age of talent

8/9/2019 Age of Talent

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The Role of HR in the Age of TalentA Report from the Human Capital Institute & Vurv Technology


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When Keith Hammonds made this provocative

statement three years ago, the US had only recently

shaken o the economic eects o the dot-com

implosion and September 11. Since then, the global market or

competent, skilled talent has gone rom emergent to intense.

Between May 2006 and today, unemployment among our-

year college graduates in the U.S. has averaged about 1.8

percent. In poll ater poll, CEOs and corporate board membersrank acquiring, retaining and engaging talent as the most

challenging business problem they ace. In 2007, the Economist

Intelligence Unit reported that human capital risks, related to

loss o key personnel, skills shortages and succession issues

had become the number one risk to global business operations.

At the same time, Deloitte reported that among its Technology

Fast 500, the greatest challenge to continued growth was in

nding enough talent.

There have been countless books, articles and reports

produced in the past ew years echoing the above and arguing

that talent is now the key driver o our global knowledge

economy. But the challenges are not limited to scarcity. The

makeup o the workorce itsel is becoming more complex,

while globalization, shiting competition and the need toinnovate test organizations talent to the limits. Thus, talent

management is not only among the newest and most important

business disciplines; it may also be the most esoteric and

dicult o sciences.

Yet it remains an open question as to who will lead talent

management in organizations. Hammonds quote above is

undoubtedly one-sided but it contains more than a grain o

truth. A similar sentiment was expressed in a Fortune Magazine

article in 1996 in which the author described HR as the last

bureaucracy and recommended that it be blown up.

Will HR take advantage o the tremendous opportunity that

our nascent Age o Talent presents or will it remain a dark

bureaucratic orce? One thing is clear, according to the almost

800 respondents to our survey; HR is not a career graveyard.

Overwhelmingly, it is a discipline o choice or proessionals and

executives seeking dynamic challenges and a role that ts their

background, education and career aspirations.

As the questions surrounding talent management mount,

how HR responds will determine the direction in which the

proession will evolve. And there are just two possibilities up

or out. This paper examines which scenario is the more likely.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (see: www.bls.gov)

Best Practice in Risk Management, The Economist intelligence Unit, 2007

Growing their own Nurturing talent in a tough environment, 2007 Global Survey

of CEOs in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500

1.

2.

3. Taking on the Last Bureaucracy, Thomas A. Stewart, Fortune Magazine, January 15,

1996

4.

The human resources trade long ago proved itself,

at best, a necessary evil and at worst, a darkbureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical

rules, resists creativity and impedes constructive

change. it is a career graveyard for people who cant

make it in other parts of the business.

~ Why We Hate HR, Fast Company Magazine, Aug. 2005


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The comments above are on dierent ends o the spectrum

but they are representative o the more than 200 that were

submitted by HR and non-HR proessionals or this report.

HR is a proession in transition. Despite C-level consensus

that talent is the pre-eminent dierentiator the last source ocompetitive advantage in our service and knowledge economy

HR still does not enjoy the respect that other parts o the

business have long been used to.

HR challenges are getting respect. The term Talent

Management is now part o the corporate lexicon and has

become a board level concern. Yet the HR proession, which

evolved rom personnel in the 80s and 90s, seems unable

to make a denitive move up the corporate ladder in prestige

or infuence. In some ways, its almost as i corporate leaders

have made a collective, unconscious decision that talent

management is too important to be let to HR.

Progressive and credible HR executives agree at least in

part. Across the board, leaders say that talent management isthe most dicult, least understood and most important thing

or organizations to master. Accordingly, the most successul

organizations make talent management a priority or every

leader, manager and supervisor while leveraging the expertise

o a reinvented (and oten biurcated) HR group. This, and the

points below, represent the central ndings rom our study.

Other key ndings include the ollowing:

HR is making progress. 66% o respondents state that H

is either respected or highly respected and occasionally o

requently consulted on corporate strategy.

However

Across multiple measures o business prociency and

knowledge, there is an alarming lack o expertise among

senior HR leadership.

Despite the impact and importance o globalization, HR is

on the sidelines. It is regularly involved and consulted on

global strategy less than one-third o the time, even where

it directly eects the workorce.

Respondents top current challenges are attracting and

engaging talent, succession planning, and leadership

identication & development. Over the next three years,

respondents expect specic skills shortages, nding

leaders and successors, and retaining & engaging toptalent to be their main challenges.

But HR is unprepared or the uture. Less than

one in ve respondents assess their organizatio

as being prepared or well-prepared to

address their key current and uture challenges.

We have made great strides in moving from a traditional

benets/comp group to a business partner, with strong

growth in learning, leadership and talent. Developing

a comprehensive people strategy is one of the top three

executive goals for 2007-08.


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Part One: The State of HR

Virtually all o the HR proessionals, managers and executives

who responded to our survey are in HR or Talent Management

by choice. For most, their HR career journey is linked to their

educational choices. For many, the proession represents one

o the most important and dynamic parts o the organization.

Few are in HR because they see it as a ast track to senior

executive ranks. A sizable group claims that they arent in HR

anymore, theyre in Talent Management (gure one).

HR is changing prooundly. Its slow march to strategic

relevance has been hampered as much by its negative

reputation as by economic setbacks that periodically diminishits urgency. Nevertheless, solid gains have been made.

Despite the act that only about 15% o organizations employ

a chie level ocer or HR or talent management (gure two

above) almost 60% o heads o HR report directly to the CEO

(gure three).

Figure Two: What position represents the head o HR in

your organization?

Figure Three: Who does the head o HR report to in your

organization?

HR Transformation v2.0: Its all about the business, Mercer Human Resource

Consulting, 2006

Lawler, E. E., III and Mohrman, S. A. (2003). Creating a Strategic Human Resources

Organization: An Assessment of Trends and New Directions. Palo Alto: Stanford

University Press.

Note that our questions were aimed more at understanding mindset than in

calculating time spent in various activities.

5.

6.

7.

Figure one: Why are you in the HR proession?


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More impressive is the growing appreciation or HR at the

strategic level. A ull two-thirds o respondents said that HR is

either important, respected and occasionally consulted with

on corporate strategy or very important, highly respected and

consulted with requently on corporate strategy. (gure our

below)

These ndings are nearly identical to Mercer Consultings 2006

survey results on HR transormation in which 67% stated that

HR is seen as a strategic partner and participates in strategy

decisions and/or strategy discussions.

According to our respondents, the mindset o HR is slowlybecoming more strategic as well. Across a range o ten

questions which asked respondents where they ocus their

time, the results were almost evenly split. The ratio o what can

be termed an HR mindset versus a talent management mindset

is about 50/50 (see gure ve and appendix one or results rom

each question).

While direct comparisons are impossible, these results

contrast sharply with ndings rom research conducted by

USC proessors Lawler and Mohrman in 2003, which reported

that, at that time, only about one-th o HRs time was spent

on strategic work. Findings rom the previously cited 2006

Mercer study, on the other hand, were very similar (a 50-50

split). While being hal-strategic is no cause or celebration,

it does appear to represent progress compared to Lawler andMohrmans ndings rom our years ago.

What is Human Capital &

Talent Management?

Human Capital Management is a new busi

paradigm that considers people to represe

capital asset, rather than a set o costs. It i

oundational concept or talent managem

in that leaders must adopt a new mindset

practices to replace the century-old imper

or cost control, with a new economy ocu

investment return and business impact.

Talent Management is a new business sci

that integrates workorce planning, acquis

development, mobility and measurement in

strategic discipline that spans unctional and optimizes talent throughout the empl

liecycle. Talent Management enables leade

create competitive advantage through eng

ment, and the application o intellect and inn

tion in a global, interconnected economy. E

tive talent management is integrated and ali

with the organizations mission, core object

values and capabilities.

Figure Five: In my organization, HR is more ocused on:

HCI VIEWPOINT

Figure Four: In the view o the C level executive team, HR in my

organization is:


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External forces will

inevitably play a part in

shaping the evolution of

the HR profession, but HRexecutives must also drive

the necessary changes.


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HR Leadership

External orces will inevitably play a part in shaping the

evolution o the HR proession, but HR executives must also

drive the necessary changes. A daunting set o skills andknowledge will be required or success. The modern talent

management executive will be multidisciplinary a strategist,

psychologist, salesperson, speaker, leader, coach, consultant,

and among the organizations most knowledgeable authority

on globalization, outsourcing, sustainability, corporate social

responsibility, technology, nance and governance. O course,

HR leaders now and in the uture must also be masters o the

organizations business and its industry.

In this regard especially, the proession is not poised or a

quick transormation. More than hal o our respondents are HR

executives, yet they judged themselves nearly as harshly as did

HR managers and practitioners when it came to assessing their

prociency and knowledge across a range o business arenas

(gure six).

Senior HR leaders were judged least knowledgeable on matters

pertaining to globalization, outsourcing, workorce integration

(post merger) and nancial acumen (see appendix two or

complete results). In aggregate, leaders were assessed as

expert only 22% o the time across a range o eight related

questions. Worse, non-HR respondents rated HR leaders as

expert in just 15% o scenarios (gure six).

Figure Six: Profciency and Knowledge o the Senior

HR Team

59 of our respondents were practitioners, managers and executives

from outside of North America (45 of whom were from Australia andNew Zealand).

HR reports directly to the CEO in 71% of companies in ANZ versus

58% in NA.

78% of respondents from ANZ claim that HR is either respected or

highly respected and occasionally or frequently consulted on corporate

strategy versus 64% in NA.

32% from ANZ assess their organizations as being well prepared or

very well-prepared to address coming talent management challenges

versus 18% in North America.

Ahead DownUnder?


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Part Two: HR Challenges

In an article or the Harvard Business Review published in

2005, Felix Barber and Rainer Stack o the Boston Consulting

Group said that today:

even slight changes in employee

productivity have a signifcant impact on

shareholder returns.

They were commenting on the remarkable increase inpeople costs versus capital costs most organizations have

experienced over the past two decades.

The authors went on to note that the critical resource o

most businesses is no longer capital, but employees who

must be motivated and retained. They said, the act that

companies dont own their employees, as they do their capital

assets, is why most methods or valuing human capital on

balance sheets are so tortuous.

Torturous as it no doubt is, talent management is with

measurement, analysis and act-based decision-making.

This transormation rom art to science will be among the

most dicult or HR to make. As the results rom gure seven

(opposite) demonstrate, less than a quarter o HR leaders

have the nancial competencies necessary to speak the

language o business.

Results rom related questions (see appendix 2) are very

similar, in that only 26% o HR leaders were judged expert

in measurement/reporting and data analysis and just

24% expert in demonstrating the value o HR and talent

management to the organization.

Beyond nance and measurement, HR will be challenged, like

the rest o the business, to oresee, respond to and act on the

threats and opportunities brought on by globalization.

These challenges are as yet barely understood. For western

workorces, globalization accelerates the imperative or

innovation, creativity and productivity. For stewards otalent, it demands a deeper understanding o international

economics, laws and culture, as well as a range o new

expertise in issues as esoteric as captive versus third-

party oshoring.

On the series o questions related to global talent

management and business (including global sourcing

o talent, oreign assignments, cross-border mergers &

acquisitions, and global talent management processes and

practices) HR is apparently involved in less than one-third o

initiatives (gure eight).

Figure Seven: Profciency and Knowledge o the Senior

HR Team

Figure Eight: HR Involvement in Global Talent Management


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Financial acumen will

be more important to HR

professionals when senior

line managers start to

recognize that we have anancial impact, HR is stil

often viewed as transaction

and process oriented.

~ Lester Levine, Director of HR at Day & Zimm

Given the importance o global business and the critical need

or organizations to compete internationally or talent - including

remote virtual workorce acquisition and management - it is

somewhat alarming that HR is so ar behind in this respect.

(For results rom the series o nine questions related to global

business and talent management, see appendix three).

In addition to a more global workorce, organizations today

and in the years to come will surely see greater diversity, inpart related to the aging workorce. There are today more

women, more visible and ethnic minorities, more generations

in the workorce and more disparate types o workers rom

contingent to virtual than ever. This trend is accelerating aster

than most organizations can respond.

Nevertheless, despite media coverage and the warnings o

pundits; act-based HR, the aging workorce and globalization

are, according to our respondents, not among HRs greatest

immediate challenges.

As in recent years, talent attraction, employee engagement

and talent retention are at the top o the list o HR and Talent

Management challenges with succession planning a close

ourth (gure 9 below). Each is likely related to the broaderchallenges above, yet, it would appear that HRs ocus is still

predominantly short-term and somewhat tactical.

Figure Nine: HRs Greatest Current Challenges


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On a more positive note, respondents reported that HR is

signicantly involved in the decision making process around

workorce re-alignment events. Where mergers & acquisitions,

workorce reductions and outsourcing, or example, are

considered in organizations, HR is invited to the table usually

or always, 63% o the time (gure ten).

However, in ranking the prociency o senior HR leaders

in change management, a vital ingredient in workorcerealignments, only 27% were rated expert (gure eleven).

In addition to ranking their top HR and talent management

challenges (gure eight) respondents also rated eighteen HR/

TM areas as to whether they represented key challenges over

the next three years.

The top three anticipated challenges were, in order: Specic

Skills/Talent Shortages, Retaining Top Talent, and Shallow

Leadership Pools/Lack o Qualied Successors (gures twelve

through ourteen).

Figure Ten: HR Involvement in Decision-Making Beore

Major Workorce Re-Alignments

Figure Eleven: On Change Management, how would you

rate the senior HR team in your organization in terms o

profciency and knowledge?

Figure Twelve: Specifc Skills/Talent

shortages: #1 Challenge in Next

three years

Of real concern is

HRs apparent lack ofreadiness to meet their

top challenges over the

next three years

Figure Thirteen: Retaining Top Talent:

#2 Challenge in Next Three Years

Figure Fourteen: Shallow Leadership

Pools and Lack o Qualifed Successors:

#3 Challenge in Next Three Years


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Equally telling are the respondents bottom three concerns.

O eighteen measures, the survey group ranked Oshoring/Outsourcing as the least worrisome by a wide margin.

Finding Talent and Leaders with Global Management Skills,

and Finding Flexible Work Arrangements and Policies

to Attract and Retain Older Workers were the next least

important issues in order.

Consistent with their response to immediate challenges,

survey takers expect to prioritize talent acquisition, retention

and succession planning or the next three years while de-

emphasizing global workorce issues and specic measures

relative to the aging workorce.

When asked What are the 3 most challenging types

o questions you receive rom the C-Suite in relation to

talent? the results were also consistent. Senior executives

appear to be most concerned with talent acquisition and

retention ollowed distantly by leadership identication and

development, workorce planning and succession planning.

Executives question HR the least around matters o corporate

social responsibility, corporate governance and payroll

management.

O real concern is HRs apparent lack o readiness to meet

their top challenges over the next three years despite

these also being key present day challenges and those

most important to their senior leadership. According to

respondents, less than one i ve assess their organization as

being well prepared or very well prepared to address these

challenges (gure thirteen).

HRs top challenges knowledge worker attraction &retention along with leadership succession will almost

certainly grow worse (as our survey takers predict). The global

market or competent, skilled workers is getting tighter; while

at the same time, the developed world is shedding as much

o the repetitive, low-end work it can. All the while, we

constantly raise the bar on what we consider talent.

As other surveys clearly demonstrate, talent attraction and

retention is not only about compensation. While salary,

bonuses and benets play a major and important role, the

workplace environment, relationships and the quality o

leadership are even more important. Knowledge workers

Failure to change

may threaten the very

existence of organizations,

forcing executives in

those companies toremove responsibility

for human capital

management from HR.

Figure thirteen: How prepared is your organization to

meet the challenges you agreed with or strongly agreedwith above?

want competitive pay & benets this is a talent management

science unto itsel but beyond compensation, they want thei

work to appeal to higher order infuences, they want to be

inspired and challenged and they want to be led by competent

credible leaders that respect their autonomy while leading by

example.

It isnt surprising that HR practitioners and leaders eel

unprepared to deliver on these challenges they are complex.However, crunch time, i it hasnt already arrived, is coming

soon, and HR must prepare quickly.

Although the term has been used or at least a decade,

perhaps the simplest way to describe whats needed is

HR Transormation. In short, HR must be complemented

by a strategic talent management capability i it is going to

overcome its challenges and rise in the organization. Failure

to change may threaten the very existence o organizations,

orcing executives in those companies to remove responsibility

or human capital management rom HR and assign it to a mor

strategic capable part o the operation.


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The View from the Outside:HR is not its own Harshest CriticO the respondents to our survey, 117 were non-HR executives, managers and practitioners. By most

measures, HRs colleagues rom across the organization assess HR ar more critically than does HR.

Over 70% o HR respondents

stated that their proession is either

respected or highly respected and

occasionally or requently consulted

on corporate strategy.

Among non-HR respondents,

this number ell to just 36% and

one-third believe HR is viewed as

inconsequential, unimportant or not

even on the radar.

Across a range o eight questions

related to key business issues, HR

respondents rated HR leaders as

experts 25% o the time and as

novices 24% o the time. Non-HR

respondents assessed HR leaders

as novices in 43% o the areas

presented, and as experts only 15%

o the time. In both cases, HR leaders

were judged weakest in matters

pertaining to global business.

HR and non-HR respondents

are closer in their assessment o

organizations preparedness to

address their most pressing talent

management challenges. However,

non-HR respondents remain more

pessimistic. 25% say the organization

is unprepared or severely unprepared,

versus only 15% o HR respondents.


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Part Three: HR Technology

The reasons in which HR ails in organizations are likely to include too little or too poor use o HR and talent management

technologies.

HR has long lagged in its adoption and use o technology. In recent years, the gap with the rest o the organization has begun to

close, however, as better tools have become available the advantages o using them more evident.

The Sotware as a Service (SaaS) model, available almost since the advent o the World Wide Web, has also made powerul talent

management and HR technologies more accessible by lowering costs and getting around the need to support, host and maintain

complex systems.

Survey respondents did not rank Technical expertise (using HR/TM technology) high among their greatest challenges now or over

the next three years. Nor did they believe it was a top immediate challenge (gure ourteen opposite). However, only 27% elt that H

leadership had expert prociency in TM/HR technology (gure teen).

Figure Fourteen: Is Understanding and Leveraging the

Changing TM/HR Technology Landscape a Top Challenge?

Figure Fiteen: HR Leadership Ranking in Knowledge and

Profciency o HR/TM Technology

One of the reasons were

not there yet is we need the

right platforms for talent

management. The platformmust be integrated and I hope

the HR technology vendors

will solve that for us. We need

systems for acquisition, HRIS,

performance management,

learning, succession, and

measurement, and they needto be integrated. I can tell

you there is no one integrated

platform despite all the talk

and promises.

~ Amanda Hahn, Director HR, Aramark


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Applicant Tracking, Perormance Management and Learning

Systems are the top three TM/HR technologies currently

deployed. They are ollowed closely by HR Sel-Service.

It is interesting to note that over the next twelve months;

Succession Planning and Perormance management are, by a

wide margin, the most likely to be implemented. A signicant

number also plan to deploy HR sel service. The next largest

groups report that no new HR or TM technology will be

introduced in the next 12 months.It is encouraging that the vast majority o organizations

currently use multiple talent management technologies and are

planning to implement more in the coming year. However, the

act that strategic tools, like workorce planning technologies,

are low on both current and uture lists is both surprising and

disappointing because workorce planning is undamental to

talent management and because it appears to be a top concern

o senior management.

Moreover, despite HRs concerns around talent acquisition,

respondents are taking little advantage o Web 2.0

technologies such as social networking tools, blogs, wikis

or virtual worlds to gain an edge in attracting talent. The

mainstream appears to be making the same mistake it did

twelve years ago in panning the Internet as a source to nd

talent.*

Unortunately, it does not appear that our respondents rated

HR/TM technologies low as challenges because theyvemastered the eld (gure teen previous page). Rather, HR, as

represented by the survey sample, ranks technology low as a

priority in the ace o its other pressing challenges. This short-

term, reactive approach may be akin to patching the potholes

rather than xing the road.

*Almost every organization uses the Internet to recruit today but even a decade ago, only

a small percentage of early adopters were experimenting with online job postings.

Executive Optimism?

About hal o our survey takers were HR directors or above, they were

signicantly more likely to report HR as strategic in the view o the C

suite. HR executives also reported a much greater emphasis on talent

management related activities versus those associated with traditional HR

(see appendix 1 or ull results).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Find ing & Reward ingTop P er f o rm ers M easur ing Qua l i t y o f

Hire, TrainingOut com es &

P roduc t iv i t y

Ret a in ing K eyP er f o rm ers Aligning Talent

M anagem ent w i t h t heB us iness

Work ing w i t hM anagem ent t o shareTa len t M anagem ent

Respons ib i l i t y

HR is More Focused on (%):

HR Executives

O the r


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As of this semester, MBA students at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio canchoose a concentration in Human Resources Management. Professor Gary Stroudwho helped design the program, describes the tremendous response from student

and regional employers as shocking. Stroud says the graduate-level courses focuon talent management and strategy and are meant to prepare graduates for careerexecutive talent management.

His advice to HR executives? The biggest complaint people have is that talent isleaving. Managers have to be responsible for the people working for them what their needs and how can I make that happen? How do you keep talent? You make they have what they need and are rewarded appropriately. HRs main responsibilis to work with managers, coach them, consult with them, teach them how to rewa

and recognize and how to manage talent so that people stay and are productive.

HR MBAs


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Part Four: HR Transformations

Slowly but surely, leaders are coming

to the realization that HR, no matter

how strategic, cannot develop a talent

management operation while burdened

with the day-to-day work o traditional HR.

At the same time, there cannot be talent management

without HR. Payroll, benets, compliance, and the countless

daily transactions and records kept by HR are vital.

Organizations can maintain a ull HR operation in house oroutsource it completely, but they must have HR managed

expertly in order to restructure around the new paradigm o

human capital management.

To assess the progress o HR in these regards, we asked

respondents a series o questions. When asked to describe

their most signicant or innovative initiatives in HR or talent

management over the previous twelve months, the largest

group pointed to initiatives related to leadership identication

and development. Talent acquisition related initiatives and

those related to implementing an HR or TM technology

were second and third respectively. Initiatives related

to HR Transormation (i.e. HR to Talent Management)

ranked seventh overall o twenty-six options (gure sixteen

opposite).

HR transormation is built on three main pillars: Alignment

with the business, Talent Management Integration and

the transer o as much day-to-day talent management as

possible to line managers.

On these ronts, our results are mixed. HR appears to ocus

energies on aligning talent management initiatives with key

business objectives; about 65% reported an emphasis on this

approach. Similarly, about 65% reported a ocus on working

with executives, managers and supervisors to transer HR

knowledge and to share talent management responsibility.

Respondents also ranked Building an Integrated TalentManagement Operation relatively high in priorities over

the next three years. Paradoxically, Creating Buy-In and

Partnership or HR with Line Managers and Supervisors and

Creating Buy-In and Partnership or HR With the C Suite

were both middle o the pack priorities among respondents.

Figure Sixteen: signifcant or innovative initiatives executed

in the last 12 months


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Im not interested in a maintenance job and wouldnt

have joined if we didnt have a serious commitment

to HR transformation. We had to do things more

efciently to free up time for the value added piecesand to be more involved with managers and employees

for coaching and partnership. We opted not to

outsource. Instead, we have invested in technology

and it has has given us a huge boost. We look to

see where we can automate, where we can deploy

transactional work to support staff. We also use someemployee and manager self-service. Some of the

changes weve made are minor but if you do enough,

they add up, and what youre buying is time, the time

to add value in strategic ways.

~ Freddie Jacobs, Vice President, OD, Mutual Trust Financial Group


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Overall, based on results rom this study, HRs progress is not

entirely discouraging. As above, despite ranking the prociency

and knowledge o HR leaders airly low against most measures

o talent management and business acumen, HR itsel appears

to be gaining respect and credibility in most organizations. It is

dicult to determine whether this is due to the eorts o HR or

more so to the attention talent and human capital has been

receiving over the past several years.

One thing is clear, the gap in awareness between talent

management and HR, is narrowing, as is the time spent in

each activity. Results rom Lawler and Mohrmans work in

2003 compared to the ndings in Mercers 2006 report (both

reerenced above) and this study, provide evidence o a

signicant shit in HRs attention toward talent management.

Nevertheless, HR has a long way to go in preparing itsel or

the human capital related challenges acing organizations. Most

respondents say that HR is getting there when it comes to

being prepared or the challenges o today and over the next

three years. However, the challenges are already here and

growing in urgency.

It is not enough or HR to ocus only on putting out todays

res. Talent Management means planning strategically or

the uture. For example, executives appear to understand the

need or careul workorce planning. Yet among the top HR/TM

initiatives respondents report or the past year, it barely breaksthe top ten (gure sixteen).

Respondents are involved in the decisions around major

workorce transitions (most o the time) but they seem

relatively unconcerned about their involvement in other parts

o the business that are growing in importance. Globalization,

outsourcing and oshoring, which are among the top concerns

o executives, are near the bottom o the HR agenda, as an

example.

While HRs sluggish use o technology is picking up pace

(the adoption o web-based sotware or talent acquisition,

perormance and learning in particular), HR remains risk averse.

Survey respondents were asked whether their HR organizations

are ocused on Risk-Taking or Risk Avoidance, over 70%chose the latter. This is evidenced also in HRs avoidance o

Web 2.0 technologies. Newer methods, particularly in talent

acquisition, are largely ignored, despite the competitive

advantages possible or early adopters.

Finally, on the question o transormation, the results are

mixed. Eorts are underway, especially in distinct parts o

talent management such as retention, engagement and

talent attraction. Yet, when it comes to the hallmarks o HR

transormation, the components that make it sustainable and

transormational, such as talent management integration,

alignment with the business and the transerence o talent

management responsibilities to line managers, progress is slow.

The Age o Talent is upon us, The HR

proession remains the best suited to lead

their organizations through the associated

challenges and help them achieve competitive

advantage through talent management. But

time is running short. The HR proession must

move orward now in dening a new proession

that can help organizations meet the challenges

o the 21st century.

Summary & Conclusions


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The Human Capital Institute is a global think tank, educator, and proessional association deningthe agenda and setting the pace or the new business science o human capital management.

With over 52,000 members in over 40 countries, HCI oers a new association ramework

that cuts across the silos o recruitment, HR/OD, nance, sales and marketing, operations,

manuacturing and IT. We provide key executives, line managers and human capital proessionals

with the newest education, most eective tools and best practices in talent strategy, acquisition,

alignment, engagement, deployment, measurement, and retention.

Through research and collaboration, HCI programs collect original, creative ideas rom a eld

o the brightest thought leaders in talent management. Those ideas are then transormed into

measurable, real-world strategies that help its members attract and retain high-perorming

people, build a diverse, inclusive workplace, and leverage individual and team perormance

throughout the enterprise.

humancapitalinstitute.org

About Human Capital Institute

About the research Between July-August, 2007, The Human Capital Institute (HCI) and Vurv Technologiessurveyed 662 HR practitioners, managers and executives and 117 non-HR

practitioners, managers and executives rom North America, Europe and Asia/Pacic

about their attitudes and experiences related to the role o HR in their organizations.

The typical respondent was an American (84%) HR executive (50.5%) rom a large

organization o more than 20,000 employees (25%). Survey takers represented a wide

range o industries and were asked a total o 62 questions.

HCIs Research Group conducted the survey and interviews (12) and wrote the paper.

HCI and Vurv Technologies thank the survey respondents and interviewees or their

time and insights.

Statistical Validity

The sample size o HR proessionals achieved or this study provides a condence

level o 95% and a condence interval o +/- 4. This means that the answers provided

in this report are representative o the approximately 1,000,000 HR proessionals in

North America, 95% o the time, +/- 4% points. In other words, i 65% o respondents

answered Yes to a question on our survey, there is a 95% chance that i all HR

proessionals in North America were asked the same question, between 61%-69%

would answer Yes.


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Since 2004, Vurvs publicly traded customers have outperormed the DJIA and the S&P 500 stockindices. We believe this is due, in part, to the act that these organizations believe and invest in

their biggest asset, their people.

Vurv is a leading provider o on demand talent management sotware. Our talent management

oerings are delivered through a standard web browser utilizing sotware-as-a-service, without

time consuming and costly investments in IT inrastructure. As a result, companies o all sizes and

industries attract, hire and retain the very best talent.

Vurv.com

About Vurv

About the Author Allan Schweyer is executive director o the Human Capital Institute (HCI), editor oLeadership Excellence: The Journal o Human Capital Management, and author o

the book Talent Management Systems (Wiley & Sons, 2004). He is an internationally

renowned analyst and speaker on the topic o transormational human capital

management or individuals, organizations, regions, and nations. Allans articles and

white papers a pear in dozens o popular media and industry-specic publications

worldwide.

Dr. Katherine Jones is a member o HCIs Research Advisory Board and was principa

advisor to this research study. Dr. Jones is the Director o Marketing or NetSuite,

Inc., a Bay Area company that provides integrated ERP solutions as a hosted service

to middle market enterprises. She was a research director at Aberdeen Group in

Boston or eight years, ocusing on research and consulting services in workorce

management ERP and mid-market companies. She has written widely on many

areas o talent management, technology and business practices. A veteran in

enterprise applications, Jones has been responsible or technical product marketing

and strategic alliance management in several computer companies since 1984. She

ounded Independent Consulting Services in 1994 to provide marketing services to

high tech companies. Prior to a high technology career, Jones was a university dean,

involved in academic administration, research, and teaching. Jones is a requent

speaker and is widely published in the U.S. and abroad. She has a master and

doctorate rom Cornell University.

Acknowledgements:


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Appendix One: HR Focus

In my organization, HR is more ocused on: (please choose the best response)

Ensuring that everyone is treated equitably and airly 390 57%

Rewarding top perormers signicantly better than average and poor perormers 291 43%

Total 681 100%

Measuring quality o hire, training outcomes, time to productivity 303 44%

Measuring time and cost per hire, number o training hours, head count 378 66%

Total 681 100%

Reducing turnover 225 33%

Retaining key perormers 456 67%

Total 681 100%

Understanding HR best practices and benchmarking 262 38%

Aligning talent management initiatives with key business objectives 419 62%

Total 681 100%

Making sure payroll is accurate and on-time, keeping the business out o regulatory trouble 244 36%

Working with executives, managers and supervisors to transer HR knowledge and share talent

Management responsibilty

437 64%

Total 681 100%

Building a competency model, reviewing talent and understanding the makeup o the workorce 412 60%

Building a better annual perormance evaluation process 269 40%

Total 681 100%

Managing and helping underperormers 174 26%

Identiying and developing leaders 507 74%

Total 681 100%

New employee orientation 347 51%

Comprehensive onboarding 334 49%

Total 681 100%

Risk-taking 191 29%

Risk avoidance 490 71%

Total 681 100%

Cost-Cutting 286 42%

Leveraging talent or competitive advantage and career growth 395 58%

Total 681 100%


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Appendix Two: HR Leadership


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Appendix Three:HR Involvement in Global Business & Talent Management

31. To what extent is your HR team involved in the ollowing

global business issues or your organization?

1. Sourcing and hiring talent in a variety o oreign countries.

Not at all 215 35%

Occasionally 169 27%

Regularly 143 23%

N/A 91 15%

Total 618 100%

32. 2. HR is involved in preparing individuals or oreign

assignments and repatriation.

Not at all 211 34%


Regularly 142 23%

N/A 95 16%

Total 618 100%

33. 3. HR gets involved in cross-border mergers &

acquisitions, rom planning through change management and

workorce integration.

Not at all 232 37%


Regularly 135 21%

N/A 108 19%

Total 618 100%

34. 5. HR leaders visit oreign countries to develop global

awareness, assess talent pools, etc.

Not at all 257 42%


Regularly 97 16%

N/A 93 15%

Total 618 100%

35. 6. HR develops methods and strategies to build virtual

global teams and help managers who supervise a globally

disparate and remote workorce.

Not at all 256 41%


Regularly 88 15%

N/A 106 18%

Total 618 100%


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36. 7. HR chooses and helps implement global Talent

Management/HR processes and practices.

Not at all 199 35%


Regularly 183 21%

N/A 80 15%

Total 618 100%

37. 8. HR chooses and helps implement global Talent

Management/HR technologies.

Not at all 209 34%


Regularly 155 25%

N/A 90 15%

Total 618 100%

38. 9. HR assesses and manages competencies or the

workorce globally.

Not at all 219 35%


Regularly 142 23%

N/A 86 14%

Total 618 100%

39. 10. HR manages a centralized global workorce and

succession plan.

Not at all 266 43%


Regularly 128 21%

N/A 90 14%

Total 618 100%


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age of talent

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