“Organisations continue to acknowledge that the key to their competitive advantage and ongoing success is their people, yet they’re struggling to attract and retain good talent,” Emily Szakacs, national account manager leader for Hay Group, told
HRD.
Not only are there concerns that current talent needs are not being met but there is also a fear that future potential will remain untapped.
Data from Hay Group suggests that the assessment tools used during recruitment are not up to scratch.
While 60 per cent of HR directors feel the company hires the right people, only 44 per cent of business leaders share the same view.
However, Szakacs says the problem lies in how the tools are utilised rather than their effectiveness.
“There is a lot of research that does demonstrate the validity of many of the assessment tools on the market, but what’s really important is identifying the right tools for the right situations.”
This means HR should align talent and assessment strategies to the overall business strategy, and make use of the available data across the talent lifecycle.
The required information is already available within many organisations, Szakacs said; it is just forgotten about after being used during recruitment.
While 70 per cent of organisations use assessments to make selection decisions, 47 per cent do not use this data to identify future potential.
Another flaw is that companies fail to use the data collected during candidate selection to onboard or develop that individual during their first 12 months.
“These are just two examples that highlight how organisations are not making the smartest use of the data at their fingertips,” Szakacs said.
“If they did, they’d know which talent to fast-track into critical roles and create the right development opportunities to ensure they have the necessary experiences to ready them for those future roles.”
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