Why is talent management such a priority?

Rosemarie Clarner: Talent management is a reaction to the changing conditions of the global employment market, where competition for talent is becoming increasingly fierce. Examples of this include demographic change, the increasing importance of innovative capability as a decisive factor affecting ability to compete, and the particular need for innovative employees which this entails.

In addition, reduced employee loyalty towards employers is a crucial point, together with increasing market transparency. Globalisation has given rise to a greater supply of qualified employees on the one hand, but with an increased risk of migration on the other: in this respect, talent management is one of the key topics in the "war for talent".

As a result, it is first and foremost vital that the management team shows commitment to the question of talent management. Managers play a vital role in this process and must be committed to the importance of talent management for the company's success.

What other requirements are needed?

Rosemarie Clarner: The culture must be suitable - in other words, talent must be the central focus of thinking and actions. The high status that is afforded to customers should also be given to talent. The main role of talent management is to fill company positions for the long term and with the right talent. As a result, it is essential to create the framework conditions needed to develop the full potential of talent in accordance with the company's goals.

However, this requires a large amount of planning, precise alignment of available and required resources, and continuous controlling. Fundamentally, this can only be achieved in a professional way using suitable technology!

Which properties does a suitable technological solution require?

Rosemarie Clarner: It must support the talent-management process as a whole. For example, I need a constant and up-to-date overview of my talent landscape. I have to know what potentials the company currently has with which qualifications and skills, and how the current employee profile matches up to the target profile for the future. I would hope that a talent- management system would offer me support here. Something like this does not lend itself to being illustrated in Excel spreadsheets.

Another consideration is of course usability requirements such as intuitive operation, implementation, and system security ensuring regulatory compliance, technical adaptability to the company's individual requirements, and so on. A talent-management tool should make the company's work easier, and the technical key data must be accurate.

How should companies adapt to new target groups?

Rosemarie Clarner: It is a question of understanding the specific needs of these target groups and thus isolating how they can be motivated and how their performance can be improved. With the fifty+ generation, for example, this involves increasing their willingness to continue learning and to acquire new technologies. This means that I need to offer learning technologies and opportunities that they enjoy and which are also suitable for them.

The so-called digital natives require a rather different approach. Young people make use of social networks, and these can be used to reach them. This is the case from recruitment onwards: I do not believe that it is possible nowadays to fire young people's enthusiasm with a printed advertisement. A company must have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Xing, or similar networks to be considered an attractive employer.

Can we also expect changes for employees prompted by the combination of HR and mobile technologies?

Rosemarie Clarner: These devices can offer greater flexibility in the use of learning technologies, for example. In other words, employees no longer have to be in the company itself and undertake learning or attend seminars there. Instead, they can make flexible use of appropriate further-training materials wherever they are.


This means that optimal use can be made of waiting time at airports or similar. It is important that the learning materials be adapted accordingly and split into small units. This also has a particularly motivating effect: small successes are quickly achieved, and the learning workload is easily manageable.