Apparently not much, if some data that Taleo shared at its annual user conference is any indication. Brian Summer attended the conference and posted the following data points on his ZDNet blog.
- $47,000 average salary for an American worker
- $12,000 average yearly ERP expenses on a per worker basis
- $10 average yearly talent management expenses on a per worker basis
Let’s just look at those numbers again. If these are right, the average company is spending the equivalent of 25% of the average worker’s salary on ERP programs, while a pittance (a fraction of 1%) is spent on talent management programs. And I’d have to argue that the average worker doesn’t even see that much benefit since those dollars aren’t allocated evenly across most organizations.
Are these numbers surprising? Unfortunately I have to agree with Brian that they are not. Most employee development and talent management programs suffer from poor funding. As many of our white papers have noted, most programs to purchase equipment (and I’d put ERP software in that category even though it’s not physical equipment) are better planned and funded than basic employee development and talent management functions.
For example, even though companies say that they believe that performance management drives successful outcomes, a mere 11% provide ongoing feedback and measurement against stated corporate goals. Performance management is still bogged down in the outmoded annual review process and prevents organizations from realigning employee goals to changing company objectives throughout the year. Why? Perhaps because annual reviews, completed on paper or word documents (which for all practical purposes is the same) fits nicely into that $10 per year expense. Now I’m not one to say that throwing money at a problem is always the solution, but given the figures there does seem to be room to spend a little more to better align and utilize the talent within an organization.
Thankfully all is not lost. According to a new Bersin and Associates study, the market for integrated talent management solutions is growing, even in this recession. So companies know they have a problem and are trying to correct course.
What do you think? Does talent management receive the same time and funding as ERP upgrades and maintenance at your organization? Should it?
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