LOOKING INWARD
TALENT MANAGEMENT IS KEY TO
ADDRESSING CRITICAL SKILLS GAPS
By Heather Hudson
HR organizations plan to continue to focus on upgrading
their capabilities this year, but flat and declining budgets
– plus a hesitant approach to transforming service deliv-ery
models – may put business and HR priorities at risk,
according to The Hackett Group’s annual key issues study.
The strategic consultancy and benchmarking firm’s recommen-dation
is clear: smart talent management is essential to building
capabilities and addressing some of the most critical gaps.
HR Professional asked The Hackett Group’s global HR adviso-ry
leader, Harry Osle, and global people and HR transformation
practice leader, Dr. Scott Leuchter, to share what HR organiza-tions
can learn from the study’s findings.
ADDRESSING TALENT MANAGEMENT IN HR
Osle says it can be difficult for HR professionals to be introspec-tive
about the talent in their own organizations. Ensuring the right
people are in the right place with the right insight is an important
gap that needs to be overcome. When assessing their current tal-ent
inventory, he advises HR leaders to be frank about strengths
and weaknesses. One way to be decisive is to separate employees
into three categories:
■■ A players: They have the specific skills the organization needs
and should be offered compensation, equity plans and other
retention strategies that identify, highlight and celebrate them.
■■ B players: They have many of the necessary skills, but their
capabilities need to be rounded out with more training and
development to get them to the next level. It’s incumbent on
24 ❚ JUNE 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL