Why strategic talent mapping is pivotal to the success of your business
You probably do not need us to tell you that it is a challenging hiring market out there at the moment. There are fewer people out of employment than ever before and, according to the Office of National Statistics, there are a record 1.2m vacancies across all sectors in the UK. At the top level the problem is most severe, and numerous businesses are struggling to identify the executive talent they need to reach the next level.
While around half of all UK employers are experiencing a shortage of talent, this is not solely a domestic issue. The Global Talent Crunch study found that the current recruitment issues could create 85 million unfilled jobs and close to $8.5tn (that’s trillion) in unrealised global revenues by 2030 if they continue at their current pace. This means that now, more than ever, thorough talent mapping and planning is key to achieving business goals.
Firstly, it is important to highlight that, while to many the idea of talent mapping and planning relates only to external hires, it is also critical to have an internal strategic talent forecast in place. More and more organisations are investing in their training and development programmes, not least because of the major challenges of hiring externally in the current market. We will not go over the well-trodden reasons behind the talent crisis, however, hiring from within can be equally as challenging – and creates added hurdles like managing the disappointment of employees who don’t end up securing new roles – as externally, if you do not properly plan ahead. Ultimately, what’s needed is a proactive approach to forecast long-term hiring needs that enables you to bridge the gap between your company’s goals and the people required to reach them, both within your organisation and externally.
The benefits of talent mapping
While there are issues with hiring from within to solve your executive talent gaps, the positives largely outweigh them. You benefit from improved employee engagement and a clearer understanding of where gaps already exist, let alone where they may do in the future. It can only benefit your future hiring strategies to have a more detailed understanding of where employees’ strengths and weaknesses lie and hiring managers will gain from knowing more clearly how long their employees are likely to stay with the company before moving on.
We also can’t overlook the fact that the alternative is much worse. When you don’t put proper succession planning and talent mapping processes in place, mistakes happen. Albert R. Broccoli didn’t account for Sean Connery asking for twice as much money to film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and ended up with George Lazenby playing James Bond. In the business world, Blackberry failed to plan for CEO Thorsten Heins’ departure and ended up losing nearly $1bn in a matter of months and terminating the contracts of 4,500 employees. And in sports, Manchester United is arguably the archetypal example of poor talent mapping. They replaced the best manager of all time with David Moyes and have failed to forecast their needs adequately both on and off the football pitch since that point.
These are costly mistakes to make. Harry Maguire alone cost £80m. In addition, a study by Harvard Business School found that the amount of market value wiped out by badly managed CEO and C-Suite transitions in the US S&P 1500 is close to $1tn (that is trillion, again) per year. The same study estimates that, if talent mapping was properly incorporated into business strategies, company valuations and investor returns would be between 20-25% higher annually. This should hardly come as a surprise. Without a proper plan in place your business will naturally become more prone to making rash decisions with potential candidates, it will not secure the top talent it needs, and ultimately will suffer financially. Again, you are not alone. Half of all businesses regret hires they have made, suggesting that you are essentially tossing a coin when it comes to your next top level hire without putting due talent mapping processes in place beforehand.
Really, why would you plan ahead? The benefits are clear; effective talent mapping means you have a better chance of developing a strong pool of candidates, it decreases your time to hire and enables you to properly apply your employer brand into the talent acquisition process, because you won’t be rushing. It gives you a better understanding of internal and external talent markets and ultimately, enables you to make better and smarter business decisions. However, any truly thorough and complete talent mapping process requires significant legwork and research to pull off properly, particularly when organisations can now recruit more effectively internationally and across sectors.
Fortunately, help is at hand. We believe that an intelligent talent map should be more than just a list of potential candidates. We use a portfolio of online and human sources to build in-depth talent profiles and search methodically for potential candidate intelligence across our range of industry sources. We analyse internal and external candidate career achievements meaning we can advise on strengths, weaknesses, challenges and priorities for your firm. We can do this internationally, across sectors and functions for our clients who want deep market and candidate insight that can be trusted. Our work also enables us to reveal how your competitors manage their talent mapping processes on a macro or micro level, enabling you to benchmark your own plans and inform organisational development and talent planning. As you can tell, this is a significant undertaking.
However, if you want to avoid making costly mistakes when it comes to executive talent acquisitions, mapping and planning where you may face talent gaps in the coming years is an absolute necessity. Instead of rushing and hiring your next Lazenby or Moyes, think strategically and map your future needs.