The CEO has a strong preoccupation with talent and training, especially in the UK. When it comes to understanding the skillset within its workforce, PWC found that 83 per cent of UK bosses rate this a top priority (higher than the global average of 80 per cent).
Aside from the CEO, the various C-level roles have different priorities and the emphasis on talent management will vary.
Chief learning officer (CLO) increase productivity and boost workforce skills
Building a culture of learning, collaboration and engagement is critical in an age where productivity levels in the UK continue to fall. It’s important that CLOs implement training initiatives and get new employees engaged as fast as possible. The first step to increasing productivity starts at the onboarding process in the UK 31 per cent of employees admit to being disappointed with their role after less than six months.
So it’s important to hook them right from start with a comprehensive onboarding process ensuring they are set up for long-term success. CLOs should also encourage managers to set goals with their workers, which will help guide these strategic initiatives and boost output.
New hires also need to be compliant with industry regulations (and company rules), and hiring teams need to distribute role-specific training. Being able to deliver these from one central location greatly eases the burden on HR.
Chief human resources officer (CHRO) align HR initiatives to company strategy
Bosses can no longer afford to hire just for the sake of it; they need to engage with applicants who have the potential to grow into future roles. Win the talent wars by leveraging your company culture and goals in the recruiting process to attract skilled, like-minded candidates. Once they?re onboard, use training software to address skill gaps and prepare them for succession.
Recruit through configurable career sites that show off your company culture and use pre-screening tools that weed out unqualified applicants. Prioritise top candidates through talent scoring and leverage reporting features that help you discover your best sources of talent. Drive engagement and output by strategically assigning learning modules to new hires.
Chief financial officer (CFO) raise your workforce’s financial efficiency
Vacancies can cost the business up to £30,000 and that doesn’t factor in the loss of productivity. CFOs can help avoid the expensive cost of unfilled vacancies by rolling out systems that reduce time spent on talent management. For example, adding problem-solving questions in the recruitment process to gain insight into how a candidate operates.
A Cornerstone customer with 5,000 employees found that by increasing internal mobility in recruiting by 12per cent, they could save $1m a year. Another one in the UK saved millions moving classroom training to e-learning, thus avoiding travel and hotel costs.
Furthermore, CFOs can help design org charts that reflect yearly and five-year growth plans; envisioning how a team will evolve can help HR teams be more proactive in recruiting. Provide stakeholders with global, top-down views into applicants” skills and competencies. Hiring teams will be able to provide input, rather than rely on messy email threads and CFOs will be in a better position to show how a candidate’s abilities can drive revenue.
Chief information officer (CIO) leverage technology for smarter growth
CIOs use technology to advance business objectives and streamline company systems. They also ensure HR teams have workforce development tools that don’t create piles of spreadsheets. Moreover, ensuring that HR-related data is unified and stored in the same place with GDPR compliance will foster efficiency in analytics and make IT teams more efficient.
CIOs can facilitate more data-driven decisions and faster hiring by providing HR teams with deeper insights into a candidate’s behavioural DNA, along with analytics related to predicting tenure and performance. CIOs can help with talent management by pinpointing recruiting weaknesses and skill gaps and then identifying tools that can solve these problems.
Unified talent management tools drive operational efficiency across the C-suite. From improving learning and hiring initiatives to increasing business results, they can help companies make smarter decisions on how to build a successful workforce.
Geoffroy de Lestrange is associate director of product marketing at Cornerstone OnDemand
