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Companies are becoming more secretive about their talent management processes

Talent management is becoming less transparent due to redundancies and restructuring, research reveals.

A report from Talent Q reveals the way in which organisations manage talent has become much more secretive than a year ago.

On the back of widespread redundancies and organisational restructuring, the number of senior HR executives saying that their talent management process had become less transparent increased by over 41%.  
 
Talent Q's second annual survey canvassed the views of 225 senior HR executives who work for organisations that together employ 10% of the UK's workforce. They were questioned about a range of talent management issues, with the results showing just under a quarter of all UK organisations (24%) claimed to have open and transparent talent management processes and, in sectors such as industry and manufacturing, this figure fell to only 12%.
 
Alan Bourne, director of Talent Q, said: "Poor internal visibility of talent management processes can be divisive and have an impact on morale. In respect of issues relating to recruitment, redundancy, personal development and promotion, organisations need their HR strategies to be seen as fair and beyond question. If activities around talent are shrouded in secrecy, there will always be a suspicion that this is not the case.
 
"Providing a thorough and meaningful debrief with employees and job applicants following psychometric assessments should be an absolute given. And, whether led by HR or line managers, regular communication with individuals who fall in or out of talent pools or high potential groups is very important. Not being seen to play fair is likely to create a culture of negativity and a generally unhappy and unproductive working environment."