Roffey-Jones was commenting on the Right Management report Talent Management: Accelerating Business Performance.
The survey of more than 2,000 global professionals suggests 40% of senior leaders understand the relationship between investing in talent management and business impact.
However, only half of those leaders are confident that their investments are paying off, with 15% calling for more rigorous measurement of ROI.
Roffey-Jones told HR magazine the recent recession meant all investments are now more heavily scrutinised, including learning budgets.
"If you align the learning and talent cycles to the cycles of your business strategy, you have a much better chance," she said. "Senior leaders want to see the impact of learning on the business performance. Making sure your training more closely meets the needs of the business at any given time will make this much more likely."
Right Management general manager, UK & Ireland Ian Symes added that a "one-size-fits-all" approach to talent management is unlikely to deliver return on investment.
"Instead, businesses need to take time to assess the talent they have, identify the talent they need and from the resulting analysis, create a roadmap for talent management that supports individuals and the overall business direction,” he said.
