Leadership

Vision for 2024

Top 3 Strategic Priorities for
Talent Management Leaders

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Leadership Vision for Talent Management
Leaders in 2024
An “unsettled” employee-employer relationship, skills
shortages, transformative technology and pressure for Key questions addressed:
efficiency are shaping how the best organizations will
manage their talent in 2024. What are the major trends affecting talent
management leaders?
In this context, talent management leaders' top priorities
for 2024 are: How should talent management leaders prepare
for the year ahead?
• Leader and manager development
• Promoting internal mobility and career growth What skills and capabilities do talent management
• Delivering an employee experience that retains leaders and their teams need to succeed?
key talent

Talent management leaders can use this research to stay

ahead of major workforce trends and lead their teams
toward a successful future.

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Trends Impacting Talent Management Leaders

“Unsettled” Persistent Transformative Pressure for

Employee-Employer Skills Technology Operational
Relationship Shortages Innovations Efficiency

Source: Gartner
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“Unsettled” Employee-Employer Relationship

Organizations Employees

• 75% have an on-site attendance requirement. Flexibility Almost half say the costs of going to the office outweigh
• 26% report their employees fully comply.a Controversy the benefits (only 12% disagree).b

58% are confident they can meet their performance Productivity 45% worry they can’t sustain their current level of
targets in the coming year.c Anxiety performance over the next year.c

The average annual number of enterprise changes has Transformation 43% are willing to change their behavior to support
increased from 2 to 10 since 2016.d Deficit organizational transformation (down from 74%).d

Mutual
63% trust their employees.e Mistrust
53% trust their organizations.e

a Source: 2022, Benchmark With Gartner: How HR Leaders Navigate Return to Workplace Pressures and Other Challenges, November 16, n = 51
b Source: 2022 Gartner Hybrid Collaboration Survey, n = 3,524
c Source: 2023 Gartner Achieving High Performance Survey, n = 228 remote capable employees
d Sources: Gartner 2016 Workforce Change Survey, n = 6,686 employees; Gartner 2022 Workforce Change Survey, n = 3,548 employees; Gartner Organizational Effectiveness and HR

Professionals Key Priorities Survey, n = 3,497 employees

e Sources: 2023 Gartner ReimagineHR HR Leader Survey, n = 287 HR leaders; 2023 Gartner ReimagineHR HR Leader Survey, n = 3,540 employees

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Persistent Skills Shortages
Severity of Damage to Business Outlook Perceptions of Skills Shortage
Percentage of CEOs’ Ranking Factor as Most Damaging Percentage of HR Leaders

Talent Shortage 26%

83% of HR leaders say they struggle
to find enough talent with the skills
Inflation 22% they need.

Recession 22%

Supply Chain Problems 12% 57% of HR leaders say skills

shortages are undermining their ability
to sustain corporate performance.
Rising Interest Rates 9%

Energy Costs 9%

0% 15% 30%
n = 312 CEOs and senior executives n = 59 HR leaders
Q. Rank the six items in order of the severity of their impact on the outlook for your business, from most Source: 2023 Benchmark With Gartner: Affirmative Action, Apprenticeships and Candidate Expectations
damaging to least damaging. (23 August)
Source: 2023 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey

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Transformative Technology Innovations

Employees More Disruptive

Expect to Use AI Tech Is Imminent

170 million+ people 93% of HR leaders agree that new

were immediate users of flash tech trends will be more frequent
ChatGPT at home.a in the next three years.c But HR Involvement
Remains Limited

Only 22% of HR leaders

Leaders Expect are highly engaged in
Implementation of AI enterprisewide discussions
on GenAI.d
68% of executives agree that the
benefits of AI outweigh the risks.b

a Source: Gartner Generative AI: The Basics

b Q. Do you believe the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks?
Source: Beyond the Hype: Enterprise Impact of ChatGPT and Generative AI Webinar Polls, 21 April 2023, n = 1,079
c Q. Please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements. The number of new flash technology trends (e.g., generative AI, metaverse, blockchain, etc.) arising will become more frequent within the next three years.

Please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements. As a result of flash technology trends (e.g., generative AI), I am now having to make decisions on whether to adopt and implement it into HR or not.
Source: 31 May 2023 Gartner Benchmark: Persistent Talent Shortages, Sustaining DEI and Other Emerging Issues, n = 74
d Q. As an HR leader, how engaged are you in enterprisewide discussions around use of GenAI?

Source: 21 June 2023 Gartner Benchmark Special Edition — Navigating the Workforce Impact of Generative AI, n = 167
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Pressure for Operational Efficiency
Prevalence of Efficiency-Related Keywords in S&P 100 Earnings Calls

360 Productivity
Efficiency
Reduction

Implications for HR Leaders

180 • Pressure to justify the value of
HR investments
• Workforce productivity, the
dominant success measure
• Risk of talent supply disruptions

0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3

2021 2022 2023

n = 855 earnings transcripts

Source: Analysis of all S&P 100 Company Earnings Calls Transcripts, Jan 1, 2021 – Aug 31, 2023
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Head of Talent Management Priorities for 2024
Top Focus Areas

1 Leader and Manager Development

2 Career Management and Internal Mobility

3 Employee Experience Measurement and Delivery Leader Career Mgmt

4 Talent Management Structure and Strategy and Manager and Internal
Development Mobility
5 Succession and HIPO Management TM
Leaders
6 Workforce and Talent Planning

7 Organizational Culture
Employee Experience
8 Change Management Measurement and
Delivery
9 HR Technology

10 Recruiting
n = 52 Heads of Talent Management
Q: In your own words, please tell us the top 3 priorities you are responsible for executing in the next 12-18 months and
Q. [For each of three custom priorities shared] Please select the two key areas in which you will focus to support that priority
Source: 2024 Gartner HR Priorities Survey
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Managers Are Overwhelmed
Increase in Responsibilities, Compared to Before the Pandemic
Percentage of Respondents Reporting an Increase
Individual Contributors Managers

60%
53% 53%
49%
41%
35%
30% 28%
25%
22%
18%

N/A*
0%
Number of Number of Number of Number of Complexity of
Direct Reports Decisions That Tasks That Responsibilities That Responsibilities That
That I Manage I Need to Make I Need to Do I Am Accountable for I Am Accountable for

n = 2,812 individual contributors; 3,544 managers

Source: 2022 Gartner Building an Organization of Great Managers Employee Survey
* Manager only question
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Connectors Make the Job More Manageable
Connectors Make Three Connections

The Employee The Team The Organization

Connection Connection Connection

Overinvest in employee diagnosis. Facilitate peer-to-peer Connect employees to best-fit people

skills sharing on their team. and opportunities.

Saves time for managers by distributing the Takes the pressure off of managers
responsibility of developing employees. to always be the expert at every skill.

Job manageability is 5x more effective than skill proficiency in improving manager effectiveness.

n = 3,186 managers; 6,356 employees

Source: 2023 Gartner Building an Organization of Great Managers Manager Survey; 2022 Gartner Building an Organization of Great Managers Employee Survey

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Low Confidence in Rising Leaders

n = 62 HR Leaders
Source: 2022 Gartner Leadership Development HR Leader Survey – 785306_C

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Leaders Need a New Approach
2024 Trends and Their Impact on Core Leader Responsibilities

Core Leader Responsibility

Role-Model Behavior Support Teams Deliver Results

Prior Approach Professional Employees Efficient

Enabling workplace boundaries Addressing work needs Managing standardized workflows

Emerging Anxiety, confusion and mistrust in Blurring boundaries, fatigue and Variety in/transformation of work norms
Challenges the employee-employer relationship uncertainty as organizations grapple as organizations cope with skills
with skills shortages and productivity shortages and adapt to disruptive
demands technologies

New Approach Personal People Individualized

Enabling safe self-expression Addressing life needs Managing tailored, flexible workflows
at work

Source: Gartner
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The Human-Centric Leader
Components of Human-Centric Leadership

Authentic + Empathetic + Adaptive = Human Leadership

Act with purpose and enable Show genuine care, respect Enable flexibility and
true self-expression, for both and concern for employees’ support that fit team
themselves and their teams. well-being. members’ unique needs.

Source: Gartner
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Recommended Actions for Talent Mgmt. Leaders

Assess Plan Execute

• Review human-centric leadership • Redesign your talent review • Roll out updated talent review
principles against your process to assess future process and update your high-
organization's current leadership leadership potential based on potential and succession
competencies and expectations. human-centric leadership management pipelines.
• Audit your leadership principles. • Reset manager role expectations
development program with the • Build buy-in and support among toward being Connectors and
Head of L&D against human- the C-suite and board for a change resilience builders and remove
centric leadership principles. in talent assessment, in tandem process hurdles facing those
• Evaluate your manager with the CHRO. behaviors.
enablement program with Senior • Create a change mgmt. plan to • Update the board on progress of
HRBP(s) to identify where you enable functional leaders to rebuilding your succession
are/can be focusing on job embrace updated norms for management pipeline, in tandem
manageability rather than skill assessing future leader potential. with the CHRO.
proficiency.

Source: Gartner
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Focusing on Visibility Into Career Paths

95% of Talent
3% Neutral Management Leaders
agree or strongly agree that unclear
3% career paths are a barrier to delivering
Disagree or
Strongly Disagree on their top priorities.

n = 39 TM Leaders
Question: Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree that “Career paths at our organization are unclear for many employees”
will be a barrier to successfully executing on your Career Management/Internal Mobility priorities
Source: 2024 HR Leaders Agenda Poll
Note – Number may not add up to 100 due to rounding

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Experience, Not Visibility, Matters Most
Maximum Impact of Each Tool on Employee Confidence in Careers

Career Management Support 31%

Tools to
Internal Networking Opportunities 31%
Experience
Career Success Stories 19% Career Options
Job Rotation Programs 19%

Visual Examples of Career Paths 17%

Newsletters About Opportunities 15%

Tools to
Internal Job Fairs 14%
Limited Provide Information
Internal Job Boards 3% Impact About Career Options
Self Service Tools to Identify
Tools to Identify How to Build Skills 0%
How to Build Skills
0% 20% 40%
Note: Q: “I am confident I will have a successful career at my organization.”
n = 3,370 Employees
Source: 2022 Gartner New Talent Landscape and Career Pathing Survey

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Build Experiences Around Project-Based
Mobility
Legacy Ways of Organizing Work: Agile Ways of Organizing Work:

1. Organize teams around tasks 1. Organize teams around outcomes

2. Stable skills needs 2. Fast changing skills needs
3. Career ladders 3. Career portfolios Internal Talent
Marketplaces play an
increasingly important
role in facilitating
mobility.
Focus on role-based Focus on project-based
internal mobility internal mobility

Employees who agree their organization provides internal mobility are 1.43x more likely to report higher intent to stay
and 2.46x more likely to report higher engagement.

n = 3,370 Employees
Source: 2022 Gartner New Talent Landscape and Career Pathing Survey

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Recommended Actions for Talent Mgmt. Leaders

Assess Plan Execute

• Assess how effectively career • Consult your strategic workforce • Reset manager role expectations
mgmt. support at your organization plan to identify the most critical to create space for career
guides employees how to skills to build via project-based coaching and measure it in your
experience different career mobility. managers’ performance
options. • Build a change management plan evaluations.
• Find the root cause of employee for driving managers to proactively • Align learning offerings to
barriers to understanding, applying connect their teams with career organizational skills gaps identified
for and undertaking internal opportunities. from your internal talent
projects. • Evaluate talent marketplace marketplace
• Audit your skills ecosystem and vendors by assessing user • As it gets adopted, market your
data sources to decide what may experience, ability to incorporate project-based internal mobility as
feed into matches and diverse sources of data and skills an essential, growth-focused part
recommendations in an internal ontologies. of your differentiated EVP.
talent marketplace prior to vendor
evaluation.
Source: Gartner
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Retention: A Critical Objective
Top Head of Talent Management Priorities For The Next 12-18 months.
Select Head of Talent Management Responses

“Energize employees' "why join

and why stay" (retain talent).”

“Increase retention of our top talent.” “Retention through employee engagement.”

Retention via EX and
EVP is the most
“Enhance the employee experience to “Attracting and retain women in
prevalent priority cited
improve engagement and retention of talent.” operational positions/STEM.”
by Heads of Talent
Management in their
“Achieve attraction and retention of talent “Enhance our EVP to better own words.
at different levels of the organization” attract and retain talent.”

Head of
TM
n = 52 Heads of Talent Management
Q: In your own words, please tell us the top 3 priorities you are responsible for executing in the next 12-18 months.
Source: 2023 Gartner HR Priorities Survey

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A Framework for Understanding Attrition
Reason for Seeking Another Position
Primary Reason Given by Active Jobseekers

“The house needs repairing.” “The house no longer meets my needs.”

Triggered by
organization
25% 16%
“The other houses look better.” “I want to live on a boat.”

Triggered
by external
environment
For Sale
35% 25%
Mostly related to work experience Mostly related to personal life experience

n = 397 employees actively looking for a new job opportunity

Q: What's the primary reason you are looking for another position?
Source: 2023 Gartner Modern Employee Experience and HIPO Development Survey

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Talent Management Actions to Retain Talent

Fix What’s Broken Humanize Your EVP

Triggered by • Ensure managers give their teams • Use goal setting and ongoing
organization proactive career growth guidance. feedback to create shared purpose.
• Make the manager job manageable. • Support managers and leaders
• Develop human leaders. devolve autonomy to teams.

Selectively Outcompete Double-Down on Recruiting Efforts

• Use talent/workforce planning reviews
Triggered to identify and target critical talent
by external segments.
environment
• Update employee listening to capture
engagement drivers for hybrid work.

Mostly related to work experience Mostly related to personal life experience

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Recommended Actions for Talent Mgmt. Leaders

Assess Plan Execute

• Audit your core talent • Embed talent risk assessments • Engage your HIPOs and future
management processes for into talent planning and talent leaders via career conversations
employee pain points that should review processes to surface to humanize your talent
be fixed to improve EX. critical retention interventions. management efforts with critical
• Evaluate your organization’s EVP • Assess and identify manager talent.
based on the emotional response populations most at risk of fatigue • Align learning offerings and
employees gain from working at and underserving their teams. development programs for critical
your organization. talent segments with the areas
where you will outcompete your
competitors.

Source: Gartner
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Talent Management Is a Tangled Web of Activities
Talent Management Activities Throughout the Organization

Managing High-Potential Managing Managing

Employees Employee Change
Building a
Value
Total
Acquiring Specific Managing Proposition Developing Rewards
Talent Segments Diversity Leaders Identifying
Strategy
and Inclusion Critical Talent
Managing
Organization Assessing and
Hiring Talent Identifying Talent Developing
Design Acquisition Needs Organizational
Managing Capability
Succession
Identifying and
Managing
Analyzing L&D
Competencies Designing and Conducting
Needs and
Building L&D Talent
Investments Implementing
Solutions Reviews Managing
Recruiting L&D Solutions Mobility and
Executives
Managing Managing Career Paths
Employee Developing Critical Employee Sourcing
Performance Talent Segments Engagement Talent
Source: Gartner
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New Demands Move TM Beyond Traditional Scope
Types of Issues Arising in HR and TM’s Expanded Scope​
Outside HR Traditional Scope
(e.g., Payroll, Compliance)
Mental Health and Integrated Work Well-Being
Initial Strategic Expansion
Human-Centric EVP (e.g., Performance
Management, Leadership
Development)
Hybrid-Work Productivity
Current Scope
Who Delivers
the Work? Frontline-Worker Flexibility

Digital Workplace

Office-Work Design

AI Augmentation
Mostly HR

Mostly HR Outside HR
Who Has the Experience?
Source: Gartner
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Expanded Mandate Creating Conflict and Confusion

Prioritization Ownership Services

What initiatives and workstreams should What core “services” should we provide
What should we own vs. influence?
we prioritize? — and how?

“I struggle to communicate who we are,

what we do and why it matters.”

Head of Talent, Global Manufacturer

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Model of a World-Class Talent Management Leader
Drive Business Results
The business has the talent it needs for performance and growth.
Build an Integrated Talent
Define a Flexible Talent Deliver a Compelling Drive Growth With Talent and Activate the Talent
Management Operating
Management Strategy Employee Experience Performance Management Ecosystem
Model
Influence EVP and Optimize performance
Define the organization’s talent Connect interrelated talent Build a talent-centric
employment brand design and management design and
philosophy. processes. management culture.
delivery. delivery.
Embed an agile, employee-
Sense and forecast Generate and act on employee Build, buy or borrow critical Increase leader commitment and
centric product
workforce capability needs. listening insights. skills and capabilities. capability to manage talent.
management approach.
Influence business strategy
Facilitate integrated strategic Develop a flexible resourcing Enable personal and career Build diverse talent pipelines
with talent knowledge.
planning across HR subfunctions. and service delivery model. growth. and pools for critical roles.

Unlock performance with

Prioritize initiatives and co-create Manage and advocate for the Foster an inclusive, purpose- Automate, integrate and
organizational design and
change strategies. talent management budget. driven workforce culture. innovate using technology.
change management.

Business Acumen Business Strategy Development

Organizational and Interpersonal Acumen

Data judgment
Source: Gartner
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Actionable, objective insight
Position your organization for success. Explore these additional
complimentary resources and tools for HR leaders:

Action Plan Guide Virtual Event Tool

Evolve Culture and Managers Are Cracking — Defining Talent Talent Management
Leadership for the And More Training Won’t Help Management in an Strategy on a Page
Hybrid World Explore four HR actions to go beyond Evolving Future of Work
skills development and redesign the Customize your talent strategy with this
Use this 12-month roadmap to Explore common challenges about the
manager job for success. one-page template.
build cultural connectedness and role of talent management in
develop human leaders in your organizations today and what to do
organization. about them.

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