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Research Bulletin | 2010

BERSIN & ASSOCIATES

September 2010 Volume 5, Issue 28

Measuring the
Business Impact of
Talent Strategies
About the Author Introduction

For the last few years, business leaders have been asking HR and
talent leaders to provide data that can help them make critical
decisions about their most valuable and costly resources – employees.
Based on Bersin & Associates research, more than 70 percent of
global organisations are still facing the same challenges with talent
management measurement. More than 87 percent of these global
Stacey Harris,
Principal Analyst organisations feel that the data needed to conduct any form of
workforce analysis is only somewhat accessible or not accessible at all.1

Today, those HR leaders who have invested in integrated talent


management strategies, process improvement and integrated
systems are beginning to answer business leaders’ requests (see
Figure 1). More importantly, those organisations that have invested
in a true talent management measurement strategy spend less time
managing expectations and more time helping their senior leaders
make sound business decisions.

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1
WWW.BERSIN.COM This research is based on the information gathered via the Talent Management
Strategy Assessment tool, discussed further in this research bulletin.

BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2010


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Figure 1: Business Questions and Business Impact

Business Questions Business Impact

Who are my highest-performing Puma can now readily identify the talented
employees2 and are they at risk? individuals who are key to its future success and
groom employees for management positions
– providing them with targeted training and
support as they take on senior roles.

How do I improve the Clipper Group is able to remunerate staff


performance of my low according to their contributions to the
performers and increase company, which has resulted in an increase in
opportunities for my high staff motivation.
performers? Clipper was able to reduce the global salary bill
How do we reduce costs in non- due to targeted compensation efforts.
essential business functions?

How do we locate the right Checkpoint managers view employees’


talent and onboard them rapidly performance at a glance, identifying critical
to meet new needs? talent, and supporting the need for recruiting,
retaining and motivating the best talent in its
competitive market.

How do we maintain and Kruger products found that greater clarity


improve management capabilities in identifying key talent drivers improved
and engagement? employee relations, enhanced career prospects
and let people see where they stood when it
came to receiving a bonus. Kruger Products was
140 percent above budgeted revenue last year
due in great part to improved performance and
engagement.

Source: Lumesse Customer Insights, 2010 (formerly known as StepStone Solutions).

At the beginning of the summer of 2009, halfway through one of


the most difficult economic years in recent memory, both Bersin &
Associates and Lumesse (formerly known as StepStone Solutions)
embarked on a collaborative effort to provide a free, initial Talent
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC
6114 LA SALLE AVENUE Management Strategy Assessment tool for companies in need of an
SUITE 417 individual self-assessment of their organisations’ talent strategies.
OAKLAND, CA 94611
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2
A “high performer” is an employee who is a key contributor, demonstrates high
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performance, is capable of a lateral move, may be qualified for a broader role within the same
WWW.BERSIN.COM profession; and, has reached the potential to move “upward’ in a management capacity.

Measuring the Business Impact of Talent Strategies


Stacey Harris | Page 2
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More than 1,000 organisations in 20 different countries took advantage


KEY POINT
of the online Talent Strategy Assessment tool, offered in five languages.

More than 1,000 The assessment was designed to ask 19 critical questions that focused
on business alignment, leadership, technology, process integration and
organisations in 20
measurement. Independently, organisations were able to identify the
different countries
strengths and weaknesses of their talent strategies, as compared with
took advantage
Bersin & Associates best-practice organisations.
of the online
Last year, we took the opportunity to aggregate the assessment findings
Talent Strategy
in a research bulletin called, Should Your Talent Management Strategy
Assessment tool.
Be Regionalised?3 Now, we have taken a deeper dive into this data
to look at the talent management measurement strategies of these
organisations and the best practices for measuring the business impact
of talent management strategies.

The analysis of aggregated assessment data, and a recent Bersin &


Associates survey on talent and learning measurement, coupled with
insights from Bersin & Associates analysts and Lumesse consultants,
offered unique insights into talent management measurement practices
and strategies across individual countries and industries, including:

• Top critical talent metrics on executive scorecards;

• The top talent management measures of business impact;

• Differences between regional and industry-specific approaches to


measuring talent management;

• The role of annual talent planning in measurement reviews and


process improvement efforts; and,

• The best practice elements of a talent management


measurement strategy.

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(510) 654-8500 For more information, Should Your Talent Strategy Be Regionalised?,
Bersin & Associates / Stacey Harris, September 28, 2009. Available to research
INFO@BERSIN.COM members at www.bersin.com/library.
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What Metrics Inform Leadership Decisions Today?

Employee engagement was clearly the most often tracked and used
KEY POINT
talent management measurement for the 1,000 global respondents of
the assessment. This measure is seen today as one of the key indicators
Companies
of the health and wellness of organisations by their HR functions, as
have identified
well as by business leaders and board members. Engagement metrics
engagement
are seen as a gauge to critical organisational issues, such as:
metrics as a key
component of
• Manager capabilities and opportunities for high performers;

ensuring that their • Validation for system and process improvement efforts; and,
workforces have
• Insights into how connected employees are to the company’s goals
the leadership,
and direction.
tools, resources
and motivators Companies (such as Phillips and WellPoint) have identified engagement
metrics as a key component of ensuring their workforces have the
necessary to meet
leadership, tools, resources and motivators necessary to meet the
the organisations’
organisations’ goals. Survey respondents felt that the employee
goals.
engagement metric was the top talent measurement of business impact
for their organisations.

More than 65 percent of our survey respondents noted that employee


engagement surveys were seen as very important or important to their
senior executives and managers. Of those organisations that have
an executive-level scorecard4, 71 percent also stated that employee
engagement ended up on their executive scorecards.

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“Executive scorecards” are reports that include a summary of metrics evaluated at the
SUITE 417 highest levels of the organisation and are used to track the progress of critical business
OAKLAND, CA 94611 goals, such as annual growth, customer satisfaction ratings, average production outputs or
(510) 654-8500 leadership bench strength.

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Figure 2: Executive Scorecard Metrics

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.

Additional metrics often viewed by senior leaders include retention


rates and performance ratings, as seen in Figure 2. Many of these
metrics are individual snapshots that often only provide a single point
of reference for leadership decisions. The real value of these metrics
can be found when they are combined with business data, as well as
trended over time.

Talent Management Measures of Business Impact

Employee engagement is not only the top metric viewed at the business
leader level, it was also identified by 57 percent of HR leaders as the
number one indicator of the business impact of talent management
strategies, as seen in Figure 3. Many organisations have done extensive
work in tying their employee engagement metrics to critical business
data. One example is a large global financial organisation that was able
to correlate critical goal attainment in both its corporate and financial
business units to employee engagement – and ultimately tied improved
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC
6114 LA SALLE AVENUE engagement scores to organisational revenue.
SUITE 417
Employee turnover / exit interview data is the second highest metric
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(510) 654-8500 used to gauge the impact of talent management strategies by the
INFO@BERSIN.COM survey respondents, with more than 51 percent of them selecting it as a
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Figure 3: Top Talent Measures for Business Impact

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.

This is traditionally one of the easiest data points to capture for


KEY POINT
many organisations, and is often used only as a lagging indicator
of overall employee engagement or management issues. Forward-
Forward-thinking
thinking organisations also look at exit interview data to trend
organisations look
and track the reasons for turnover in particular areas, such as poor
at exit interview
management capabilities, lack of opportunities for growth and lack
data to trend and of development. If combined with other talent management data,
track the reasons organisations can begin to use these insights as a tool to identify
for turnover in required actions for proactively meeting talent management challenges,
particular areas, as seen in Figure 4.
such as poor
management
capabilities,
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growth and lack of
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Figure 4: Combining Turnover and Talent Management Metrics Leads to Actionable5 Data

High-Potential
= The need for high-potential development opportunities
Employees6

Performance Rating The need to improve the connection between


=
Turnover / Data performance evaluations and compensation
Exit Interview X
Data Succession Planning
= The need for multilevel succession plans
Data

The need to target competency development areas that


Competency Data =
are lacking in the organisation

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.

KEY POINT
Case in Point: Clipper Group
The Clipper Group’s
Clipper Group is a global shipping consortium headquartered in
strategy and efforts
Denmark, with operations throughout Europe, North America
have helped shift
and the Far East.
the focus of its HR
The group undertook a review of its HR function and its
strategies to value-
approach to talent management, following a decade of boom
creation within the
and corresponding growth in the workforce. The resulting
organisation – strategy aimed to streamline processes, improve efficiency,
which has led reduce operating costs and implement sound practices to attract
to proactive and retain talent – ensuring that Clipper Group could continue
management of to compete in the fast-paced global market, and respond rapidly
to changing client needs and economic conditions.
business units
experiencing Today, the company has integrated annual goal-setting and
higher-than-normal performance reviews in remuneration decisions. This has been a
significant change for the company that has resulted in the
staff turnover
and an overall
reduction
BERSIN of
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5
“Actionable information” provides data that can be used to make specific business
6114 LAbySALLE
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decisions. Actionable information is specific, consistent and credible.
percent. SUITE 417
OAKLAND, CA 94611 6
A “high-potential employee” is an employee who has been identified as having the
(510) 654-8500 potential, ability and aspiration for successive leadership positions within the company.
Often, these employees are provided with focused development as part of a succession plan
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and are referred to as “HiPos.”
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Case in Point: Clipper Group (cont’d)

employees adopting a more focused and goal-oriented approach


to their jobs. Additionally, Clipper Group is able to remunerate
staff according to their contributions, which has resulted in an
increase in staff motivation. Similarly, the company can identify
key revenue generators, and put in place suitable plans to
appropriately reward and retain these individuals. This has not
only reduced costs (by minimising unnecessary recruitment fees),
but it has also helped the company to retain its most valuable
staff. Turnover was reduced by five percent in 2009. Through the
processes and tools, managers are more rigorously monitored and
retention rates tracked. Business units experiencing higher-than-
normal staff turnover can be quickly identified and corrective
action taken. This reduces the costs associated with staff turnover,
particularly when this occurs after short periods of tenure.

The Clipper Group’s strategy and efforts have helped shift


the focus of its HR strategies to value-creation within the
organisation – and has encouraged the business to adopt a
longer-term perspective on growth. The emphasis on value-
creation has helped the business to weather the recession and
continues to provide clear business impact. e

Metrics should only be used to make critical decisions and take action
upon if they are:

• Measured over a period of time;

• Include a large enough volume to ensure that the data is sound


and credible; and,

• Include the capability to drill deeply enough into the data to see
patterns based on demographics, such as talent segments, regions
or business units.
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Internal mobility, leadership capability and employee promotability are
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the next three most often utilised metrics, as seen in Figure 3. These
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OAKLAND, CA 94611
three metrics all deal with ensuring an organisation is prepared for the
(510) 654-8500 future. For most organisations, actions associated with these critical
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metrics focus on providing additional development and succession


KEY POINT
planning opportunities.

According to Bersin According to Bersin & Associates research7, organisations that have a
& Associates talent management strategy which includes effective development
research, planning activities clearly showed improved business metrics in areas,
organisations such as median revenue per employee and voluntary turnover rates –
over those organisations that lacked standard development planning
that have a talent
processes and measurement within their organisations’ talent strategies
management
strategy which Of the assessment respondents who were asked, “How does your
includes effective organisation ensure retention of high-performing and high-potential

development employees?,“ 68 percent said through pay for performance and 64


percent via development opportunities. Helping business leaders decide
planning activities
where and when they should invest in additional compensation or costly
clearly showed
development efforts is a great opportunity to add value and improve
improved business
the overall business impact of your company’s talent strategy.
metrics.

Case in Point: PUMA

PUMA is a sport-lifestyle brand that has evolved over the past


15 years into a global corporation with more than 10,000
employees. Today, the company designs, develops and markets
a wide range of shoes, clothing and accessories, and distributes
its products in more than 130 countries. Headquartered in
Herzogenaurach, Germany, its revenues for fiscal year 2008 were
more than €2.5 billion.

PUMA‘s corporate HR team worked closely with local HR


managers to define the business requirements needed for its

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For more information, 2010 Talent Management Factbook®: Best Practices and
(510) 654-8500 Benchmarks in Talent Management, Bersin & Associates / Karen O’Leonard, July 2010.
INFO@BERSIN.COM Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library or for purchase at www.bersin.
com/tmfactbook.
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Case in Point: PUMA (cont’d)

talent management people@puma. This system covers the


complete talent management process from performance
management through to competency reviews and development
evaluations The talent management solution gives senior
management and the board a complete view of employees
performance and potential across the PUMA group.

The company is reducing its costs and reliance on external


recruitment agencies by improving staff retention and promoting
from within PUMA. Most importantly, it can now readily identify
the talented individuals who are key to its future success. PUMA
can groom employees for management positions, and provide
them with targeted training and support as they take on more
senior roles. PUMA managers can more easily analyse and
compare compensation packages, allowances and bonuses. As the
director of corporate human resources explained,

“With people@puma, we can nurture valuable

KEY POINT talent within the organisation in a focused and


differentiated way.“ e
Metrics (such as
diversity, talent
Regional and Industry-Specific Approaches
mobility and
to Measurement
engagement) could
have very different Most organisations today have a global and diverse business audience –

interpretations
and metrics traditionally tracked at the enterprise level may need to be
viewed differently at a regional level. Metrics, such as diversity, talent
when viewed
mobility and engagement, could have very different interpretations
through cultural
when viewed through cultural norms, regional economic challenges
norms, regional
or even country-specific labour expectations. The ability to provide
economic regionalised and business-unit-specific views of talent management
challenges or measurement data is critical when sharing data with business leaders
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC who are making decisions that will affect workers around the globe.
even country-
6114 LA SALLE AVENUE
specific labour
SUITE 417 We looked at the data from the top five countries responding to our
expectations.
OAKLAND, CA 94611 survey (see Figure 5). There were some very distinct differences in how
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these regions approached measuring talent management that could be
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attributed to the various business cultures and talent challenges faced


by these regions. As a global leader, it is important to understand which
metrics are being monitored and tracked by organisations in both
your corporate headquarters location, as well as in the various regions
populated by your dispersed workforce. This external view can help
provide insights into the regional and cultural workforce challenges,
local government measurement requirements, and economic factors
that may be affecting your company’s metrics. These insights should be
added to the analysis of your talent management metrics and strategies.

Figure 5: Talent Metrics and Insights by Region

Top Talent
Region Top Talent Measurements Regional Insights
Challenges

• Internal Mobility Developing Job rotations is one of the


• Leadership Capability new skills to most effective approaches
• Employee Readiness meet business to developing new skills
• Employee Engagement decisions and competencies within
an organisation. A focus in
this area is critical, based
Germany
on Germany’s high level of
impending retirements in
the workforce, as well as
increased growth in the global
markets, which requires new
skills and knowledge.

• Turnover / Exit Interviews Retention China is a growing market


• Employee Engagement challenges with a quickly maturing
• Internal Mobility workforce. The country has
• Leadership Capability a great need to balance the
requirements of engaged
China
employees with fast business
growth, which often leads to
retention challenges among
high potentials within an
organisation.

• Turnover / Exit Interviews Gaps in U.S. is a very mature workforce


BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC Engagement
• Employee leadership and business environment –
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• Employee Readiness pipeline with critical needs to balance
U.S. • Leadership
SUITE 417 Capability the impending retirements
OAKLAND, CA 94611 of critical leaders, a slowing
economy and engaging high
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performers.
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Figure 5: Talent Metrics and Insights by Region (cont’d)

Top Talent
Region Top Talent Measurements Regional Insights
Challenges

• Employee Engagement Gaps in U.K. is also a very mature workforce


• Turnover / Exit Interviews leadership and business environment – dealing
• Leadership Capability pipeline with the need to increase global
• Cost / Time to Hire markets while managing its own
U.K. slowing economy. The country is
focused on developing a new type
of global leader who can work in
this environment efficiently and
effectively.

• Employee Engagement Creating Hit hard by the financial markets’


• Turnover / Exit Interviews performance- economic challenges, Sweden
• Leadership Capability driven cultures recently moved into a global
• Internal Mobility leadership role in finance and
business service areas. Many of the
country’s organisations are faced
Sweden with the challenge of changing
the culture of their workforces to
become more aligned with the
global markets that they are now
supporting, increasing diversity
and creating cultures of improved
performance.
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.

Additionally, we found that various industries also approach


measurement in a somewhat different manner, as seen in Figure 6.
In a diversified multi-industry organisation, you may find that your
business units are more similar to their various industry areas than
your enterprise business. Finding the right balance between regional,
industry and business-cycle needs is critical when sharing talent
management data with leaders. Similar to your regional review
of external measurement data, we recommend an external
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC view of measurement by industries. This view can provide insights
6114 LA SALLE AVENUE into workforce challenges faced on an industry level. Again, this
SUITE 417 insight should be added to the analysis of your own talent
OAKLAND, CA 94611 management metrics and strategies before driving actions within
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your organisation.
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Figure 6: Talent Metrics and Insights by Industry

Industry Top Talent Measurements Business Insights

• Employee Engagement The technology sector has faced dramatic


• Turnover / Exit Interview market shifts over the last several years, with a
Technology / • Internal Mobility younger workforce that is comfortable moving
Telecommunications • Leadership Capability from company to company. Engagement and
development are critical, both for acquisition
and retention strategies.

• Turnover / Exit Interview Retail organisations have traditionally faced high


• Internal Mobility turnover challenges. Ensuring they have agile staff
Retail / Food Services and understand their critical opportunities for
• Engagement
• Leadership Capability retention continues to be a focus for this industry.

• Employee Engagement Manufacturing organisations can be as diverse


• Internal Mobility as the products they make and distribute. As
• Turnover / Exit Interview organisations continue to improve automated
• Leadership Capability processes, and deal with growing regulations
and industry mandates, as well as local and
Manufacturing global labour requirements, managing in these
environments has become consistently more
complex. Internal mobility provides leaders and
supervisors with both development and diversity
of thinking, while engagement is required to
keep performance levels.

• Employee Engagement Healthcare is currently a changing and growing


• Leadership Capability market, which is expected to double in the next 10
Healthcare • Turnover / Exit Interview to 15 years. There is a clear focus on developing
• Internal Mobility leaders who can manage through the change and
engaging resource-strained employees.

• Employee Engagement Government and nonprofits are among the few


Government / • Turnover / Exit Interview industries to be concerned about cost of time
Nonprofit • Leadership Capability to hire in their top metrics. This is not surprising,
• Cost / Time to Hire based on increased demands from this area while
facing continued reductions in spending.

• Employee Engagement For those finance and insurance organisations


• Leadership Capability that survived these recent market challenges,
Finance / Insurance • Internal Mobility they have clear requirements for new leadership
• Turnover / Exit Interview and the need to keep their top performers as
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC markets begin to improve.
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• Turnover / Exit Interview Business service organisations tend to have
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• Employee Engagement
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• Internal Mobility are susceptible to early burnout. Employee
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• Employee Readiness engagement is a critical metric to manage these
challenges for many organisations.
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So how does an HR organisation ensure that it is focused on the right


KEY POINT
enterprise, regional and business-unit metrics needed to answer critical
Developing a business questions for today and the future? There are a multitude of
HR metrics that can be tracked and monitored by organisations today.
measurement
Taking the time to look at both internal and external talent challenges
strategy is an
faced by your organisation, your industry and even your regions will
important first
help define the metrics that will be most critical for your company.
step in helping to
create focus and
Developing a measurement strategy is an important first step in
helping to create focus and direction for your organisation’s talent
direction for your
measurement efforts. It also helps reduce the risk of sharing data that is
organisation’s
viewed without adequate analysis for regional, business-unit or industry
talent
insights. More importantly, it ensures that you do not share data upon
measurement which your leadership team is unable to act.
efforts.
Executing on a Measurement Strategy

Almost 80 percent of all organisations in the assessment group stated


that their talent management efforts were owned and governed
by enterprise business leaders or partners. Regions with the highest
executive ownership included Denmark, China, Singapore and
Hong Kong. Even with these high levels of business involvement
and leadership, 63 percent of respondents said that their talent
management strategies were not aligned to business objectives. One
of the reasons for this disconnect between the business ownership
of the talent management strategy and the lack of alignment with
business objectives can be attributed to the fact that only 30 percent
of those organisations also conduct regular measurement efforts. How
can organisations ensure that they are aligned with their business
objectives, especially if they have not taken the steps necessary to
measure those talent management efforts against business goals?
Leaders who simply state that talent management is important to their
organisations will provide little impact. Measuring those efforts and
taking action on them is the key to business impact.
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To both develop and execute on a talent measurement strategy, a best
SUITE 417
practice identified through Bersin & Associates research is to utilise a
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cross-organisational governance model that includes business and HR


KEY POINT
professionals. This model should help develop the strategy, and ensure
Utilising a that it takes into consideration the regional, business-unit and industry
insights which we discussed earlier.
governance
model and annual Additionally, the development process should start with your own
talent planning, internal talent planning process that provides insights into the most
organisations are critical talent challenges facing your organisation today. Organisations

able to follow a have begun to implement more formal planning processes for
identifying current and future talent capability and capacity against
standard process
short-, medium- and long-term business requirements. Only 20 percent
for building
of the organisations felt that they had a robust planning process to
their talent
meet their current and future talent needs, as seen in Figure 7.
management
Utilising a governance model and annual talent planning, organisations
measurement
are able to follow a standard process for building their talent
strategies.
management measurement strategies. This process should help define
the goals, identify the tools and ensure measurement data is reported
in a format that aligns with the business needs.

Figure 7: Assessment Groups Talent Planning Processes

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Key talent metrics inform the organisation of important data and


trends. Talent measures focus on effectiveness, alignment and
productivity – and can support an organisation’s ability to make sound
business decisions concerning its resources. A strategy is required to
ensure a company’s most critical talent needs and highest business
priorities are aligned. It also develops a clear vision of where and when
your business expects to utilise data for business decisions.

A talent management measurement strategy includes:

• Goals for your measurement strategy;

• Framework8 for your measurement efforts;

• Required culture and change efforts needed to implement


the strategy;

• Processes and tools required to execute the strategy;

• Critical metrics and key performance indicators;

• Timing, format and location of measurement outputs; and,

• Plans for regionalising and addressing various cultural needs.

Additionally, when outlining your strategy, an organisation should also


KEY POINT
ensure that its metrics are:

Talent measures • Easy to understand and implement;


focus on
• Delivering reliable and credible information;
effectiveness,
alignment and • Delivering actionable information;

productivity – and • Inexpensive to operate and maintain;


can support an
• Flexible to implement and change over time;
organisation’s
• Relevant to your organisation’s specific strategies;
ability to make
sound business • Integrated into HR and business scorecards;
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• Consistent and trended.
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Case in Point: Checkpoint Systems

Checkpoint Systems is a global leader in shrink management,


merchandise visibility and apparel labeling solutions, with
4,000 global employees. The company enables retailers and
their suppliers to reduce shrink, improve shelf availability and
leverage real-time data to achieve operational excellence. As a
global company (which operates in 39 countries with business
revenues exceeding $900 million), Checkpoint holds a leadership
position in its key markets, and its continued success depends on
recruiting, retaining and motivating the best talent available.

A lack of integration within its HR systems was making it


KEY POINT
impossible to get a clear, company-wide view of Checkpoint’s
HR data and actionable metrics. Creating reports was difficult,
The improved
and the approach to performance reviews and career
quality of
development was inconsistent. The company found a solution
information
that allowed it to standardise its HR policies globally, and
available to enhance its talent management, succession planning and career
Checkpoint development programs.
Systems gave it
Today, managers can easily pull their own reports without the
greater insight
need for specialised knowledge or assistance. The improved
and facilitated
quality of information available to the company gave it greater
more effective insight and facilitated more effective development of skills. As
development the company’s HRIS manager said,
of skills.
“Creating reports involving large numbers of
people, which was once challenging and time-
consuming, is now easy. HR policies are rapidly
being standardised throughout our organisation’s
multinational operations and an improved approach
to measurement is now in place.” e
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Implementing your talent management measurement strategy, based


KEY POINT
on business requirements, should ensure that your data is available
As you build an where and when the business needs it. As previously mentioned, more
than 87 percent of the assessment respondents felt that the data
awareness of
needed to conduct any form of workforce analysis was not available for
how the data is
their business leaders. Clearly outline where your data will be located
utilised and where
and how decision-makers can easily access the data they need.
it supports critical
business decisions,
Communicating what you are measuring and why will also help build
trust in your measurement process and begin a culture of transparency.
you will also begin
As you build an awareness of how the data is utilised and where it
to see increased
supports critical business decisions, you will also begin to see increased
support from both
support from both your workforce and leadership team. This best
your workforce and practice will ensure the success of your measurement efforts.
leadership team.
Key Recommendations

Based on the goals of your talent management measurement strategy,


critical takeaways that should be reviewed and applied for most
organisations include the following.

• Integrate talent management measurement efforts into your


business planning process and business scorecard tools.

• Global governance is required to build a strong international


measurement strategy.

• Focus on the most critical enterprise-wide talent needs to help


priortise measurement efforts, but leave room in your strategy to
address regional or business-unit specific needs.

• Clearly define a measurement framework and standards for


capturing and trending data in an enterprise approach.

• Invest in a talent management strategy that includes elements of


engagement and development goals to see significant impact to
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A N A LY S I S
Conclusion

As the need to measure and define the impact of talent management


Future talent
efforts grows, HR organisations will continue to look for better ways
challenges will
to track and share data. Today, we are beginning to slowly enter a
be addressed
turnaround in our economic challenges, and heading straight into
through sound a global and more diversified business environment in which talent
measurement measurement will be the key to the future. Measurements, such
strategies with a as employee engagement and internal mobility, will be utilised to
focus on analytics forecast talent challenges before they become obstacles to meeting
and trending. business goals. Future talent challenges, such as the loss of “corporate
knowledge” due to retiring and transient workforces, or the need for
more global and innovative leadership styles, will be addressed through
sound measurement strategies with a focus on analytics and trending.
Executives, financial advisors and boards of directors understand the
value of the HR data. They have every expectation to see it in a format
that can help them make critical business decisions and guide their
organisations to meet the future with confidence.

Assessing your organisation’s current talent strategy and measurement


approach can help you take the first steps in meeting your business needs.

If you are interested in obtaining your own personalized Talent Strategy


Assessment, you can find the complimentary assessment on the Internet
at http://www.talentstrategyassessment.com/en/.

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The Bersin & Associates


Membership Program
This document is part of the Bersin & Associates Research Library. Our
research is provided exclusively to organisational members of the Bersin
& Associates Research Program. Member organisations have access to
the largest library of learning and talent management related research
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