Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you’ll find pointers to pieces about investing in training, top talent development challenges, today’s talent priorities, talent pool or talent puddle, and creating a talent management strategy.
From ERC Insights: More Employers Invest in Training
“According to the results of the 2011 ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey, the percentage of organizations providing employees with financial assistance for employees to upgrade their skills has increased from the past three years. This year, 91% of organizations report providing such assistance – the highest it has been in four years. Last year, the percentage of employers paying for training and development decreased, but now appears to be rising again.”
Wally’s Comment: Most surveys I’ve seen on “training expenditures” don’t tell you what they’re measuring. For example, some count the acquisition of online learning software in their numbers. This survey is very specific. It measures financial assistance to workers to upgrade their skills. Now the question is: “What are they willing to fund?”
From Globoforce: Engagement, Retention & Recruiting Remain Top Challenges
“Too often, I hear from short-sighted organization leaders “My people should feel lucky to have a job in this economy.†Even in this economy, that kind of cavalier approach to employee well-being is negatively affecting companies in three key ways:”
Wally’s Comment: This post looks at recent data on three important areas of talent development.
“We just completed our latest TalentWatch research (our semi-annual report on business and talent trends) and as most HR and business leaders know, we are in a very strange talent environment. On one hand we have a US unemployment rate over 9% and Europe is still in early recovery. On the other hand, businesses tell us that they are having a tough time finding good people and they need help building internal skills. The TalentWatch research (the newest version will be published in September), asked around 300 business and HR leaders to rate their organization’s priorities and readiness. The findings are charted below.”
Wally’s Comment: This post has a great info graphic that shows the ratings of 18 items on a grid measuring “Priority” and “Preparedness.” Priority is suspect, since 15 of 18 items are “high priority” and the other three are close to the line, but I think you’ll see some interesting things on the “preparedness” ratings. Low preparedness items include “planning for future talent needs,” “managers develop employees,” and “developing HR metrics.” There’s more.
From Melany Gallant: Talent Pool or Talent Puddle? Building Bench Strength for Succession
“Lining up potential successors with no real idea of how right they are for the position, let alone how ready, does not equate to a succession plan. Pardon the pun, but the approach seems rather suspect.”
Wally’s Comment: This post distinguishes between “replacement planning” and “succession planning” and includes solid advice about how to do the latter better.
From Ron Thomas: Creating a Talent Strategy: Why You Need a “Hard Knocks†Approach
“An organization’s business strategy should drive its talent management strategy the same as it does marketing and finance.”
Wally’s Comment: I’m really glad I read past the opening paragraphs of this post because my first reaction was, “Oh, shoot, not another example from football!” Read further, though, and you’ll discover some sharp insights and observations.
