Organisations should change approach in talent management

PETALING JAYA: Organisations should change their approach to talent management as talent and skills shortages increase and addressing these shortages becomes more critical over the next two years, said KPMG Malaysia managing partner Johan Idris.
"Younger skilled workers are less interested in traditional roles and see themselves as free agents and management has been slow to respond. Furthermore, the scarcity of people with skills required for a new emerging role is perceived as the most critical market shortage," he said in a statement yesterday.
According to him, the battleground for talent is shifting as demographic and generational issues change the nature, perspective and interest of key targeted workforce group.
A recent KPMG's HR Center of Excellence Survey titled 'War for talent - time to change direction' revealed that over 80% of respondents say that addressing skills shortages is a higher priority now than two years ago and this will become critical in the next two years.
Results of the survey show that the root cause of talent and skills shortages is generational but despite the increasing concern for talent issues, many organisations continue to take a narrow approach towards talent management, which might actually weaken their competitiveness.
The survey also signified a shift in HR methodology, brought about by several factors, including a broad-based shortage of skilled workers, the effects of increased globalisation, competitive pressure resulting from improving economies and the changing career expectations of younger skilled workers.
"These findings should serve as a wake-up call to HR managers who may still cling to outdated approaches to talent management. Addressing skill shortages throughout the entire organisation and not just at the most senior levels should be a top priority in 2014 and will become critical over the next two years," said Johan.
"One thing many leading companies are doing is putting powerful new data analysis capabilities to work to help gauge their performance and fine-tune their people practices over time. There's a real opportunity for companies to create a differentiated approach for the HR function, one that is a demonstrable driver for the business," he added.