White paper: Talent management - Why one-size-fits-all doesn't fit anyone

For most organisations change is the norm, which in turn is having a dramatic impact on talent management. Knowing what’s important to a job today can be hard enough, without having to predict what that same job will become in the next few years.

As a result, talent management practices (the foundation of which is being clear about what talent is needed to select, develop and manage the right people in the right way) often struggle to keep up.

It can be tempting, under these circumstances, to resort to a one-size-fits-all approach, by way of an off-the-shelf tool or framework. These often require less time investment on the part of the organisation and many talent management solutions claim to be well researched and validated against very large samples. There can also be something reassuring about the price tag and brand attached to the ready-made competency frameworks and assessment solutions provided by many large consultancies.

However, as this article will explore, whilst the simplicity and ease of off-the-shelf solutions may be appealing, these frequently fail to deliver.