Talent Management Factbook 2010 - clevelandSHRM

Talent Management 

Factbook 2010 

Executive Summary 

Karen O’Leonard 

Principal Analyst 

September 2010 

© BERSIN & ASSOCIATES RESEARCH REPORT | V.2.0

Talent Management Factbook 2010 – Executive Summary 

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction 4 

Overview of Findings 6 

1. Restructuring Consolidates Talent Processes 6 

2. More Companies Are Developing a Talent 7 

Management Strategy 

3. Integration Is Still in the Early Stages 7 

4. Competencies Are the Foundation of 8 


5. The Challenge of System Integration 9 

6. Integration Pays off 9 

About This Study 11 

About Us 13 

About This Research 13 



 

Introduction 

K E Y P O I N T 

Disengaged employees 

are beginning to look 

elsewhere – a signal that 

companies need to get 

their talent strategies 

in order. 

As the economic recovery unfolds, organizations are taking stock of their 

talent. For many companies, the last two years have meant restructuring, 

layoffs and salary freezes, creating an environment of low morale. Now 

that the economy is starting to improve, disengaged employees are 

beginning to look elsewhere. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 

February that the number of employees voluntarily quitting their jobs 

surpassed involuntary terminations (through layoffs or discharges) for the 

first time since October 2008. This is a signal to companies to look at their 

career planning, development and rewards programs to make sure that 

their employees are engaged and working toward long-term goals. 

Another factor shaping corporate talent strategies is projected job 

growth. As companies start to hire again, many are being cautious, often 

initially turning to outside contractors or part-time workers. Therefore, 

with only modest job growth expected in the near term, companies must 

find ways to recruit, motivate and retain employees in an environment of 

limited career advancement. 

But perhaps the biggest influence on talent strategies has been 

companies redefining their business strategies and goals in light of 

the new economy, with resulting shifts in the talent needed to achieve 

these goals. This, in turn, impacts all talent initiatives within the 

company, from workforce planning and recruiting to retention and 

compensation strategies. 


The analysis is based on 

quantitative data from 

725 organizations, plus 

in-depth interviews with 

companies from a range 

of industries and sizes. 

Smart companies realize that these talent activities are inextricably 

linked. The success of an organization’s talent strategy depends on the 

integration of its talent processes. 

This report summarizes our annual study conducted in partnership with 

Human Resource Executive. The research was conducted during March 

and April 2010, with 725 HR managers and executives from a large crosssection 

of U.S.-based organizations. In addition, in-depth interviews 

were conducted with HR executives from a range of company sizes 

and industries. Based on these qualitative and quantitative inputs, this 

report provides benchmarks and best practices in talent management. 

Specifically, the study addresses the following key questions. 

 

Source: “More Workers Start to Quit,” Wall Street Journal / Joe Light, May 26, 2010. 



 

• How are companies organizing their talent management functions? 

• What is an effective roadmap to integrating and improving 

talent initiatives? 

• What is the state of organizations’ talent systems and infrastructures? 

• What are the current rates of retention and promotions among U.S. 

companies, and what other metrics are being used for evaluating 

talent initiatives? 

• What is the impact of talent management on business and 

talent metrics? 

After reading this report, if you see areas that you would like to further 

explore for your organization, please contact us at info@bersin.com or 

at (510) 654-8500. 

Karen O’Leonard 

Principal Analyst 



 

Overview of Findings 

This section summarizes the top-line findings from the study. For more 

in-depth analysis, and for data broken down by company size or industry 

segment, please refer to the Talent Management Factbook 2010 . 

1. Restructuring Consolidates Talent 

Processes 

Many companies have consolidated their operations over the past few 

years in an effort to improve efficiency. This restructuring has generally 

been beneficial to talent management by bringing centralized ownership 

of talent initiatives. 

Today, 30 percent of U.S. companies have a dedicated talent 

management executive – a role that is responsible for some or all of the 

talent functions across the enterprise. This figure is up from 21 percent 

in 2008. 


Today, 30 percent of 

U.S. companies have 

a dedicated talent 

management executive. 

The responsibilities of talent management executives vary widely. In 

most companies, this role is responsible for the talent strategy, leadership 

development, succession management, performance management, 

and learning and development (L&D). Just more than one-half of the 

talent management executives are responsible for career management, 

competency management and talent acquisition. 

The talent management executive does not typically own the 

compensation / total rewards function, which often reports up through 

a different chain of command into the central HR organization. In most 

cases, workforce planning is also under the charge of a separate person 

or group. 

 

For more information, Talent Management Factbook 2010: Best Practices and 

Benchmarks in U.S. Talent Management, Bersin & Associates / Karen O’Leonard, August 

2010. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library or for purchase at 

www.bersin.com/tmfactbook. 



 

2. More Companies Are Developing a Talent 

Management Strategy 

A dedicated talent management executive can help to define and 

implement a cohesive talent strategy by aligning resources and 

improving the level of coordination across processes. Today, nearly 

one-half of U.S. companies say they have a well-defined talent strategy 

and are working on implementing that strategy. Two years ago, this 

figure was just 37 percent. So, while there is still a lot of room for 

growth, companies are making progress. (See Figure 1.) 

3. Integration Is Still in the Early Stages 

Mature talent management calls for an effective governance structure, 

a business-driven talent strategy and highly evolved, integrated 

talent processes. It also requires business leaders and managers to 

take ownership of talent initiatives – and to be held accountable for 

talent outcomes. 

This Level of Maturity does not happen overnight. Organizations typically 

evolve to this Level over a number of years, progressing through a series 

of stages, as depicted in Figure 1. 

Figure 1: Bersin & Associates Talent Management Maturity Model – U.S. Organizations 

Level 4: Strategic Talent Management 

Fully integrated processes and systems used to make 

business decisions; talent mgmt. is business-driven 

7% 

Level 3: Integrated Talent Management 

Heavy focus on connecting systems and processes; single person / team 

responsible for talent initiatives 

20% 

Level 2: Standardized Talent Processes 

Talent processes are consistent and tailorable, with some integration; 

several systems connected through manual processes 

45% 

Level 1: Siloed HR Processes 

Individual HR processes or “silos”; 

may have systems in place but not connected 

28% 

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2010. 



 

Today, approximately one-quarter of organizations are at Level 1, in 

which talent processes are developed and managed individually. The 

processes and systems are “silos,” meaning that there is little or no 

coordination across processes. 


Today, nearly one-half 

of U.S. companies are at 

the stage in which they 

are beginning to connect 

their talent processes and 

systems. 

Level 2 is the largest category, with nearly one-half the organizations 

at this stage. Here,the organization develops a set of consistent 

talent processes that can be tailored as needed to meet business-unit 

and regional needs. In addition, the organization begins to identify 

connection points across its talent processes and to manually link talent 

systems. In these organizations, HR owns talent management initiatives 

and seeks input from business leaders. 

Only about one in four companies has progressed to Levels 3 and 4, in 

which talent processes and systems become more tightly integrated, 

and business leaders and managers assume greater responsibility for 

talent initiatives. We expect the number of organizations in these top 

two categories to increase as companies emerge from the recession and 

refocus on long-term talent initiatives. 

4. Competencies Are the Foundation of 


Organizations may take many different paths to integrate their 

talent initiatives (all of which can be successful), but for many there 

is one common starting point – competencies. Used across nearly all 

talent processes, competencies, therefore, serve as the foundation for 

process integration. Often, companies define competencies for use in 

performance reviews – then they extend these for use in recruiting, L&D, 

leadership development and succession planning efforts. 


Competencies are a 

common starting point 

for integrating talent 

processes. 

From here, many companies focus on linking their performance 

management processes with learning and development, since 

these activities have a natural synergy. Or they may look at linking 

performance management with compensation initiatives. Whatever 

path an organization chooses, it should be laid out as part of the overall 

strategy. A good way to plan for integration is to create a map of talent 

processes, including current state and desired future state, along with a 

roadmap for achieving these goals. 



 

5. The Challenge of System Integration 

Integrating talent processes requires sharing data across systems. For 

example, competencies should be stored and accessible in the recruiting, 

performance management and learning management systems. Today, 

60 percent of companies have two or more separate talent systems, 

in addition to an HRMS or employee data warehouse. Most of these 

companies report that the sharing of data between these systems is 

poor or nonexistent. Without this integration between systems, talent 

management cannot be wholly effective. 

Talent systems should reinforce the processes, not drive the processes. 

Companies should first make sure that they have the right people in talent 

management positions, then design the right processes, and then choose the 

right systems to make the processes more efficient. 

Furthermore, our research found that talent systems do not guarantee 

an organization’s success in meeting talent and business goals. Installing 

a complicated system or using multiple point solutions that do not share 

data can be less productive than using simple paper-and-pencil processes. A 

well-integrated system infrastructure can help the organization make better 

decisions about its talent but, as mentioned above, the organization must 

first have the right people and processes in place. 

6. Integration Pays off 


As companies move up 

the maturity ladder, they 

have lower turnover, 

greater employee 

engagement and greater 

success in nearly every 

talent area. 

Building a mature talent management organization takes time and 

resources, but it does pay off. This study shows that, as companies 

move up the Maturity Ladder (see Figure 1), their rates of employee 

turnover decline, their promotion rates increase, and they score better on 

employee engagement, development and talent planning. 

As an example, companies in Level 4 (with strategic, business-driven 

talent management) had one-half the rate of turnover among high 

performers , as compared with companies in Level 2 (with standardized 

talent processes). 

 

A “high performer” is an employee who is a key contributor, demonstrates 

high performance, is capable of a lateral move, may be qualified for a broader role 

within the same profession; and, has reached the potential to move “upward’ in a 

management capacity. 


Talent Management Factbook 2010 – Executive Summary 10 

In addition, Level 4 companies performed better in the following areas: 

• Twenty-nine percent higher scores on employee engagement; 

• Thirty-six percent higher ratings on leadership development; and, 

• Forty-one percent higher ratings on creating a pipeline of ready 

successors. 

The data clearly shows that moving up to higher Levels of Maturity has 

a significant impact on talent initiatives and metrics. These findings 

should serve as motivation for companies to improve their talent 

management efforts. 



About This Study 


In-depth interviews 

were conducted with 17 

companies, representing 

a range of industries and 

company sizes. 

The study was conducted in March and April 2010, when contacts from 

HR Executive magazine and Bersin & Associates databases were emailed 

an invitation to participate in an online survey. The final analysis included 

U.S.-based organizations with 100 or more employees. The final count of 

qualified respondents was 725. 

The survey yielded a large cross-section of company sizes, with 297 

small companies (100 to 999 employees), 257 midsize companies (1,000 

to 9,999 employees) companies and 171 large companies (10,000 or 

more employees) participating (see Figure 2.) Overall, figures in this 

report were weighted by company size, so that the survey data better 

represents the U.S. marketplace. 

Figure 2: Respondent Count by Organization Size 

Small companies (100 to 999 

employees) 

297 

Midsize companies (1,000 to 9,999 

employees) 

257 

Large companies (10,000 or more 

employees) 

171 

725 




Figure 3: Respondent Count by Industry 

Pharmaceuticals 

1% 

Oil / Gas / Mining 

1% 

Nonprofit 

3% 

Marketing / Media / 

Entertainment 

3% 

Retail 

4% 

Real Estate 

1% 

Other 

1% 

Transportation 

3% 

Telecommunications 

1% 

Technology 

5% 

Wholesale / Distribution 

2% 

Utilities 

1% 

Aerospace 

1% 

Banking / Finance 

7% 

Business Services / 

Consulting 

10% 

Construction 2.9% 

Education 

5% 

Government (federal) 

3% 

Government (state / local) 

4% 

Manufacturing 

16% 

Healthcare / Medical 

12% 

Legal 

1% 

Insurance 

6% 

Hospitality 

3% 


In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 companies, 

representing a range of industries and company sizes. These interviews 

were designed to gather qualitative information on talent management 

activities in order to provide a keener understanding of trends and 

current practices. 



About Us 

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talent management. With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise 

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Bersin & Associates can be reached at http://www.bersin.com or at 

(510) 654-8500. 

About This Research 

Copyright © 2010 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. WhatWorks® 

and related names such as Rapid e-Learning: WhatWorks® and The 

High-Impact Learning Organization® are registered trademarks of 

Bersin & Associates. No materials from this study can be duplicated, 

copied, republished, or reused without written permission from Bersin & 

Associates. The information and forecasts contained in this report reflect 

the research and studied opinions of Bersin & Associates analysts.

Talent Management Factbook 2010 - clevelandSHRM

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