What is Integrated Talent Management (ITM)?
Integrated Talent Management (ITM) is a holistic approach that aligns an organization’s various talent functions with its overarching goals. It is achieved when some or all talent management systems support each other and share data, all driven by the organization's corporate strategy. This integration helps companies recruit premier talent, optimize their current workforce, and prepare employees for future challenges.
The typical talent management process includes several interconnected components:
- Workforce planning
- Talent acquisition
- Learning and development
- Performance management
- Succession planning
- Compensation and benefits
ITM seeks to connect these disparate activities into a seamless, synchronous whole. For example, workforce planning should directly inform talent acquisition strategies, and learning programs should address needs identified during succession planning.
The BPI Integrated Talent Management Model
Best Practice Institute developed an ITM model, validated by the BPI Senior Executive Board, that visualizes these principles as a wheel. At the hub is the business strategy. Spokes connect each talent management function to the central strategy, and the rim represents the HR/ITM technology that links the functions and enables shared data.
Core Qualities of an Integrated System
An organization that has successfully achieved ITM demonstrates two essential qualities.
1. Alignment with Corporate Strategy
All talent management systems and functions are aligned with and driven by corporate strategy. In many organizations, business unit leaders make talent decisions based on their unit's immediate needs, with little regard for the company's broader goals. ITM corrects this by ensuring that every talent decision—from hiring and promotions to assignments and rewards—is directly tied to corporate strategy.
2. Linked by Technology
All talent management functions and their data are connected through robust ITM technology. Many organizations either lack comprehensive knowledge of their own employees or collect vast amounts of personnel data that remain siloed within incompatible departmental systems. An integrated system makes this data accessible and useful across the enterprise.
A 5-Step Guide to Implementing ITM
Follow these five steps to implement an integrated talent management system in your organization.
H3: 1. Establish Leadership
Select a cross-functional team to champion the integration effort. This team needs leaders with authority, diplomacy, and technical knowledge. It should include a C-suite sponsor and will likely be driven by HR leaders. This team must have full support from top leadership to succeed.
H3: 2. Perform a Diagnosis
Identify the specific reasons your organization needs ITM and what you expect it to accomplish. Conducting meaningful conversations with key leaders across the business is a critical part of diagnosing your organization's unique needs and goals.
H3: 3. Select the Right Technology
The diagnosis will guide your selection of ITM software. Determine the critical features your solution must have. Some companies, like CDW, use questionnaires to create a list of criteria for comparing vendors. Others develop their ITM technology in-house.
H3: 4. Secure Buy-in
Leadership support and a clear diagnosis are foundational to gaining buy-in. To support the rollout, use comprehensive communication and training, such as classroom sessions, webinars, and internal informational portals, to ensure a positive reception.
H3: 5. Implement and Evaluate
Integrating talent management is a continuous process, not a one-time project. It requires ongoing effort to keep talent activities connected to corporate strategy and to each other. Successful implementation includes systematic evaluation, such as using employee surveys to measure whether the ITM system is producing the desired results.
The Results of an Integrated Approach
A Best Practice Institute survey found that companies with successful ITM processes experienced several key benefits:
- Improved use of existing talent through methods like internal referral programs and cross-functional moves.
- Higher employee engagement, as seen in improved employee attitude surveys at companies like Microsoft.
- Stronger succession planning.
- Better employee retention.
For example, Becton Dickinson-Japan, an early adopter of ITM, reported a 130% increase in revenue after integrating its talent functions. When a company aligns its talent decisions with its strategy, overall productivity and performance can increase dramatically.