Only One in Three Companies Offer Innovative Career Tracks for Talents

Many companies have overhauled their organizational structures, but when it comes to talent management they’re still doing things the same old way. Only one in three companies allow employees to develop outside of established career tracks, and almost 70% have talent management practices that are aimed squarely at high potentials for leadership roles, and only promote vertical progression. That’s according to a new study by the HR and management consultancy Kienbaum, who separately interviewed 204 HR managers and 118 talents. The results of the study reveal new trends in talent management.

“Talents are expected to spend years progressing toward positions that will soon no longer exist in their current form. Or else the talents themselves will leave the company before they get a chance to take on the position. Companies need different development concepts and career landscapes,” according to Kienbaum consultant Eberhard Hübbe, who led the study.

Only one in two companies have a talent management strategy in place

Talent management involves defining the skills and capacities that are especially important for a company’s future success, identifying talents who possess these skills, and systematically supporting, nurturing, and seeking to retain them over the longer term. However, only 55% of the companies surveyed by Kienbaum have a talent management strategy in place.

Companies need to work out which talents they will need in future

The Kienbaum study shows that two thirds of HR departments reserve the term ‘talent’ for high potentials for predefined key positions or leadership roles, and their talent management practices are aimed squarely at ensuring they are able to fill these positions over the long term. Only a third of respondents said that in their company everyone is considered, treated, and developed as a talent. “That doesn’t mean the same focus is put on developing every single individual. Rather, companies need to define for themselves which talents will be relevant for them in future,” according to Eberhard Hübbe. The Kienbaum study also shows that companies with a broader definition of talent are more innovative than those with an elitist definition. “In order to become more innovative, organizations need to consider a more inclusive definition of talent and rethink their established systems.”

Innovative companies allow talents to take responsibility for their own development

HR managers often underestimate the self-reliance and self-efficacy of their talents: 83% of talents consider themselves primarily responsible for their own development, while only 42% of the participating HR professionals stated that employees can manage their own development effectively. “Capable employees are now the top experts when it comes to their own careers. Their managers should provide advice in the form of individual coaching and ongoing dialogue, rather than imposing rigid plans,” says Eberhard Hübbe.

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The 2018 talent management study “Trust in Talent” is available on our website.