Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Freelance workersLearning & developmentTalent managementHR Technology

How should we approach talent management in the future?

by Cath Everett 11 May 2015
by Cath Everett 11 May 2015 Managing a dispersed network of workers will require a new approach to talent management.
Managing a dispersed network of workers will require a new approach to talent management.

Many ideas around the workforce of the future focus on the type of work done or where it will take place, but what will working in a different, less rigid way mean for talent management? 

If predictions of future workforces made up of a small nucleus of in-house staff and a much larger virtual networks of freelancers, contractors and suppliers come true, then HR will need to get savvier about nurturing talent.

By the very nature of what it is and does, technology in the shape of social media and collaboration tools is starting to break down organisational silos and hierarchies. This situation is enabling people in different departments, functions and countries to connect and communicate much more easily.

But, as everything becomes more fluid and networked, this scenario is also starting to erode the traditionally rigid notion of a job and the strict work divisions that have been applied in the past.

If you think about the employee lifecycle, you’ll have to attract people in a different way.” – Colin Sloman, Accenture Strategy

According to Accenture’s latest research, Humanising Work Through Digital, 44% of high-growth companies already use temporary, collaborative teams made up of “people coalescing around joint goals”.

Having invested in collaboration tools such as interactive portals and wikis, these businesses found that productivity increased by 80%.

Revising how we see talent

But, despite the apparent upsides, this does raise a number of issues for HR. As the report points out: “Whole HR departments organise nearly every talent practice around the concept of jobs, and managers and employees use the notion of the job to hire, manage and organise teams.”

Clearly, transitioning out of the old world view into the new will not be easy. In fact, there will be ramifications in everything from recruitment to engagement and succession management.

Colin Sloman, managing director of Accenture Strategy, explains: “If you think about the employee lifecycle, you’ll have to attract people in a different way, for instance, using social media to tap into networks.”

“You might also want to select someone less for their current knowledge and more on their future learning ability.”

He also believes that it will become vital to understand who your “critical talent” is, ie those people “who create differentiation” for the company.

And, in a world where much of the work is outsourced, how will you give them development opportunities?

He comments: “You’ll need to think about whether you could give them a development assignment at a third party or a stint in a shared services function.”

“Because if you’re moving work around the ecosystem, you’ll have to be more creative about creating career experiences that are more flexible and dynamic,” he adds. This has to be a positive development for nurturing the talent of tomorrow.

Avatar
Cath Everett

Cath has been a journalist and editor for more than 20 years, specialising in HR and technology issues.

previous post
How organisations kill engagement through poor emotional intelligence on-demand webinar
next post
Purple Cubed first to win HR Supplier Partnership award

You may also like

Transport sector recruitment ‘should be overhauled to improve...

12 Aug 2022

Skills passport and new qualifications for care workers...

11 Aug 2022

Uber has more drivers than ever as worker...

11 Aug 2022

HMRC looking to recoup £1.4bn from businesses’ use...

1 Aug 2022

Snoozing and Zooming: the great August nod-off is...

29 Jul 2022

Could legacy tech be impacting workers’ health?

29 Jul 2022

Harpur Trust v Brazel: Your holiday pay questions...

27 Jul 2022

Ensuring mental health conversations don’t overstep boundaries

26 Jul 2022

Ministers signal ‘light touch’ regulation of AI in...

21 Jul 2022

Why ‘micro-upskilling’ is essential for productivity

18 Jul 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+