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Research Bulletin | 2012
As we move closer to the 2020 workplace, essential to any
organization’s success is the ability to build and execute an
integrated talent management strategy.1 This strategy takes time,
necessitates the input and efforts of more than one department, and
requires stewardship from leaders across the organization.
This research bulletin will demonstrate:
• Thebusinesscaseforintegratedtalentmanagement
• Thethree-stageprocessforintegratingtalentmanagement
• Howotherorganizationshaveintegratedtalentmanagement
Bersin & Associates research has shown the strong benefits of
integrating talent management practices. For example, organizations
with fully integrated processes and systems show 29 percent higher
scores in employee engagement, 36 percent higher ratings in
leadership development, and 41 percent higher scores in creating a
1 “Integrated talent management” is three or more connected organizational processes designed to attract, manage, develop, motivate, and retain key people. These processes include activities such as performance management, career management, succession management, leadership development, learning and capability development, total rewards, and talent acquisition. These processes are integrated through a common interface,dataplatform,workflow,andcross-processreportingandanalytics.
October 19, 2012
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Integrated Talent Management: A Roadmap for Success
About the Author
Stacia Sherman Garr,Principal Analyst
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Integrated Talent Management: A Roadmap for Success Stacia Sherman Garr | Page 2
pipeline of viable successors.2 The impact of talent management
practices on employee engagement is especially interesting, as research
shows that a 15 percent improvement in employee engagement can
result in a 2 percent uptick in operating margin.3 Integration may also
have an effect on the bottom line by leading to higher retention of
top performers and thus decreasing recruiting costs, or by allowing the
training department to more precisely budget development initiatives.
Along the path to integrated talent management there are a few
key truths:
• Afoundationalunderstandingofthetypesofjobs,responsibilities,
and competencies your organization needs is necessary to integrate
core talent management functions and processes.
• Integrationmatters.Withatightlyintegratedtalentmanagement
strategy that aligns to the business, organizations are able to thrive.
• Thespecificpathtotalentmanagementmaturitymayvary
dependingontheorganization’simmediateandlong-termneeds,
but the general approach will remain the same.
Importance of Integrated Talent Management
Integrated talent management is more important now than ever
before. Many organizations are facing intense talent shortages resulting
from scarcities in critical skills, accelerating retirements, and increased
turnover. Integrated talent management is important because it
provides the organization with a clearer understanding of its talent,
theabilitytomakeadjustmentstoitscurrentapproachgiventhat
understanding, and the information necessary to plan for the future. An
example of this in action would be an organization that uses integrated
2 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
3 Formoreinformation,“Incentivesvs.Recognition:HowDoYouGetYourWorkersEngaged Again?,” Forbes.com/Eric Mosley, November 19, 2009, http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/incentives-recognition-engagement-leadership-ceonetwork-employees_print.html.
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talentmanagementtoidentifyitsmost-neededskills,determineshow
many more people with those skills are necessary, recruits for those
people (externally or internally), and develops a targeted plan for
retaining current employees who possess those skills. The globalization
of the workplace also increases the need for connectivity between
processes such as career management and learning and development. If
global career paths are tightly knitted with a learning and development
strategy, the organization can improve the success rate of expatriate
assignments and other leadership development initiatives, resulting
inbetter-preparedleadersandthemoreefficientuseoftalent
management investments. Integrated talent management fuses human
resources processes together at the right places, leading to tangible
benefits for the organization.
Benefits
The goal of an integrated talent management strategy is to create a
highlyresponsive,high-performance,sustainableorganizationthat
meets business targets, both today and tomorrow. Currently, only
7 percent of organizations have established a truly mature strategy
while many more, 44 percent, are developing a strategy with mature
processes.4 Our research shows that making the investment in improving
integrated talent management pays off, as the organizations with the
most mature processes achieve superior results:
• 26percenthigherrevenueperemployee
• 28percentlesslikelytohavedownsizedfrom2008to2009
• 40percentlowerturnoveramonghighperformers
• 17percentloweroverallvoluntaryturnover
• 87percentgreaterabilityto“hirethebestpeople”
• 156percentgreaterabilityto“developgreatleaders”
4 This information is based on our current research on the topic of Learning and Integrated Talent Management, the report for which is due to be published in Q4’2012. Please see our ongoing research in this area by visiting www.bersin.com/library.
Integrated talent
management fuses
human resources
processes together
at the right places,
leading to tangible
benefits for the
organization.
KEY POINT
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• 92percentgreaterabilityto“respondtochanging
economic conditions”
• 144percentgreaterabilityto“planforfutureworkforceneeds”5
Levels of Talent Management Integration Maturity
Most organizations today have not achieved total talent management
integration. In 2010, almost half of U.S. companies said that they
hadawell-definedtalentstrategyand,atthattime,wereworking
to implement that strategy. Two years later, organizations are still
working to effectively implement their strategies. For example, only 4
out of 10 respondents to a survey by Towers Watson reported effective
incorporation of competencies into the performance management
process–anecessarybaselineforunderstandinghowwellajobisbeing
performed.6 Furthermore, only 37 percent of respondents reported that
their organizations are adept at incorporating career development into
the performance management process.7
The path to integration can be difficult and time consuming. To help
organizations understand what this process looks like, we developed
our Bersin & Associates Talent Management Maturity Model (see Figure
1). This model describes the levels through which most organizations
move on their path to integrated talent management.
5 For more information, Creating Agility Through Integrated People Management Process, Bersin & Associates/Katherine Jones, Ph.D., July 2012. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
6 For more information, The Next High-Stakes Quest: Balancing Employer and Employee Priorities, 2012–2013 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, Towers Watson, 2012, http://www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/7990/TowersWatson-GlobalTMR-Survey-NA-2012(1).pdf. This survey reviewed 1,605 employers across four global regions.
7 Ibid.
Only 4 out of 10
survey respondents
reported effective
incorporation of
competencies into
the performance
management
process – a
necessary baseline
for understanding
howwellajobis
being performed.
KEY POINT
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Each level, as illustrated in the model, indicates how far an organization
has traveled on the path to integration. At Level 1, organizations
have yet to explore connecting talent processes or systems, whereas at
Level 2, talent management integration has been embraced, but with
room to determine more connection points. Levels 3 and 4 represent
the upper end of maturity with a talent management strategy that is
aligned with the goals of the business and with technology in place to
support collaboration across processes.
Some organizational demographic features can impact the likelihood
of an organization being more or less mature. For example, older
organizations are unlikely to be at the lowest level of maturity (though
few of them have made it to the highest level of maturity).8 It makes
sense that many of these organizations have moved beyond Level 1
8 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.
Figure 1: Bersin & Associates Talent Management Maturity Model®
Level 4: Strategic Talent ManagementFully integrated processes and systems used to make
business decisions; talent management is business-driven
Level 3: Integrated Talent ManagementHeavy focus on connecting systems and processes;single person / team responsible for talent initiatives
Level 2: Standardized Talent ProcessesTalent processes are consistent and tailorable, with some integration;
several systems connected through manual processes
Level 1: Siloed HR ProcessesIndividual HR processes or “silos”;
may have systems in place but not connected
Regardless of the
size or industry, all
business entities
recognize the
benefits of an
integrated talent
management
strategy as their
operations increase
in scope and
complexity.
KEY POINT
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maturity because integration is typically a phased process across multiple
years.Youngerorganizations,orthoseinindustriesslowertoadaptto
new trends (e.g., manufacturing), find themselves primarily at Level 1 or
Level 2. The younger organizations may initially place emphasis on other
aspectsofthebusiness,suchasproductdevelopment.However,asthese
organizations grow, they will recognize the benefits of integrated talent
management and allocate resources toward building a strategy in the
future. Regardless of the size or industry, all business entities recognize
the benefits of an integrated talent management strategy as their
operations increase in scope and complexity.
There are clear business advantages for organizations at the highest
level of the maturity ladder. Bersin & Associates research shows that
companies with standardized talent processes, residing at Level 2,
have double the turnover of high performers9 when compared to
companiesatLevel4,whichpossessmorestrategic,business-driven
talent management.10
Where to Start: The Foundation of Integrated Talent Management
What is the first step to moving an organization toward an integrated
talent management strategy? Although it may appear that aligning
processes is the best place to begin, the foundation of integrated talent
management is actually getting the right people on board to establish
and then execute the strategy.
Integrating talent management requires that senior leaders understand
and support integration efforts and that business leaders throughout
theenterprise(withsupportfromHR)implementandownmanyof
9 A “high performer” is an employee who is a key contributor, demonstrates high performance, is capable of a lateral move, may be qualified for a broader role within the same profession, and has reached the potential to move “upward” in a management capacity.
10 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
Integrating talent
management
requires that senior
leaders understand
and support
integration efforts
and that business
leaders throughout
the enterprise, with
supportfromHR,
implement and
own many of those
changes.
KEY POINT
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those changes.11 The best place to start for any organization trying
to improve its talent management integration is fostering executive
sponsorship, engaging business leaders, and aligning the right
employees to make planning collaborative.12 Involving leadership early
instrategydevelopmentengagesthemintheprocessandimprovesbuy-
in. Inviting both leaders and departmental employees to initial working
sessions and kickoff meetings is one way to encourage participation.
The business leaders driving the changes should also be responsible
for identifying resources across the business that can support the
integration of talent management.
A Talent Management Integration Roadmap
Withbroadsupport,HRcannowfocusonintegratingtalent
management. In Figure 2, we outlined a phased approach for
doing this:
11 For more information, The High-Impact Learning Organization: WhatWorks® in the Management, Governance and Operations of Modern Corporate Training, Bersin & Associates/Josh Bersin, May 2008. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library or for purchase at www.bersin.com/highimpact.
12 For more information, Creating Business Alignment: The Role of Talent Advisory Councils, Bersin & Associates/Stacia Sherman Garr, September 2011. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.
Figure 2: Phased Approach to Integrating Talent Management
1. Succession Management
2. Talent Acquisition
1. Learning & Development
2. Leadership & Capability Development
3. Career Development
1. Job/Competencies Definition
2. Total Rewards
3. Performance Management
Development Integration
Talent Pipeline Integration
Foundational Integration
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Foundational Integration
The first step in integrated talent management includes three
elements: ensuring that everyone understands the responsibilities and
behaviors required by the organization, determining how people will
be incentivized to stay in those positions, and identifying how those
employees will be assessed. These elements all fit under what we call
“foundational integration.”
As part of the foundation (see Figure 3), an organization may
begin with an analysis of the talent infrastructure. This includes
jobarchitecture(alsoknownasa“careerframework”atsome
organizations) and role definitions. To do this, many organizations
define the roles at each level within the organizational hierarchy and
howreportingstructuresalign.Next,HRdetermineshowjobsaregoing
toworktogether.Thismayleadtoaddingdetailtojobprofilesand
identifyingwhichjobsreporttoothers.Jobprofilestypicallyincludethe
required skills, competencies, certifications, work experience, and other
attributes required for success in a particular role. The process might
take a while because other tasks may also be necessary, such as plotting
andweightingjobsbasedontheirrelativeimportanceandcontribution
to organizational success.
The first step in
integrated talent
management
includes three
elements:
ensuring that
everyone
understands the
responsibilities
and behaviors
required by the
organization,
determining
how people will
be incentivized
to stay in those
positions, and
identifying how
those employees
will be assessed.
These elements all
fit under what we
call “foundational
integration.”
KEY POINT
Talent Infrastructure
Competency Management
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.
Figure 3: Core Elements of Foundational Integration
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Many organizations will also focus on developing or refining
competencies at this point. Competencies are used to identify the
behaviorsnecessarytoexecutejobrequirements,establishcriteriafor
evaluating performance, and identify areas for improvement. Nearly
two-thirdsoforganizationsfindthatcompetenciesserveasasolid
foundation on which to begin integration, and many organizations
usethemtohelpwithjobleveling.13Forexample,joblevelingmay
involverankingjobsintotiersorbandsthatrepresentresponsibilities
with regard to management or individual contribution. Skills and
competencies will later feed directly into other talent processes such as
performance management, learning, and career management. As such,
identifying competencies early is critical.
Many organizations next shift their focus to total rewards14 and
performance management (see Figure 4), with the intention of clearly
mappingobjectivesandrewardsbacktotheoveralltalentmanagement
strategy.15Usingthejobdefinitionsandprofilesidentifiedinthe
foundational section of the talent management integration roadmap,
market analysis should surface data to support salary and incentive
decisions for most, if not all, roles. The effective use of the results
from the market analysis is key to determining the right total rewards
package. Many organizations find it beneficial to use an integrated
marketanalysisandjobpricingtoolanddatabaseatthisstagesothat
they can most effectively map particular roles to compensation.
13 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
14 “Total rewards” includes incentives, compensation, and benefits.
15 For more information, The Next High-Stakes Quest: Balancing Employer and Employee Priorities, 2012–2013 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, Towers Watson, 2012, http://www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/7990/TowersWatson-GlobalTMR-Survey-NA-2012(1).pdf. This survey reviewed 1,605 employers across four global regions.
Nearlytwo-thirds
of organizations
find that
competencies
serve as a solid
foundation on
which to begin
integration, and
many organizations
use them to help
withjobleveling.
KEY POINT
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In parallel, or following the integration of a total rewards approach,
isabuild-outofaneffectiveperformancemanagementprocess.Total
rewards and performance management connect naturally because
many elements of total rewards, such as bonuses or incentives, are
often aligned with ratings and reviews from the performance appraisal
process. Performance management will later integrate with other
processes such as learning, talent acquisition, leadership development,
and career management. (See Figure 4.)
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.
Figure 4: Integrated Talent Management
Total rewards
and performance
management
connect naturally
because many
elements of total
rewards, such
as bonuses or
incentives, are
often aligned
with ratings and
reviews from
the performance
appraisal process.
KEY POINT
Talent Acquisition
Career Management
Succession Management
LeadershipDevelopment
Learning & CapabilityDevelopment
Talent Infrastructure
Total Rewards
CompetencyManagement
Performance Management
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Case in Point: ACTIVE Network, Inc., Tackles Integrated Talent Management for a Rapidly Growing and Diverse Workforce
With 25 acquisitions in the past five years, 35 offices in eight
countries, 4,000 employees, and a recent initial public offering,
ACTIVE Network, Inc., is familiar with making rapid changes in a
geographically and generationally diverse organization. ACTIVE,
founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Diego, California,
seeks to “make the world a more active place” by building the
technology that powers the world’s activities.
Rapid Business Growth Exposes Talent Management Challenges
In parallel with its explosive business growth, ACTIVE began
to experience increasingly visible challenges related to its
talent management processes and procedures. Some of those
issues included:
• 1,700differentjobtitlesfor2,500employees
• Undefinedcareerpaths
• Inconsistentsalaryandrewardsstructure,whichwasnot
tied to performance
• Complicatedperformancemanagementprocess,
in which employees were rated on more than 20
separate competencies
• Disparatepaperandtechnologysystems
Gaining the Support of Leadership
Toaddressthesechallenges,ACTIVElaunchedathree-phase
approach to integrated talent management that will help
the company align processes and, ultimately, engage, grow,
and retain top talent. The company took this approach based
on feedback from employee engagement surveys and an
analysis completed by an employee task force, which included
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20 top performers from across the organization. Working
collaborativelywithHR,thetaskforcedevelopedabusiness
casethatwaspresentedtotheC-Suiteforinput,buy-in,anda
commitment to invest in proposed initiatives. John Martinez,
ACTIVE’s director of total rewards, stated, “We have great
supporthere,fromC-Suitetoseniorleadershiptoemployees.”
The leadership team agreed to a progressive move toward
integrated talent management that will involve new systems
and processes through 2013.
A Solid Foundation and Initial Integration Points
The foundation of the phased approach, which began in 2011,
wastorationalizethejobtitlesintheorganization.During
this phase, ACTIVE identified the responsibilities and skills
requiredfordifferentjobs,distinguishingbetweentechnicaland
nontechnical roles. The first year was entirely focused on this
process of rationalizing titles and compensation. Through this
process,ACTIVEwasabletoreduce1,700jobtitlesto800.The
company also instituted a formal process for determining how
new roles would be integrated into the existing set. ACTIVE then
leveraged a team, which included top performers, to identify
the traits necessary to be successful and codified them as the
organization’s competencies.
With competencies established, total rewards was selected
as an initial integration point for ACTIVE. In early 2012,
ACTIVEestablishedamarket-basedpaystructurethatfitthe
organization’s geographic diversity and took into account
multipletiersandjobtypes,distinguishingbetweentechnical
and nontechnical career tracks. ACTIVE also restructured
performance management to focus employees on three to
five goals (down from as many as 20) and aligned pay with
performance. Martinez explained, “The parallel process was
coupling pay decisions with performance. In the past, merit
increases occurred in July, and appraisals were held in March.
Case in Point: ACTIVE Network, Inc. (cont’d)
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There was a disconnect in timing. People instead want us to tell
them how they are doing and then immediately reward them.
Coupling pay decisions with performance was a huge win.”
What Is Next?
By the end of 2012, ACTIVE will have launched its new career
path portal and supporting career management processes.
The system will enable employees and managers much better
transparency into employees’ skills and competencies, as well as
the required skills and competencies for future roles.
By2013,ACTIVEplanstohavejobsclearlydefined,acomplete
competency model, and a total rewards strategy mapped to
performance.ACTIVEthenexpectstocompleteitsthree-phase
approach by aligning its training and development programs
and systems with the career and reward processes. e
Development Integration
Oncecompetencymodelsandjobsareestablished,alongwith
compensation and performance management processes, the
organization can focus on how employees will develop within the
organization.Specifically,HRshouldidentifythedesiredcareerpaths16
within the organization and the learning necessary to ensure that
employees can follow those paths (see Figure 5).
The order in which an organization chooses to address career
management, learning, and leadership development may vary.
However,becauseallthreeprocesseshavenaturalsynergiesamong
them, they should be analyzed and planned for together. For example,
an organization could focus first on defining career paths, given the
jobresponsibilitiesandcompetenciesalreadydeveloped.Thisenables
employees to see the potential directions they can move within the
16 “Careerpath”referstoaplanned,logicalprogressionofjobsthatmayincludelateraland vertical movement within an organization.
Case in Point: ACTIVE Network, Inc. (cont’d)
The order in which
an organization
chooses to
address career
management,
learning, and
leadership
development may
vary.However,
because all three
processes have
natural synergies
among them, they
should be analyzed
and planned for
together.
KEY POINT
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organization, understand the competencies and skills necessary to
performthejobsunderconsideration,anddevelopaplanforgetting
there. To help employees with these efforts, the organization also needs
to create the learning and leadership development support necessary
for moving along those various paths.
Alternatively,theorganizationcouldconductagapanalysisoflow-
andhigh-performingemployeeswithinvariousroles(basedondata
from performance appraisals and other assessments), create learning
and leadership development resources to address those gaps, and
then determine potential career paths. In 2010, slightly more than 40
percent of organizations reported that their performance management,
learning, and career management processes were linked in this way.17
Regardless of the approach an organization takes, it should involve
looking at these three elements together.
17 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.
Figure 5: Integrated Talent Management
Talent Acquisition
Career Management
Succession Management
LeadershipDevelopment
Learning & CapabilityDevelopment
Talent Infrastructure
Total Rewards
CompetencyManagement
Performance Management
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Talent Pipeline Integration
The final areas to integrate are succession management and talent
acquisition (see Figure 6).
Succession management and talent acquisition integrate tightly with
many of the talent management elements already discussed, as shown
in Figure 6. For example, talent readiness (a critical part of succession
management) depends on the leadership development, learning,
and performance management resources in place. Recruiting and
hiring initiatives should be closely aligned with assessment results
(from leadership development, learning, or career management)
and outcomes from the performance appraisal process. Furthermore,
recruiting should be explicitly linked to career management resources so
that current employees can learn when a position they were considering
becomes available. A strong talent pipeline must be enabled
internally through succession planning and externally through talent
acquisition activities.
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010.
Figure 6: Integrated Talent Management
Talent Acquisition
Career Management
Succession Management
LeadershipDevelopment
Learning & CapabilityDevelopment
Talent Infrastructure
Total Rewards
CompetencyManagement
Performance Management
A strong talent
pipeline must be
enabled internally
through succession
planning and
externally through
talent acquisition
activities.
KEY POINT
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Integrated Talent Management: A Roadmap for Success Stacia Sherman Garr | Page 16
Case in Point: Equifax Expands Career Paths to Increase Talent Mobility and Retention While Enabling Succession Planning
Since 2006, Equifax has experienced rapid growth around the
globe.The$2-billion,106-year-old,internationalfinancial
servicescompanyisoneofthethreemajorcreditbureausin
the United States. Through the use of its unique data assets,
Equifax offers an analytical solution to support its customers’
varied needs.
Rapid expansion often comes with challenges, though, and
forEquifaxthatmeantanexcessivenumberofjobtitlesand
levels.Acrosstheorganization,joblevelsandcareerpathswere
unclear, resulting in an urgent need for a more integrated
view of both business and people processes. Multiple systems,
including 25 different performance management solutions, also
prohibited Equifax from having a holistic view of performance
and top talent in the organization.
Defining Competencies and Streamlining Job Levels
First on the agenda for Equifax was to move to a banded
organization, where roles were aligned and comparable
work was made clearer. To create greater simplicity, Equifax
established an initiative known as Connections to look at
commonworkacrosstheglobe.ChiefHROfficer(CHRO)
CorethaRushingstated,“Thiswasnotjustaboutstructure,it
was also about giving us a better understanding of the talent
we have and creating clarity around career options for our
employees.Weweretryingtounderstandthecommonjobsand
feeder roles necessary to get to the next level. It’s our operating
system for managing talent globally to best support Equifax’s
futuregrowthobjectives.”Asapartofthiswork,Equifax
identified six core competency areas that could be scaled for
differentjobsandacrosstheenterprise:
CHROCoretha
Rushing stated,
“Thiswasnotjust
about structure,
it was also about
giving us a better
understanding
of the talent we
have and creating
clarity around
career options for
our employees.
We were trying
to understand
thecommonjobs
and feeder roles
necessary to get
to the next level.
It’s our operating
system for
managing talent
globally to best
support Equifax’s
future growth
objectives.”
KEY POINT
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• BusinessKnowledge
• ProblemSolvingandDecisionMaking
• CustomerValueCreation
• Influence
• Execution
• TalentDevelopment
Equifax focused efforts on the sales organization initially,
soliciting support from business unit management working
closelywithHR.Rushingshared,“Thisworknecessitatedgetting
sales leaders involved in the process, as they have the most
intimate understanding of the roles and the competencies
required.Havingmanagementinvolvedincreasedthelengthof
theproject,butinstilledownership.Wewantedtomakesure
theyunderstoodthiswasabusinessissueandthatHR’srolewas
tofacilitatetheprocess.”Equifaxalsoimplementedasoftware-
as-a-servicetechnologytostorethenewlydefinedbandedroles
andHRdatarelatedtotalentwithintheorganization.Thisnew
technologyalsoenabledself-service.
Better Career Paths
A critical element of this work was defining which competencies
werenecessaryforeachjobandhowthosecompetencies
evolved from position to position. This provided a natural
framework for creating clear career paths. As a result of this
work, career paths for the sales force have become clearer,
and professionals can now move around the organization
more efficiently.
Equifax is already seeing the competencies improve internal
talent mobility. For example, hiring managers can now clearly
articulate the core competencies needed for success within
a role. This enables the hiring manager to more effectively
advertise the position internally, as well as externally. As a result
Case in Point: Equifax Expands Career Paths (cont’d)
CHRORushing
stated,“Having
management
involved increased
the length of
theproject,
but instilled
ownership.”
KEY POINT
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of this clearer communication, employees are more apt to find
positions that fit with their career goals. Rushing stated, “I think
people,evenwhentheyarereallygoodattheirjobs,oftenwill
leaveandgotoanothercompanyforarole,evenifthatjob
exists at their current company. The problem could be that they
justweren’tawareoftheavailabilityofthatopportunity.We’re
trying to fix that here, and having some real success.”
Next Steps and Desired Outcomes
The Connections initiative was a success within sales, and now
Equifax is looking to extend it. The organization plans to both
roll out Connections more broadly and embed the newly defined
and mapped competencies into leadership development, talent
acquisition, and succession management processes.
Over the next three to five years, Equifax expects to see the
following additional benefits:
• Increasedretentionthroughouttheorganization
• Improvedperformancemanagementagainstadefined
set of competencies
• Increasedtalentmobilityandclearinternaltalentpoolsfor
succession management
• Enhancedpredictivecapabilitiesforworkforceplanninge
Starting in the Middle of the Roadmap
We are often asked if it is possible to start in the middle of this
roadmap. Although it certainly is feasible to begin somewhere in the
middleandbesuccessful,therearetrade-offs.Forexample,themost
critical, foundational component of the roadmap is the establishment
ofjobresponsibilitiesandcompetencies.Thisisimportantbecausethese
elements affect how people are compensated and incentivized (total
rewards), how they are managed and assessed (performance
Case in Point: Equifax Expands Career Paths (cont’d)
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management), how people can move through the organization (career
management and succession management), and how learning is
designed to support performance improvement (learning and leadership
development). If those initial foundational elements are missing, then the
rest of the organization’s structures are prone to inconsistency.
Some organizations have succeeded by focusing on integrating talent
management for only a subsection of roles. In these instances, they
define responsibilities and competencies for critical roles, and then
focus on integrating the other processes. This can be an effective way to
both address a specific area of need and pilot an integration approach.
Still other organizations may have different needs, such as integrating
two processes that are further along in the roadmap (e.g., leadership
development and succession management). For these organizations,
although it is certainly desirable to have consistency between
leadership development offerings and the factors used to determine
succession moves, it is also important that these elements align with the
competenciesandjobresponsibilitiesoftherolesintowhichpeoplewill
be moved. If the organization lacks that consistency, the relevance of
both the leadership development and succession management processes
can be called into question.
Finally, it is important that an organization, regardless of which
processes it is focused on integrating, engage senior leaders early and
often.Withoutseniorleaderbuy-in,itisextremelydifficulttoalignand
integrate the various talent management processes.
Using Technology to Enable Integration
Talent management technology suites are designed to enable an
organization’s overall talent strategy. Our research shows that
companies with poorly integrated systems have low scores on retention
and employee productivity, similar to organizations that have no
systems in place at all.18 Merely attempting to automate old, disparate
18 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
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processes within a new technology system does not yield new results.
Organizations must take the time to select the right technology
solutions, as well as determine the right combination of process
steps, that will allow the technology to enhance the overall talent
management strategy. Many organizations already understand this.
For example, a recent survey from Towers Watson showed that over
thepastsixyears,technologywasaprimaryfocalpointforHRservices
and operations functions in their quest to improve overall delivery of
performance and talent management.19
One important decision factor for an organization is how to implement
technology. A phased approach is often best for two reasons. First, it
allows the organization to develop its capabilities so that they build
on each other, similar to how we outlined the process in the talent
management integration roadmap. Second, it allows the organization
to digest change at an acceptable rate. For example, the organization
will likely want to use pilots to test the feasibility of newly designed
conceptsandprocesses,andthenensurethattheyhavebuy-infromkey
players before completing the integration.
Technology solutions to support the foundational integration processes,
including talent infrastructure and competency management, will
be most essential at the onset. This may be followed by a phased
implementation of other offerings in the suite as additional steps are
takentointegratedevelopment-andtalentpipeline–relatedprocesses.
SomeorganizationswilllooktoonesystemproviderfortheirHR
technology solution. In 2010, 34 percent of organizations were
planning to implement a talent management suite from one vendor.20
However,a“one-stopshop”isnottheonlyanswertoHRtechnology
needs.Twenty-twopercentoforganizationsin2010indicatedthat
19 For more information, The Next High-Stakes Quest: Balancing Employer and Employee Priorities, 2012–2013 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, Towers Watson, 2012, http://www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/7990/TowersWatson-GlobalTMR-Survey-NA-2012(1).pdf. This survey reviewed 1,605 employers across four global regions.
20 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
Attempting to
automate old,
disparate processes
within a new
technology system
will not yield new
results.
KEY POINT
A phased approach
to implementing
technology is
most feasible
because it enables
the organization
sufficient time to
both build on its
capabilities and
digest change.
KEY POINT
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they will implement a partial suite.21 This means that if systems are
already in place, they will seek to integrate legacy systems with newer
systems, many of which will be based in the cloud. Or they may seek to
partner with a few vendors that have technology offerings capable of
integrating or sharing data with other solutions.
The key to replacing, integrating, or adding new technology is putting
inplaceasolidteamtomakesolution-relateddecisions.22 The teams
most effective at integrating talent management do a number of
thingsdifferently.First,theyincludevariedstakeholders(HR,IT,and
the business) who are knowledgeable about their respective areas and
also dedicated to the task at hand. Many of these teams will also bring
in external consultants to provide additional expertise and insights
around designing processes and policies, leveraging the technology, and
managing change.
One of the first items on the agenda for these teams is developing a
definitive strategy that will connect the different elements of talent
management at the right places. The team also needs to create clear
processes to support the new strategy and understand how those
changes can be translated into the online system. Finally, the team
must roll out an effective change management initiative to ensure
that everyone within the organization understands the new approach
and is prepared to implement it. If an organization can execute these
activities effectively and in a timely fashion, then it is much more
likely to succeed at integrating talent management and leveraging
technology appropriately.
21 For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates/Karen O’Leonard and Stacey Harris,September2010.Availabletoresearchmembersatwww.bersin.com/library or www.bersin.com/tmfactbook.
22 Ibid.
Many of these
teams will also
bring in external
consultants to
provide additional
expertise and
insights around
designing processes
and policies,
leveraging the
technology, and
managing change.
KEY POINT
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Conclusion
The most successful organizations rely on a talent infrastructure that
encompassestherightcompetenciesandjobprofilesasabasisfor
integration. When this foundation is set, it is much easier to integrate
the different elements of total rewards, performance management,
learning, leadership development, career management, talent
acquisition, and succession planning. As an organization increases
the integration of its talent management processes, it increases its
level of talent management maturity. Talent management maturity
will not be achieved overnight and takes the involvement of business
leaders and multiple departments, as well as the appropriate use of an
integrated talent management suite. The roadmap to integrated talent
management may vary from organization to organization. As we have
presented here, one proven pathway is to progress from foundational
to development integration and, finally, to talent pipeline integration.
Technology is not the sole ingredient for achieving integrated talent
management success. When viewed as an enabler that works in concert
with strong teams and effective processes, technology will enhance the
ability of the organization to maximize the benefits of the overall talent
management strategy.
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