We enjoyed reading the paper from Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Harvard Business School Publishing called Tempered by Fire: Where HR Is. Where It Needs to Go..

This paper was based on meetings held with 65 HR leaders from multinational firms.
Why was it a pleasant read? Because it provided many clear statements of where the talent management industry is going and what challenges HR professionals are facing. Here a couple of non ambiguous discussions:

The debate on outsourcing is over, outsourcing has won! The debate is now more about how much to outsource and what skills are required to manage outsourcers.

The war for talent is back, but it looks different. What will be the core HR function in five years? Almost everyone put talent management at the top of the list.

The core disappointment of all those senior practitioners was around HR as a decision science. I see this as the origin of the frustration about giving HR a seat at the executive table and being perceived as more strategic over the years.

In straight talk, HR as we knew it is dead. Only an analytic driven talent management function will stop those endless discussions about proving your value and getting the seat you deserve.

Is your organization ready? Are you ready?