Special report: Managing talent

Members are often telling us how their remit is constantly expanding, and human resources (HR) provides a good example of the kind of responsibilities that often end up in the Finance Director’s area. This is not always an easy fit, because often we have had limited relevant formal training. In addition, as Chartered Accountants we are very comfortable with things that can be proven and measured: it is difficult to do this with people.

Nurturing Potential

Members are often telling us how their remit is constantly expanding, and human resources (HR)  provides a good example of the kind of responsibilities that often end up in the Finance Director’s area. This is not always an easy fit, because often we have had limited relevant formal training. In addition, as Chartered Accountants we are very comfortable with things that can be proven and measured: it is difficult to do this with people.

The term talent management itself also alienates some of us. And if we feel this way, you can bet that the intelligent people who work for us will also be sceptical. So is talent management just the latest buzzword for ‘training and development’ or ‘succession management’? Well the majority of contributors within this report would say not. Rather than being about current roles and current people, talent management appears to be more about looking at where your business strategy is leading you, and seeing how to manage your resource of talent to support this.

But who are these potential stars that you need to nurture? Are they your highest performing 10% of the workforce? Are they the whole of your workforce? Or should you extend it even further to include contractors and even suppliers? These questions and other key ones are discussed within this report, and as always opinions differ.

Most importantly we look at how you can physically implement talent management within your business. We also interview three key players from 02, Aviva and ITV to understand what they have done, and how well it has worked.

If you are still hesitant at this point, thinking ‘is this really something I need to think about within my area?’ Then Simon Bailey, of Oxygen, places us firmly within the finance function. He discusses what work experience high potential finance executives should acquire in order to secure the most senior roles. This is helpful advice whether you are trying to up-skill your team or manage your own career.

Published by the Finance and Management faculty (SR22 - September 2008)

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Members

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Full report only available to faculty members

Non-members

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Full article only available to ICAEW members and students.