This second annual survey from the New Talent Management Network finds the talent management profession increasingly well defined and its practitioners optimistic about its future. As our profession matures (the average TM group is 3.6 years old vs. 2.6 years in our 2009 survey), we still face questions about whether unique value is added by grouping a set of activities under a TM organization. Our survey shows where this value emerges and, for the first time in any TM survey, provides statistically derived insights to the secrets of TM success.

Key 2010 Insights:

• An Increasingly Well-Defined Specialty
  Formal TM groups* are far more focused than other TM groups on the processes involved in talent production, including talent reviews, high potential development and assessment and feedback. These formal TM groups also more frequently consider the CEO, executive team and other senior leaders their clients.
    
• Value Adding, but with Significant Room for Improvement
  We add value selectively: High potential identification, talent reviews and goal setting processes are 50% more effective when run by formal Talent Management (TM) groups. However, that advantage doesn’t extended to practices like executive coaching, assessment or other key drivers of talent growth. Overall, less than 50% of TM groups rate their talent building processes as always or often effective.
  
  We know more about why: The simplicity and accountability of talent practices scored low in most companies, but emerged as huge drivers of effectiveness when present. Simplicity and accountability scores were highly predictive of whether talent review processes were rated effective. Surprisingly, company size and tenure of the talent management group had no impact on TM practice effectiveness.
   
• Cautiously Optimistic About the Future
  Participants were optimistic about their company’s 2010 TM investment, with 45% seeing TM expenditures increasing, and 21% seeing a more than 10% increase vs. 2009. That spending won’t translate into new staff though, with only 17% predicting staff increases. Only 29% were concerned that key talent would be lost in 2010.