UK business fails on talent management

The report says that lack of financial investment and insufficient senior management support are holding back talent. Less than half of UK businesses are implementing talent development programmes (49%), according to landmark research launched by recruitment outsourcing specialist Capital Consulting and Cranfield School of Management. While 60% of the businesses surveyed say talent management – the strategies and practices needed to define, identify, develop, attract and retain those deemed to have skills valuable to an organisation – is essential to a businesses bottom line, only 41% of businesses are strategically managing their star talent. This reveals a major ‘disconnect’ between what senior managers say about talent management and what’s actually in place in their organisations. Those surveyed say that various factors are holding back implementation of talent management strategies; chief among them a lack of financial investment (51%) and insufficient senior management support (40%). Jeremy Tipper, Group MD of Capital Consulting, says: “Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the growing importance of attracting the best available talent from the marketplace, but often fall short when it comes to following through on development, retention and allowing talented people to reach their potential.” Dr Emma Parry, research fellow at Cranfield School of Management, says the report should serve as a ‘wake up call’ to employers at a time when mounting global competition and the changing demographics mean the need for strategic management of human capital has never been greater. “The ‘disconnect’ between what senior managers are saying and what they are doing is very worrying. It’s clear that, in the main, their actions have not caught up with their rhetoric when it comes to talent management,” she says. To help businesses meet this urgent challenge, the report includes a framework for best practice talent management. Dr Parry adds: “Our research highlighted a number of case studies of organisations that are bucking the negative trend, and they offer insight into what successful talent management looks like in practice.” These include manufacturers such as Britvic.