Talent management, in all of its various forms, rises and falls depending on how clients perceive its importance at a given time. For high performing companies, it is never too far from the top of the mind.
The talent management services that are wanted and needed by a client can vary by the market position of the enterprise. According to the i4cp survey on The Critical Human Capital Issues of 2011, the top issues change in order of importance between higher and lower performing companies:
Higher Performers Lower Performers
1. Succession planning 1. Strategy execution/alignment
2. Leadership development 2. Managing/coping with change
3. Talent management 3. Leadership development
4. Performance management 4. Talent management
5. Knowledge retention 5. Innovation and creativity
While many companies are returning to plans for growth, others are still struggling with getting performance improvement.
As the economy recovers, it will once again be harder to attract and retain needed talent. Aon Hewitt’s 2011 Talent Survey shows that engagement levels remain low, that there is a lack of confidence that leaders will retain their critical talent, and that middle management will be essential to business strategy execution and engaging the workforce.
Combine these items with an assessment of a client’s outsourcing maturity and a service provider can shape an offer to show how its services can meet the current and future needs of the client. For example, managing the succession pool for the very top deck is easy enough to do without commercial tools, but it is harder to gain visibility into middle and direct management, or hard to source jobs, without supporting tools and access to standardized organizational data sources.
A company low in outsourcing maturity and lower in performance within its markets may just need a few basic tools to increase process efficiency at the lowest possible cost. Anything too complex may go largely unused and bring complaints of being oversold or not worth the price. The highest warning signals must go to a lower performing organization that does not understand the roles that only its own managers can play – the best HRO services in the world cannot substitute for leadership and this is especially quickly apparent in the talent management arena.
A higher performing company with a trusted HRO service provider partner may be ready to add a fully integrated talent management suite (perhaps with consulting services) to connect with and add value to existing services, and use advanced workforce analytics to attract, retain, and develop talent for the future and for today’s business results. Here, the client/HRO partnership can be nicely synergistic, enhancing both parties.
Companies ready to improve performance and grow are great candidates for HRO. Just be sure to understand each clients starting position and show how HRO services and partnerships can help each one reach its various goals with a service plan and path that is just right for them.
Linda Merritt, Research Director, HRO, NelsonHall
HRO Insights 
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