Recruitment
Manage Talent for Business Growth
Post on 26-Jul-10by JobsDB HK
Talent management is always an important task for HR professionals and the management, no matter it is in good or poor economic situation. In good times, high-calibre staff find it easy to change jobs, and so corporations have to think of ways to retain them. In poor economy, if corporations do not show sincerity in retaining talent, they may leave once the economy starts to recover.
ACCA has published a report titled “Talent Management in 2010: foundations for growth” discussing the importance of talent management, success of current talent strategies, and challenges facing talent management programmes. The report presents the findings of a survey conducted by ACCA in March 2010 on talent management practices across the finance profession, covering more than 1,400 individuals from 105 countries.
Importance of Talent Management
According to the report, “good talent management practices lay the foundation for business growth, and are at the heart of value creation in the knowledge economy”. It is also stated that finance professionals see the benefits of well-executed talent management programmes. Talent management is particularly important to the finance profession because it is critical to developing high-potential individuals, for identifying future finance leaders, as well as for succession planning.
Yet, the economic downturn has great impact on talent development programmes in many organizations that recruitment activities were put on hold and investment in talent management programmes was reduced. Tony Osude, Head of Professional Development, ACCA, commented that corporations that did not invest in talent management could not survive in such situations, because they could not find the right people to step up for the economic crisis.
The report shows that among a wide range of development activities to use for developing talent, those which are rated as highly effective are mentoring, coaching and further professional qualifications. Yet, there is a large discrepancy between the number of respondents who considered that a development activity was highly effective and the number stating that their organization used the activity.
Sharing Talent Management Strategies
In July this year, ACCA has organized “Talent in 2010: The Foundations for Growth Conference” for finance and accounting professionals to discuss and explore on talent management strategies. One of the speakers, Julian Fong, Chief Financial Officer, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, commented that talent management is a business strategy. “Talent management includes reward, engagement, retention, and succession planning.” He pointed out that each staff is a talent and corporations have to identify the high-potential talent and develop them in a strengths-based approach. Types of staff development programmes used by Standard Chartered Bank are on-the-job training (70%), mentoring (20%) and formal learning (10%).
Strategies for Gen-Y
Training and development is especially essential for Gen-Y staff. Another speaker, Professor Ron Collard, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, in presenting the findings from PwC’s recent global Millenials Study, pointed out that training & development is considered the most important benefit for graduates, and that employers have to be aware of the demand and aspirations of the young generations. “Gen-Y staff are technology savvy and employers have to harness technology to help and support these staff,” said Prof. Collard. The study has also found out that corporate social responsibility is an important aspect in career for Gen-Y who welcome the opportunity to work as volunteers in less developed places. In addition, they like mobility, challenges and are open to share information. Prof. Collard suggested that employers can provide job rotation and coaching to young employees.
Photo source: ACCA
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