The world is shrinking. Mobile, social, cloud computing and countless other technologies have transformed the global workplace in ways previously thought impossible. Today, innovations have changed the way we do business; the way we recruit, educate, train, analyze and ultimately the way we work.
In the realm of talent acquisition and talent management, technological-innovations have spurred aggressive growth, expansion and globalization.
With these trends in mind, Deloitte Consulting’s Global Human Capital Trends 2014 report shares the top priorities of executives and HR professionals across the world, as well as each party’s confidence and preparedness in driving the global talent agenda. Looking at the numbers, there are potentially alarming inconsistencies: HR and business leaders are, on average, 13 percentage points apart in their belief of organizational “readiness to address top priorities.”
This week’s edition of Talent Acquisition Fast Facts digs into Deloitte’s report, exploring the potential disconnect between HR and business leaders in the midst of globalization:
Based on responses from 2,532 business and HR leaders, global organizations’ top-10 urgent priority areas are as follows:
1) Global leadership development
2) Retention and engagement
3) Reskilling the HR function
4) Talent acquisition and access to talent
5) Workforce capability
6) Talent and HR analytics
7) Global HR and talent management
8) Learning and development
9) Performance management
10) HR technology
As mentioned in the introduction, Deloitte’s research identified significant differences between business and HR leaders; specifically, each party’s beliefs in organizational readiness to tackle several of these top-10 challenges:
Readiness to address leadership development:
- HR leaders: 28% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
- Non-HR business leaders: 40% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
Readiness to reskill the HR function:
- HR leaders: 36% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
- Non-HR business leaders: 48% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
Preparedness for global HR and talent management:
- HR leaders: 29% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
- Non-HR business leaders: 45% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
Retention and engagement capabilities:
- HR leaders: 27% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
- Non-HR business leaders: 38% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
Global talent and HR analytics capabilities:
- HR leaders: 41% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
- Non-HR business leaders: 57% of respondents say their organizations are not ready.
If this research is to be believed, what needs to change? Does this potential disconnect between beliefs, understanding and preparedness emphasize the need for HR and business leaders to improve engagement and communication? How can HR partner with organizational leaders to share their strategic capabilities and services? On the flip side, could these findings indicate that business leaders simply don’t believe their HR departments are capable of handling such strategic, business-imperative tasks?
We’d love to hear your thoughts!