HR Pulse

Your talent management strategy in the cloud

The concept of a talent management strategy has been around for over a decade and even so, CEO agendas and statements still list it as one of their top five business concerns. CEOs are placing increasing pressure on their HR leaders to address this, demanding that there are no more transactional processing issue, more value-adds, higher employee engagement and effective workforce planning. As a result, HR professionals are desperately scrounging for a solution to address these concerns. This is exactly why many companies are turning to the cloud as an alternative technology solution.

HR professionals have realised that conventional talent management solutions aren't working. This has become a trend as more and more HR managers cut the dead weight and look towards the 'cloud's silver lining'. Mike Ettling, global head of cloud and on-premise HR at SAP, believes that one of the biggest downfalls of the traditional talent management strategy and processes is that these are too cyclical.

"Bi-annual performance reviews, annual succession planning exercises... It almost becomes a necessary evil for managers to do. The latest HR technology aims to change that. It uses gamification and seeks to make it a more continuous and natural process. How do you make it so user-friendly that people don't need to sit on their helpdesks to figure out how to access it every time they log in?"

The skills shortage has driven the need for more talent suppliers

How do manage your entire workforce including casual workers?

HR needs to have the ability to visualise their entire workforce clearly. Cloud HR technology solutions offer this function and in addition, cater for clients' contingency labour needs. Ettling says that cloud solutions now provide a crowd-sourcing function.

"This enables clients to tap into hundreds of contingent labour supplies giving them access to different gene pools of contingent labour and skills. These solutions make managing procurement far more effective."

The role of the chief HR officer is definitely changing. HR has secured a good seat at the CEO's boardroom table and now makes the decision of buying HR technology with the support of IT - not the other way around. HR is driving the agenda and IT has taken a back seat.

It's imperative - in the current business world, says Ettling - that companies are able to predict the future with confidence, assess the right response and quickly adapt their business processes to capitalise on changing market dynamics to stay ahead of the competition.

Frew Murdoch is the assistant editor of HR Pulse. She is currently completing the last semester of her BA degree in Communications and English. Christine Botha, co-author of 'Ethics in HR Management: A guide for HR professionals and line managers', had this to say: "I stumbled across your review of our Ethics Guide published 28 June 2012 and wish to thank you for the positive and complimentary comments made – this was a lovely surprise and most rewarding. I will certainly pass this on to all co-authors of the Guide."