Poor strategic alignment ‘mitigating Australian productivity’

 

Poor strategic planning could be costing Australian businesses millions of dollars in avoidable recruitment costs, according to new research.

A new LinkedIn survey, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), revealed businesses are failing to align their talent management strategies with available market opportunities.

Poor talent adaptability – the inability for people to retrain for different industry segments or learn new skills – could be costing the Australian economy as much as $3.65 billion (AU$3.8 billion) in lost productivity. Organizations could also save a further $370 million in avoidable recruitment costs, the research predicted.

Australia ranked behind the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, Singapore and the US in terms of strategic talent adaptability. However, the country outperformed Germany, Brazil, India and China.

Michael Rendell, partner and global head of HR services at PwC, said many skilled jobs remain unfilled due to problems at a strategic level.

“The better employers and employees are at adapting to changing circumstances and aligning their skills with the available opportunities, the more productive organizations will become,” he explained.

“Our research shows that a better talent fit between employer and employee could unlock $130 billion in additional productivity globally, begin to close the skills gap and drive a market’s competitive advantage.”

David Cohen, LinkedIn senior director of sales, said countries need to utilize their human capital to differentiate themselves in an increasingly global marketplace.

“It’s been challenging for them to assess the skills, knowledge and experience of their workforces due to the dearth of professional data,” he added.

Using business strategy software is one way in which companies can better align their strategic vision across a wide range of organizational departments and processes, including talent development.

StrategyBlocks can help businesses to optimize the execution of strategic plans, ensuring they remain flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions. The software provides a dynamic framework with real-time monitoring of business strategies, which facilitates the delivery of key information and messaging needed to carry out corporate aims.