Chief Executives are increasingly preoccupied with talent management as organisations are left in little doubt that strong people management is directly linked to financial success.

8 May 2006

AMSTERDAM — Chief Executives are increasingly preoccupied with talent management as organisations are left in little doubt that strong people management is directly linked to financial success.

Talent management used to be only of concern to human resources (HR) departments.  Now it is among the CEOs' most pressing responsibilities, taking more than 20 percent of their time, reveals a white paper by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in co-operation with global human resources consulting firm Development Dimensions International (DDI). 

Leaders of large business organisations are more responsible than ever for talent management, reports the EIU, although their actions aren’t necessarily guided by an overarching strategy.

Companies are convinced of the ties between strong talent management and their financial success although they have moved beyond attempting to quantify these precisely suggests the research.

"Our ultimate financial results are a reflection of the success or lack thereof of our development programme," says William Hawkins, COO of Medtronic, who took part in the research. "At the end of the day, what differentiates us from some of our competitors is the quality and capabilities of our people."

 The research shows that CEOs are spending as much as half their time spotting, preparing and monitoring promising executives, and in many cases, participating directly in development activities, such as mentoring and teaching leadership skills.

The findings underscore that it is no longer a case of whether talent management is on the Board agenda, says the Economist Intelligence Unit's Nigel Holloway, but of ensuring the CEO receives adequate strategic support in tackling the issue.

Matt Paese, VP Executive Solutions at DDI sees this shift in focus as providing an opportunity for HR VPs to get closer to the CEO and be an essential contributor at Board level.

Paese says, "CEOs spend substantial time on activities to build leadership capability, but HR's role is to connect these in a coherent strategy based on business needs."

The CEO's role in talent management: How top executives from ten countries are nurturing the leaders of tomorrow is available free of charge at http://www.eiu.com/TalentManagementCEO.

[Copyright Expatica 2006]