Business Growth Threatened by Recessionary Habits in HR, says CEB Assessment

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oened manilla folderNew research from member-based advisory company CEB, reveals that approximately 6 percent of companies are equipped to shift from survival to growth mode. The findings indicate that weak talent infrastructures are threatening corporate growth and impeding strategic HR support. Rapid intervention is needed to strengthen the rigor of current talent practices if HR is to help build the foundations for corporate growth through talent development and acquisition.

“Economic indicators are positive and business confidence improving, all the signs suggest that businesses are poised to switch from a survival mentality to growth mode. However, our research shows that for some companies, yesterday’s talent practices are jeopardizing tomorrow’s growth opportunities,” said Ken Lahti, vice president of product development and innovation at CEB.

The company’s Global Assessment Trends Report reveals that firms are focusing on internal employee initiatives to engage, retain, and develop top talent to propel organizational growth, but lack mature and formal processes for core HR areas such as succession planning, leadership development, and workforce planning, thereby compromising performance and productivity in 94 percent of companies globally.

The findings show that HR’s priorities for 2014 reflect the growth strategy; keep talent engaged (56 percent of those surveyed), identify and cultivate strong leadership (51 percent and 54 percent respectively), and maximize existing employee performance (54 percent). But the talent programs in place to support these areas are inconsistent and ineffective due to the absence of formalized processes and objective data capture. Despite HR’s continuous focus in improving these areas over the last three years, fewer than half of respondents have hard data to demonstrate people impact on business initiatives and prove ROI.

Those firms that fail to embed objective and consistent measures of performance and potential into formalized HR processes will be less effective at aligning talent and HR strategy to the needs of their businesses.

By Joshua Bjerke