Breaking Down the Barriers Inhibiting Total Talent Management

Breaking Down the Barriers Inhibiting Total Talent Management

Technology is transforming the nature of work and how it gets carried out, creating new roles that inevitably require new skills. Yet, global talent shortages are at their peak. So how can organisations look for new ways to attract workers, develop new skills, and manage their workforce?

Total Talent Management is one of the answers to these questions. Companies must focus on the value that a worker may provide to the business rather than their employment status. This enables employers to adapt to changing workforce dynamics and better secure and retain the talent needed to power their business.

A growing number of people are opting for alternative ways of working over traditional, full-time, permanent roles. In fact, our survey of 9,500 workers found that 87% are open to working in non-traditional ways in the future. Given this move away from traditional, full time roles, Total Talent Management may make employers better equipped at utilising these new forms of employment and to align to the preferences of workers they wish to attract.

Yet, the complexity of the UK’s legal and legislative systems can hinder organisations’ efforts to adopt a Total Talent Management approach. To exemplify this, we found that just 14% of senior HR leaders agreed that the UK’s current regulatory environment supports their efforts to implement this strategy. Given Brexit and wider geopolitical uncertainty, it is increasingly important for companies to attract and retain talent, thereby underscoring the importance of Total Talent Management in making strategic decisions about recruiting and managing employees.

Collaboration Between HR and Procurement

In order to implement Total Talent Management and secure the best talent, strong collaboration is required between HR and Procurement. Leaders at the top of the organisation are pivotal to start this process. They must champion seamless collaboration and exchange of information in order to ensure that organisational silos are broken down between these two business areas. This will then translate into a change of culture, where the business focuses on attracting, hiring and retaining people with the right skills, regardless of how they need to be employed.

However, even with greater collaboration between HR and Procurement, without an integration between their technology platforms, they will continue to lack the tools and analytics required to fully embrace Total Talent Management. In fact, 94% of senior HR leaders claim that their organisation lacks alignment between their technology platforms, and 52% have made no active steps towards achieving this. Without this alignment, organisations will be unable to transform information into relevant insights that drive business success. As workforce composition becomes more complex, organisations must adopt increasingly sophisticated people management practices, and this requires significant investment in technology.

To find out more about the key reasons why many organisations have begun the journey towards Total Talent Management, download our latest whitepaper. Here, we provide nuanced insights on the internal and external factors that can impact the implementation of such approach, as well as the best practices to overcome these challenges.