Four Takeaways | TTM Procurecon | Gattaca

Louis Cross, Business Development Manager - Gattaca

Louis Cross, Business Development Manager at Gattaca, details his key takeaways from Total Talent Management by Procurecon, Europe’s Annual Leadership Meeting for Global Talent and Workforce Spend Management.

Total Talent Management (TTM) is a blended approach to talent management which considers permanent employees, contingent labour and freelancers, as well as statement of work packages, and even robots.  The approach is giving businesses visibility and control of all available talent sources, helping them to select the right talent and workforce blend to meet business objectives.

With more organisations looking at TTM to shape their workforce strategy, the bringing together of industry thought leaders at Total Talent Management by Procurecon was insightful. In contrast to previous events I have attended, there seemed to be real continuity between each speaker. Each speaker discussed similar ideas and universal models were being applied. It was great to see key players in the industry starting to agree on the journey required to achieve a total workforce solution.

After two days at Total Talent Management by Procurecon, here are my four key takeaways:

1. There’s a real mixture of maturity levels

One of the telling moments of the conference was when the crowd of 150+ Procurement and HR Executives from some of the largest organisations in Europe were asked one simple question: “Where are you on the journey to Total Talent Management?” Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer showed that that the TTM market is still maturing.

29% said they were yet to start their Total Talent Management journey. 47% of the attendees said they were managing their talent in individual channels and 24% said they were managing both their contingent and permanent workforce together. Despite many organisations stating that they had adopted TTM programmes, nobody claimed to have a fully integrated talent management programme.

There are loads of studies out there linking workforce agility to future business prosperity. TTM will be a significant contributor to this, but unfortunately it’s still relatively unknown outside of the large multi-nationals. It is surprising it isn’t on more organisations' agendas,  given that the adoption process will be much easier for companies smaller than the large multi-nationals and it could be a huge factor in future business success. Perhaps organisations perceive the adoption of TTM to be too big of a challenge, or even a bigger change than required. Or maybe they just aren’t aware of what programmes are available and the benefits they can bring. More needs to be done to raise the awareness of TTM in companies of all sizes.

2. The road  to TTM can be long  and you’ll need buy in

A fully integrated talent management programme isn’t going to happen overnight. As the results of the poll showed, even those companies with more mature programmes don’t consider themselves to be near a fully integrated programme. Switching to TTM is something that needs extensive planning and a phased implementation over a number of years. The key questions that need addressing are whether you have the resource, capability, time and investment needed to manage this change programme in-house, or if it’s better to opt for a partner to share the journey with.

The consensus at the conference was that how you approach TTM at the start of your journey is critical.  You need board level sponsorship before engaging other internal stakeholders. The next step is to create a task force to include representatives from; Procurement, HR, Talent Acquisition and IT.  This will help ensure key internal stakeholders understand the need for the change and establish a commitment to delivering it.

3. TTM focuses businesses on delivering great experiences

No matter what point an organisation is at in their TTM journey, the mentality switch within Procurement and HR professionals in noticeable. Even the concept of TTM is shifting the way businesses think; away from focusing on the process of recruiting, to focusing on the experience they provide to those working within, or for, the organisation. 

This change in mentality is not limited to those working in Procurement and HR. With five generations making up the workforce for the first time, business leaders are realising a ‘one size fits all’ approach to talent management no longer works. Leadership need to work closely with HR to create an environment where every generation and all talent can thrive. Organisations need to be flexible with what they offer their talent, manage expectations and take a ‘whole person’ management approach.

4. Technology is a major enabler

Accessing the right technology is critical to achieving success. Systems need to be working in harmony to create a great hiring manager and candidate experience, and generate the insights needed to effectively manage a TTM programme.

With over 2,000 HR tech companies in the market, growing at a rate of 350+ per year, it can be difficult for businesses to know what tech ecosystem is right for their programme. This is why it is critical to do your research and have your IT colleagues at the table when planning your approach to TTM.

 

As each of my key takeaways allude to, TTM doesn’t happen overnight.  It is a journey and it will require complete buy-in from multiple people across the business, but it might be a journey worth undertaking for the future success of your business.

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