Study reveals global talent management trends

A new study by Right Management has provided a global overview of talent management trends.

The survey had 2,200 participants from 13 countries and 24 industries, all of whom were business leaders of HR professionals.

When asked to identify the single most pressing talent management challenge facing their organisation, the majority of participants cited a lack of skilled talent for key positions; 28% of global respondents named this issue.

The global talent shortage was flagged up again as the second biggest issue, with 20% of global business leaders saying that a shortage of talent at all levels was the biggest challenge their talent managers faced.

Other factors which were named as problem causers were less than optimal employee engagement, too few high-potential leaders in the organisation, a loss of top talent to other organisations and lagging productivity.

Researchers also asked the study’s participants how their organisation was investing in and developing talent.

Seeking to develop the skills of every employee was a popular method, as well as seeking to offer development opportunities to all employees – over a third of the respondents said that their organisation took these approaches to talent development.

Developing the skills of every employee was particularly popular amongst European leaders, while just under half of respondents from the Asia-Pacific region said that their company employed the latter option.

Identifying key contributors and targeting them for development efforts was another popular technique for investing in talent development, with a quarter of global respondents naming this as the preferred method in their organisation.

Practically none of the respondents said that investment in talent was limited or non-existent; globally, just 1% of participants gave this response.

None of the respondents in the Asia-Pacific region gave this response.