With all the studies and reports about the challenges and opportunities around talent management and human capital, here’s an interesting one from the perspective of risk managers.

According to Best practice in risk management: A function comes of age, a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit sponsored by ACE, IBM, and KPMG, human capital risks are the most significant threat to a company’s global business operations.

Human capital risk, in particular, stands out as an area that respondents find particularly challenging. This risk, which is related to loss of key personnel, skills shortages and succession issues, has consistently been rated as among the most threatening risks that companies face in the two years that this series has been running. As this survey demonstrates, it is also among the most difficult to manage, and few respondents claim that they are effective at dealing with it. These findings point to the need for closer integration between the risk function and the human resources function, as well as a clearer understanding of the risks that companies face with their location and human capital strategies.

So since we already know attracting superior human capital and using talent management practices correlate directly to revenue and performance quantified as a talent quotient, the counterpoint is the relationship to risk that can be mitigated through retention strategies.