Integrated talent strategies

The future of work agenda has employers rethinking the employer/employee relationship, pioneering new workplace and workforce design, and creating differentiated employee experiences.

Talent strategy challenges

  • Attracting, developing and retaining talent for the most critical roles in the company
  • Growing competition and changing talent expectations
  • Combining business and people priorities, with the talent experience at the centre
  • Assessing and understanding the people and skills we have now and preparing for what we will need in the future
  • Upskilling and reskilling the workforce to address significant business challenges
  • Rethinking how to prioritize talent related to automation, AI and other digital forces
  • Understanding what different employee populations expect from us

Craft a future-focused talent strategy

Today’s organizations face unprecedented pressure to reskill and redeploy talent to stay competitive. A more diverse demographic profile, digital ways of working and shifting expectations are reshaping the future of work. These forces demand a rethink of how organizations prepare to attract, develop and retain talent for the most critical roles needed now and in the future. The right talent creates innovative cultures within a company and thus can attract more of the best talent.

An effective talent management strategy helps to:

  • Transform the organization and work design into a simpler, more agile structure, moving away from a traditional multilayered organization
  • Identify the levers needed to address and solve people-centred challenges
  • Align innovative technology and skills to transform the workplace
  • Balance the strategic business and workforce strategies with operational implementation

Future-proof your organization by closing the readiness gap and addressing the people impact

85%

of companies are co-creating new employee experiences with their people.

77%

of employees trust their companies to invest in their learning and skill development.

Create an impactful talent strategy

With an ever-evolving operational environment posing new challenges in redefining work, flexible arrangements and emerging to a post-pandemic world, organizations — now, more than ever — need to reset their talent priorities with a refreshed strategy.

These five key questions are crucial to consider during a talent management strategy refresh:

  1. What is the best framework for activating our organization’s business strategy through the lens of human capital?
  2. How is our organization’s talent distributed across critical demographics, and what is the projection for the future?
  3. What external talent forces need to be considered as we think about their impact on our workforce?
  4. What is our view on how work will be redefined to deliver responsibilities within increasingly agile frameworks?
  5. How do we ensure diversity, equity and inclusion are woven into our end-to-end value proposition?

Talent strategies prioritize future workforce needs

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated conversations about the future of work, transforming decades of thinking on work automation and flexibility into action. This shift presents an opportunity to renew talent management strategies and prepare your business for future success.
1 in 3

executives believe investing in good work standards will deliver the greatest ROI.

1 in 3

companies are convinced that borrowing needed skills by leveraging the gig economy can close the skills gap.

64%

of executives say gig workers will substantially replace full-time employees in their companies in the next one to three years.

Our talent strategy framework

Mercer is uniquely positioned to deliver value through talent segmentation and engagement by building synergy between people and technology. Let us help you reimagine how talent can be connected to work. Our talent strategy framework balances the business and people impacts with the talent experience.
  • Business impact

    includes the internal and external factors that shape an organization and its people and capability needs. Excellent talent management tangibly supports business objectives and strategies.
  • People impact

    concerns user/target group needs and preferences. Excellent talent management delivers on employee expectations, which is also measurable through engagement and performance.
  • Talent experience

    aggregates the experiences of everyone in an organization. It concerns talent management touchpoints and processes within a talent framework that caters to the interests of both the business and the people.

Bringing the talent management framework to life

Bringing a talent management strategy to life requires a multidimensional implementation approach to address strategy and purpose, organization and roles, services and processes, and culture and leadership. At the heart of the talent strategy, and involved at every step, is the talent experience.

Four areas of talent experience that have an impact on both the business and its people

Circular image showing the connected areas of the talent experience that have both a business and people impact. The four areas are Strategy and purpose, Services and processes, Culture and leadership, and organization and roles.

Strategy and purpose

  • Tangible value for the business
  • Holistic workforce planning and derivation of priorities and measures
  • Focus on critical target groups
  • Future-oriented decisions

Services and processes

  • Talent strategy as basis for target-group offerings and services
  • Engaging platforms and formats
  • Connected talent services along the employee lifecycle
  • Smart integration of technology

Organization and roles

  • Talent management roles based on business and people needs
  • Clear and purposeful distribution of responsibilities and tasks
  • Sensible interaction and connections
  • Active involvement of the business

Culture and leadership

  • Inclusive communication, dialog and enablement
  • Transparent communication on opportunities and expectations
  • Aligned leadership mindset
  • Empowerment of employees


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