers measure competency levels of key employees so as to better invest resources in career development and succession planning, with three-year strategic forecasts in place for organisational competency needs. Best-in-class companies overwhelmingly invest in training and development initiatives, mentoring and coaching ensuring change-readiness, and the necessary workforce agility to meet the coming business challenges.
The reality is that talent management is NOW the single most important performance influencing factor and preparedness through knowledge sharing, HR policy certification to ensure competitiveness and smart HR technology is the minimum organisations should be doing to ensure their relevance to top talent.
To order your copy of the Talent Management Best Practice Report by emailing me directly at samantha.crous@top-employers.com
Footnote
*The companies researched spanned nine countries and ten industries, ranging from services to banking and engineering.
