Is the CEO the new Chief Talent Officer in Global Recruitment and HR?

To say that finding the right talent pool to do the right job is vital to the success of any organization is stating the obvious. However, it’s interesting to see the role that CEOs in India directly play in this process of attracting, developing and retaining the right talent.  Our study with People Matters (CEO as the Chief Talent Officer Study 2011)  reveals, there is increasing fear of unavailability of this “right talent” to execute companies’ strategies, which is leading CEOs in India to invest a lot of their time and focus into developing their people strategies.

Here are 5 key findings:

• 73% of  CEOs in India spend more than one-fourth of their time directly on talent related activities
• 79% affirm that this focus and time spent will only increase further next year
• 80% of the CEOs surveyed agree that HR issues are undoubtedly core to the success of their companies

• 74% of CEOs said retention of high performing employees is part of their goals
• 61% of the CEOs registered employee satisfaction/engagement as part of their goals

Top 5 human capital management activities in which CEOs invest their time:

1. Painting the larger picture: Communicating the vision, mission and goals of the company to different working groups, getting them enthused, as well as communicating company progress.
2. Fueling the leadership pipeline: Identifying leaders, helping them tap their potential, and working with middle level managers to create a collaborative partnership with employees, with a short-term focus of meeting present organization requirements and long-term goal of building the leadership pipeline
3. Building employee motivation- CEOs today spend their share of time in connecting with employees and engaging with them so they feel as part of the company’s overall journey
4. Emphasis on hiring the right people: The focus on talent acquisition is more obvious with a simple look into the CEO’s calendar.  With the number of days being blocked for interviews/interactions with potential hires clearly rising across industries, hiring the right talent pool seems a high priority.
5. Retention of Key Talent: This being a lagging indicator, CEOs believe that their engagement, motivation, creation of a common goal and a culture of appreciation will automatically result in retention of key talent.

Lastly, what’s interesting to note is that talent measures and targets find a solid place on CEO scorecards. In fact, the performance of the CEO on these measures accounts up to 20% to 30% of the CEO’s overall performance.

With the economy stabilizing, there is a renewed focus on intellectual capital. As industries continue to grow more competitive, CEOs recognize that their talent pool will not only set them apart from the rest but will propel them toward sustainable success.

To access the complete report, click here.

Methodology

The online questionnaire was primarily structured around closed, single and multiple-choice questions. Respondents also had an opportunity to add their views and comments where the option provided did not give the relevant description of their reality. The figures for multiple-choice questions reflect the percentage of respondents who chose that specific option. The figures for answers that had limited choices reflect the percentage of respondents who chose that answers within their limited choices.

Additionally, thirty percent of the overall responses were collected through face-to-face and telephonic interviews conducted by People Matters research team. These interviews were more open-ended and allowed business heads to elaborate with qualitative information on their people strategies and best practices. The qualitative responses have been incorporated in the results of the survey.

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About the Author

Sanjay Modi is the Managing Director (India/Middle East/South East Asia) for Monster.com.