Hewitt: Strategic Human Capital Planning

This short article by Hewitt focuses on the need to support a company's strategic business plan with an aligned strategic human capital plan.
The article also suggests a process to create this strategic plan by assessing the talent needs for the future in a systemic way and creating a human capital supply chain, mimicking the discipline of a material supply chain: "Instead of establishing streamlined procurement, conversion, and distribution processes, strategic talent solutions result in enhancements to sourcing, recruiting, onboarding, training, and career-pathing strategies. Like an efficient supply chain, these talent processes are geared to support superior business performance well into the future."

The article:
http://www.greatperformanceseurope.eu/pdfs/issue_05/Strategic-Planning.pdf

BCG Study: The Future of HR (In Europe)

This is an excellent article by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the European Association for Personnel Management, on the key challenges of HR though 2015.
Although the research is based on collection of data from European executives, I have a feeling that most of the findings are probably applicable for many other countries as well.

Of 17 HR topics assessed, five were identified as the major challenges for HR for 2010-2015: Managing Talent, Managing Demographics, Becoming a Learning Organization, Managing Work-Life Balance and Manging Change and Cultural Transformation.

The article sheds light on some the major challenges identified by executives on each of these five topics, as well as points as additional challenges if HR for the next decade.

The article:
http://www.eapm.org/bcg.pdf

Mckinsey: The People Problem in Talent Management

This article, published in the Mckinsey quarterly, identifies the major barriers to implementing Talent Management practices. Not surprising (at least to most HR professionals), many of the major barriers are human-related.

Excerpt:
The results of our research—which included in-depth interviews with 50 CEOs, business unit leaders, and human-resources (HR) professionals from around the world—suggest that the obstacles preventing talent-management programs from delivering business value are all too human (exhibit). As one leader commented, "Habits of mind are the real barriers to talent management."

Read the article:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1755&l2=18&l3=31
(You will need to register free to Mckinsey to be able to download this)

Hewitt: Best in Class Talent Sourcing & Acquisition

This Hewitt paper identifies 7 fundamental practices and 5 innovative practices that best-in-class organizations deploy in their talent sourcing and acquisition activities.

Excerpt:
"Best-in-class talent sourcing and acquisition takes a more holistic and strategic approach—with a focus on securing quality talent for both today’s and tomorrow’s needs. Becoming best in class starts with a strong talent mind-set across the entire organization, where leaders and employees understand the importance of acquiring top talent, and hold an “everyone is a recruiter” mentality. Upfront analysis of internal and external workforce dynamics and subsequent talent needs is required. Examining a full range of sourcing strategies to buy, borrow, or build top talent across the globe is critical in a world of choices"

http://www.hewittassociates.com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Articles/Best-in-Class_Talent_Sourcing_and_Acquisition.pdf

Driving Talent Management Strategies through Workforce Data

An interesting paper by Deloitte provides insight on driving talent management strategies in a company through the creation of valuable and aligned workforce analytics. The article provides a number of case studies of companies from different industries and with diverse talent management challenges.

Workforce Analytics: Driving Talent Management Strategies through Workforce Data
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_consulting_hc_wrkforceanalytics_ihrimmag_060407.pdf

Excerpt:
"With the increased concern regarding talent management issues, many companies are leveraging workforce data to assess current workforce risks, analyze workforce trends, and plan for future talent requirements that can impact workforce planning strategies. In addition, we believe that workforce analytics can allow a company to deliver higher quality talent more efficiently than its competition. Utilization of tools and techniques, such as predictive modeling, HR metrics, and capturing historical trends, are helping companies drive business decisions by utilizing workforce data."

Excellent Human Resources Blog from Successfactors

SuccessFactors, a leading provider of Performance and Talent Management solutions maintains an excellent blog with a wide collection of materials on HR-related subjects.

Check it out:
http://blogs.successfactors.com/workforce-performance/

Talent Management - The New Business Imperative

BusinessWeek Research Services has recently published an interesting report on the growing talent shortage that companies face and some of the emerging talent management initiatives to address this shortage:

Talent Management - The New Business Imperative
http://mediakit.businessweek.com/pdf/research/TalentManagement2007.pdf