Even as organizations seek to improve the strategic quality of their business planning and execution, too many still rely upon outdated, siloed legacy IT systems for talent management. Such systems – i.e., one for recruiting, another for onboarding and another for training, etc. – hold them back. They cannot interact at all, sharply limiting the amount of enterprise-wide information and data that users can “see” in the interest of making actionable, analytics-enabled decisions which contribute to targeted goals. 

Enterprise-focused strategies drive so many organizational processes today in so many ways, from the supply chain to product manufacturing/development to sales and marketing. So why should HR-based initiatives get left out? Through an integrated talent management (ITM) system, they don’t have to. Personnel programs – recruitment, onboarding, training/development, engagement efforts, succession planning and more – are housed together or have seamless integration. HR teams immediately gain greater visibility of all relevant data because every program “talks” to each other, resulting in better oversight of the entire employee life cycle, unlocking the analytics needed to maximize the potential of workers.

At Acendre, we’re helping customers transition to fully realized ITM adoption. When they reach this state, they benefit in multiple ways thanks to our solutions’ unique interoperability with other HR systems. All of our cloud-based solutions are integrated seamlessly, to establish an interactive portfolio of talent management, leading to impactful analytics. They are completely secure as well, so you can ascend to new levels of innovation without placing your information/data at risk. 

In addition, we tell our customers they can achieve optimal “talent management with no compromise.” Meaning that, if they have an existing function that they like, they don’t need to abandon it just because they’re undergoing an ITM transformation. Our solutions are highly adaptable to each individual organization’s requirements, so you don’t have “go without” something which makes your HR teams more productive, effective, etc. Nor do you have to “settle” for performances shortcomings within one program simply due to the fact that you’re acquiring solutions from another vendor. In the end, you invest in an ITM cloud architecture which liberates users to take advantage of everything that analytics has to offer – at a far more affordable cost, given that you’re deploying a single-tool strategy instead of paying to implement and maintain multiple, disparate systems.

Specifically, ITM can enhance the following areas:

Workforce Planning. With increasing retirements and a fluid workforce, accurately planning for the future is more important than ever. Analytics provide the clarity organizations need to answer pressing workforce questions and solve the problems of predicting future workforce needs.

Recruitment. Boomers are retiring in droves. To address this, advancements in recruiting tech help hiring teams expand traditional search methods to identify job candidates they otherwise would have no access to. Additionally, people analytics and social sourcing allow for the building of localized talent pools, as well as other capabilities that eliminate the delays and complexities frequently associated with hiring.

Onboarding. New hires seek the right “stuff” to enable them to succeed. Through analytics, you match new employee objectives to existing or easily acquired tools – along with knowledge resources, in the form of people and information channels – so they can thrive indefinitely.

Performance/engagement. ITM pinpoints performance deliverables, so you can frame employee messaging upon them. It also reveals which staffers in which areas are engaged and which aren’t – and then drills down into the “why” behind each case. With this, you identify best engagement practices to disseminate organization-wide. Positive engagement directly elevates performance, as study after study has demonstrated.

Succession planning. This is a direct beneficiary of the training and development augmentation described above, because you’re cultivating the next generation of standout contributors and leaders. And, through the application of ITM analytics, you won’t get caught off-guard by a “surprise” vacancy here. You’ll already know which employees are planning to leave, and when. Since your training and development program regularly “speaks” to your succession planning program, you’ll have replacements ready, willing and able to step right into a now-open role.

Learning and development. When staffers cease to grow professionally, they usually tumble into a downward spiral. Sometimes, it’s a slow plunge. In other cases, it’s swift and damaging – to a career, and an organization. To avoid such plateaus, ITM analytics aligns employee goals to department objectives, rather than arranging these into separate, unrelated clusters. Once the alignment is established, you customize training sessions accordingly for every participant.

Underpinning the entire ITM are people analytics, which help organizations make better, faster, data-driven decision across the workforce. With robust analytics, executives gain insight into each of the areas outlined above, leading to faster and improved hiring, improved workforce performance, enhanced knowledge and improved employee engagement

Without ITM, you hire and manage people with no clear, cohesive idea about what makes for successful recruitment, onboarding, training, etc. With ITM, you translate critical business strategies into enterprise talent investment decisions and execution. No “piece of the personnel puzzle” operates on its own. Quite to the contrary, you are better positioned than ever to fit every piece together, creating a singular picture of talent management excellence.