Seven Obstacles in Talent Management

There is a global war for talent and companies are facing a demographic landscape dominated by looming retirement of baby boomers in the developed world. Thus, talent creation, nurture and management has emerged the single most discriminator for corporations not only for growth but very survival as well. McKinsey highlights the following seven main obstacles in talent management (Business Today, 23rd March 2008):

1. Senior managers don’t spend enough-quality time on talent management.
2. Organization is ‘siloed’ and does not encourage constructive collaboration and sharing of knowledge resources.
3. Line managers are not sufficiently committed to development of people’s capabilities and careers.
4. Line managers are unwilling to differentiate their people as top-, average- and under- performers.
5. Line managers do not address under-performance effectively, even when chronic.
6. Senior leaders don’t align talent management strategy with business strategy.
7. CEOs, senior leaders are not sufficiently involved in shaping talent-management strategy.