HR Study: Talent Management for the 21st Century

The aim of the HR survey was to provide an up-to-date inventory of the use and application of HR analytics and software solutions in HR in the umbrella region, which lags behind other European markets. The survey analyzes the goals and challenges of companies in the context of digitalization up to the year 2025.

In addition, the study maps the current use of HR analytics in corporate practice. For this purpose, 133 top managers and HR decision-makers in companies, primarily from the DACH region, were surveyed as part of the study. In-depth interviews with HR decision-makers from five selected large companies round off the study.

Key findings:

• HR-adequate IT solutions are still a rarity in talent management.
• The majority of the companies surveyed have set themselves the goal of increasing the efficiency of their own HR administration by 2025. In general, process optimization is an important topic that is already having an impact on many HR functions. Digitization is clearly seen as a lever in this context.
• Among the software solutions, learning software is currently the most popular: every second company wants to use it to strengthen in-house training. This is followed by reporting functions and self-service apps.
• The majority of the companies surveyed believe that HR analytics has great potential for the future: in two-thirds of the companies, HR analytics tools will play a significant role as an HR instrument by 2025.

Like the previous study from 2018, the current survey also shows that only a minority of companies use special IT solutions for HR work in talent management. One in four companies admits that they do not use any IT solution at all for their own talent management. Four out of ten companies manage their own talent using standard software such as Excel.

A good one in four companies uses an in-house installation of an HR management system or an on-premise solution. Only one in five companies uses software as a service (SaaS). This raises the question of how highly qualified specialists can be efficiently addressed, retained and promoted without an adequate IT solution.

Challenges for personnel development and career paths

In addition to these technological aspects, the decision-makers surveyed also name challenges directly related to human resources development. For around a third of the companies, it is a challenge to support their own workforce in the digital transformation. The further development of employees is also a core issue for 29 percent. Another 23 percent see it as an important task to initiate the cultural changes necessary in the course of the digital transformation. Furthermore, a completely new mindset is to be anchored in the organizations.

Michael Grotherr, Area VP DACH & East Europe at Cornerstone OnDemand, on the results: "The study shows that digital transformation has still not penetrated many HR departments. At the same time, HR analytics are an elementary component for the talent experience of the future. But if the basic digital prerequisites are already lacking, strategic data analysis will not be able to be implemented either. Digital technologies are not a blanket that can be pulled up as and when required, just where and when the HR department is shivering. A holistic approach must be found to meet the challenges of the 21st century."

Jacqueline Preußer, head of the study at FRANKFURT BUSINESS MEDIA - der F.A.Z.-Fachverlag: "The study clearly shows that when it comes to the use of digital technologies, large companies are the pioneers. They have the necessary human and financial resources to build up digital know-how and translate this into daily practice. Now it's a matter of linking the years of experience of internal HR experts with the possibilities of digital solutions."

The results of the study you can here download