Talent and people strategies

Organizations must focus on talent acquisition and retention, but their current strategies are getting in the way of their success.

Organizations face two new challenges: finding and retaining talent (the biggest priority for most organizations over the next 12 months), and, conversely, enhancing their talent strategies to establish better ways to attract the best people.

This is an especially important priority for the public sector (68%) and higher education (70%) sectors.

_{Source: The Business Future Index 2022}

Some organizations have been able to use digital transformation, and the ability to work remotely, to boost their workforce resilience – principally by using flexible and remote working to recruit from a much larger geographic area.

	Global aggregate average	Major adoption of workflow automation	Major adoption of real-time reporting
Recruiting from a wider geographic area	49%	54%	52%
Increased headcount	42%	45%	44%

Which of the following describe the staffing situation in your organization over the last year? [3450] showing data for workflow automation and real-time reporting major adoption, omitting some answer options.

_{Source: The Business Future Index 2022}

However, surprisingly, not everyone is taking advantage of the benefits that flexible working can bring in terms of attracting talent.

^{Flexible working is a must, but it must be embraced, not just tolerated.}

For the vast majority of people, the switch to greater flexibility has been a huge positive, making them feel more collaborative (82%) and more productive (84%) – and all while delivering a better work-life balance (86%.)

But even after two years, only 18% of all workers are experiencing unrestricted flexible working. Considering the ‘Great Resignation’ it should be no surprise that 76% of respondents say their flexible working policies need improvement.

_{Source: The Business Future Index 2022}