As part of the leadership team for the Strategic Capability Network, I participated in developing and analyzing a survey conducted in the fall of its 500 plus senior HR practitioners to determine what they see as the top HR priorities for the next year or two.
The overriding themes to come out of the survey: talent management is a “peak” issue and the most pressing priority. More than 90% identified all areas related to talent management and acquisition as highly urgent items. When looking for new talent, many respondents stated they are attempting to solve talent problems by hiring superstars from outside the organization.
Tony Duckett, an owner of xiB/OSS Corporation, a boutique contract recruiting agency in
Personally, as a quickly growing small entrepreneurial company (Prescient Digital Media), we have experienced the same issues. Finding the right individual to fit our specific requirements is not an easy task. To deal with this issue we have instituted a few strategies.
One of those strategies is to always be looking. Although we may not be in the hiring stage this month or next, we will be soon and having a stable of good available candidates is essential.
One other tactic we have employed is to look outside of our local geography. In fact, we just recently hired a great individual from the U.K (welcome aboard Jed)!
A final tactic, and the one employed for our recent hire, is to ask for a referral. Your network is a great source of candidates and sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are also a great way to find potential candidates.
Some of the other highlights from the survey include:
- HR professionals are feeling extremely bogged down in transacational issues.
- Engagement and leadership development show up as very strong areas of focus
- Change management, team development, compensation, governance and communication are also rank solidly, however HR metrics and work-life balance are emerging as higher priority.
- Ethics, outsourcing, diversity, globalization and employment branding emerged as being less significant
- Two other popular write-in themes consisted of 1) unrealistic workloads and 2) building greater credibility with CEOs and line managers
- A very high majority of respondents emphasized their need for both more time and more expertise on strategy work as opposed to the tactical side where they seem fairly comfortable with the time available
The respondents were evenly split between practitioners and consultants as well executives and managers at large and small organizations.
When asked what the most important issues required:
- 60% cited more time on strategy is necessary
- 60% cited more expertise on strategy is needed
- 37% cited more expertise on tactics is necessary
The full report can be downloaded at Carswell.com.