For those of us who’ve been measuring the financial and business impacts of talent management for years, findings that correlate a talent management strategy to hard dollar business performance are no surprise. Here are some examples that should perk up the ears in the C-suite of any company:

Talent Management Correlations
Advantage: Talent Management
Talent Management Is Innovation
Talent Quotient: Quantify the Financial Impact of Talent

Now The Hackett Group’s Alert on its Performance Study on Talent Management Maturity provides these highlights of success for companies executing a talent strategy:

• 18 percent higher earnings.
• Significant net profit margin improvement.
• Greater return on equity and assets.
• Better talent/business alignment.
• Stronger corporate culture.
• Higher retention.
• Faster recruiting.

This study involved 60 companies over three years and tracked 19 measures of business performance. Overall, the clear differentiator that made these companies more successful was their use of technology. As the key findings noted:

TMMLs [talent management maturity leaders] also have a more advanced technology infrastructure to access talent-related information. Their talent management applications are better integrated, and talent reporting is more standardized, detailed and recurring.

Hackett Managing Director of HR Transformation had this to say:

"These companies were better able to attract high-quality staff, retain key talent, and develop the skills they need to support strategic business goals, and the focus on people also has a measurable impact on business performance."