Gartner HR Research Finds Organizations’ Current Talent Management Efforts Inhibit Optimal Employee and Organizational Performance

Organizations are struggling to deliver on talent needs, and employee and organizational performance are suffering as a result, according to Gartner, Inc.

A June 2024 Gartner survey of 190 HR leaders revealed that 41% agree their workforce lacks required skills, 50% agree their organization does not effectively leverage skills and 62% agree that uncertainty around future skills poses a significant risk. 

The latest research around needed shifts in talent management was announced during the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference, taking place here through today.

“When an organization’s talent is not consistently ready to meet changing business needs, overall employee performance decreases by 26 percentage points,” said Dion Love, Vice President in the Gartner HR practice. “To win at talent management, employers must embrace talent fluidity.”

According to Gartner, organizations with more fluid talent can more efficiently build and buy business-critical skills, redeploy talent to where it has the greatest impact on the business, and respond quickly and appropriately to changing business conditions.

Three common barriers that inhibit organizations’ ability to implement talent fluidity:

• Uncertainty about skills needs and assets – only 8% of organizations have reliable data on the skills the workforce currently possess and those that have the greatest impact on business success. 
• Employees and managers impede mobility – fewer than 20% of organizations move talent effectively to fill skill gaps. 
• Difficulty balancing current and future skills needs – just 23% of organizations effectively develop skills of the future.

To overcome these barriers and create targeted talent fluidity, HR must do three things:

1. Prioritize skills intelligence investments
2. Reduce personal risks and downsides that impede mobility
3. Focus on the core skills of today

“Organizations that successfully embrace fluid talent can increase their talent readiness by up to 60%. However, only 10% of organizations are taking a targeted fluidity approach,” said Love.

While new GenAI technology shows early promise in bringing more precision to organizations understanding of their skills needs and assets, HR leaders are finding that these efforts are proving burdensome – without providing results in the short-term.

The solution is to prioritize investments in skills intelligence for the roles that have a greater impact on the business and then further refine the focus to those roles that are also highly dynamic – those that are subject to the rapid and ongoing evolution in market forces today.

Organizations are increasingly relying on internal talent to close skill gaps. Yet, fewer than one in five leaders from the June Gartner survey agreed that their organization can effectively move talent based on business need. A May 2024 Gartner survey of 3,375 employees found that one in three employees feel they could have a bigger impact in another role in their organization. 

“Many organizations have invested in building the case for internal mobility, yet it’s not coming together the way it should,” said Love. “To achieve internal mobility, employers must address the real costs associated with mobility, namely the risks felt by employees and the compulsion of managers to hoard their best talent.” 

The skills mandate spans two time horizons: Employees need the skills that are essential to their performance today, and they need those that are going to support their future performance. These two parts are challenging in equal measure. The June Gartner survey revealed that HR leaders ranked skills gaps as the No. 1 risk for their organizations; they reported addressing unclear future skill needs as the No. 2 risk. 

Gartner’s research identified that HR should prioritize proficiency in today’s core skills over learning future skills. In fact, focusing on today’s skills have a five times greater impact on sustained performance than the skills of tomorrow.

About the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference

The Gartner ReimagineHR Conference is the premier event for CHROs and HR leaders to learn from the latest research and Gartner experts covering talent acquisition, diversity, equity and inclusion, learning and development, total rewards, talent analytics, and HR technology. Gartner ReimagineHR will be held September 17-18 in London, October 28-30 in Florida and December 4-5 in Sydney. Follow news and updates from these events on X using #GartnerHR.