Manpower Says Employers not Thinking Long-Term with Talent Decisions

According to Manpower’s Workforce Strategy Survey, nearly one quarter of employers across 36 nations concede that their organization’s workforce strategy does not support its business strategy or don’t’ know if it does or not. Among those respondents, more than half admit that they are not doing anything about it.  

Of those who say they have a workforce strategy aligned to business strategy, only 64% say it is agile enough to address the changing needs of the economic environment. A further 29% say the strategy is only partially agile to address these changing needs.  

In the Americas, 88% of respondents report that they have a workforce strategy that aligns with their business strategy, while in the Asia Pacific Region, 71% of employers indicate they have an aligned workforce strategy, and in the EMEA region that figure is 74%.  

Ten percent of employers say they don’t have the talent they need, and 6% aren’t sure if their talent can execute their business strategy or not. Of those employers who know that their talent isn’t adequate for their business strategy, 46% say that this talent gap is one of the top three risks to their business strategy.  

Employers in the Americas are the most satisfied with their talent, with 92% reporting that they have the talent they need to execute their business strategy, while only 84% of employers in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region (EMEA) and 76% in the Asia Pacific region feel they have the talent necessary. Of the employers who state that they don’t have the talent necessary to execute their business strategy, 61% of employers in the Americas see it as one of the top three risks to the strategy, while only 46% of employers in Asia Pacific and 37% of employers in EMEA consider it as a primary risk. 

Business leaders say they are focused on the professional development of their workforce yet the survey found more than a third of employees say their organizations have not made training and development a priority. A fifth say that training and development opportunities are inadequate for achieving the company’s business strategy—or are not provided at all.  

One in five employees say either that they don’t understand their company’s business strategy or they don’t know how their role supports it.