Gone are the days where your talent management strategy depended on having some information stored away in a filing cabinet in the far reaches of an HR department.

Talent management has gone high-tech and it’s done so in a big way. According to research by Bersin by Deloitte, the talent management software market grew by 17% in 2013, and is now a multi-billion dollar market.

So why is talent management so popular and so quickly growing?

To give a simple answer, it makes things really easy for companies. Prior to the influx of talent management software options it was difficult for companies to manage and track their people, which meant it was also difficult to create a cohesive, broad-reaching and effective talent management strategy.

When talent management software first jumped onto the scene they were designed to integrate all of the basic human resources information and tasks, but in today’s market talent management goes far beyond HR capabilities.

Now talent management software is really capable of providing the ability to do so many of the things we discuss on a regular basis—for example providing employee recognition and helping companies manage their employees in a way that puts the spotlight on creating a work-life balance.

The Challenge

Because of how large the talent management software market is right now, and also how much it continues to grow, the challenge for businesses large and small is to find a platform and a company that’s going to work for them.

These software options are not created equally and you’re going to find quite a significant variance in the offerings and capabilities available.

Another reason this can be challenging to navigate? The constant flux of the industry—there’s start-ups always entering the scene, as well as a number of mergers taking place on what seems like a daily basis.

So how do you determine which software is best for your businesses’ needs?

Choosing Talent Management Software

1. As with so many of the tips we offer, our first tip is to consider your goals. If your primary goals are centered around more basic principles of HR and data collection you’re likely to choose a far less robust talent management solution. On the other hand, if you want one that encompasses everything from compensation to succession planning, these are considerations that should be weighed in the selection process.
2. Think about the reporting and analytics options of the software you’re considering. This is one of the places where talent management software tends to display the most variance between vendors, and it’s important to consider when selecting a platform. Your software is essentially useless if it doesn’t have the appropriate reporting and analytics capabilities that are going to allow your company to develop and implement long-term talent management strategies.
3. Consider the cloud. So many software options are moving to the cloud, and this can be an advantageous option for businesses – particularly smaller businesses without the resources or infrastructure to support the IT and troubleshooting that may be required of having a non-cloud talent management software. Cloud options are also great because they’re more customizable and scalable than internalized IT, so if your needs change at any point your talent management software can easily change as well.
4. Look at the support offered by the vendor you’re considering. You need to think about how much support is going to be given during the implementation process, but also throughout. Consult with potential vendors about the level of IT support and troubleshooting they offer throughout the time you’re a customer in order to ensure that the implementation is smooth, as well as the day-to-day operations of using a potentially complex software program.

Talent management software continues to offer exciting possibilities for companies, regardless of their size or industry. It’s providing innovative opportunities to develop comprehensive, long-term talent management strategies that allow companies to remain competitive in a marketplace where talent is a top priority.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.