Clutterbuck who was HR magazine's number 15 Most Influential HR thinker in 2012, said the very metaphor of a pipeline shows it's wrong - "It's narrow, one-way, restricted, leaks and creates clones and a lot of blockages," he said.
"How can we expect our most bright talented individuals to stay if they're waiting for 'dead-man's shoes'," Clutterbuck added.
Speaking this morning at seminar, Managing Talent for Competitive Advantage, organised by learning and talent services provider, Kallidus, in central London, Clutterbuck, said: "The most talented people are under siege from other organisations.
"Organisations don't know who their most talented people are and HR needs to get that right."
In his speech Clutterbuck talked about the "common myths" surrounding potential leaders. He said: "These are that line managers are generally effective in recognising and encouraging talent among their direct reports, clear job descriptions are important and high performance in one role is a clear indicator of high potential in another."
He also labelled the appraisal conversation as "a convenient fudge that has very little real content".
To change this he said HR must ensure there are a lot more "honest conversations" happening.
He concluded: "HR needs to help the organisation to have these real conversations that will help employees grow."
