Talent management strategies labelled ‘unsustainable’ and a ‘costly obsession’

News Article - 27 June 2011
Category: Business

Recent studies on the future of business suggest the latest talent management strategies are unsustainable and a costly obsession.

Chief financial officers are being urged to challenge HR colleagues about the efficiency of such systems if they are unable to deliver.

Colin Coulson-Thomas, an author and expert on the future of business and chairman of business consultancy Adaptation, "Fashionable obsessions" said at the CFO Top International gathering in Dusseldorf, Germany last week: "One should not follow the herd and adopt a new approach just because it sounds good, appears trendy, and lots of high status suppliers champion it.

"Talent management and transformation are good examples of where hype can lead to expensive, time consuming and frustrating journeys that lead to dead ends, or quicksand, when much better, cheaper and proven alternatives exist."

Mr Coulson-Thomas' view is founded on a study of three years' worth of data sets covering key corporate activities throughout over 2,000 companies and 400 professional firms, where he examined the effectiveness of alternative talent management approaches within HR departments.

"Talent management is often adopted for noble reasons, but without thinking through the practicalities and implications. Its aspirations sound good. Across Europe people in talent management roles, struggle to recruit what is termed 'top talent'.

"A cost effective approach is to build the talent people need to do jobs that contribute directly to key corporate goals. This can be done by providing 24/7 support to make it easier for them to excel at difficult jobs, by adopting proven approaches of high performers," he added.

One of the latest ways to manage talent within an organisation is to adopt and integrate HR software. Such software with a wide range of functionality enables HR departments to support every aspect of the employee life cycle, to manage talent and encourage learning and development via training activities.

But ultimately Mr Coulson-Thomas feels it is the responsibility of the CFOs to make a more rounded contribution at boardroom level regarding talent management strategies to challenge HR and other colleagues.

Article keywords: Talent management, human resources, chief financial officers, Colin Coulson-Thomas, Adaptation, CFO Top International, integrate HR software, employee life cycle

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