Tie talent to business strategy to bolster performance, study says

Aligning talent with business objectives can substantially increase performance, retention and company competitiveness, according to The Predictive Index's State of Talent Optimization Report. The study of 600 executives, including 200 CEOs, found that the alignment between talent and performance yields a 90% "strategic success rate" for businesses. However, the index showed that while most organizations have a business strategy, only 36% of the respondents had a talent strategy, and only 12% aligned it with their business strategy. In other words, having no talent strategy "is the norm," even though talent is both a huge company expense and a valuable asset. Respondents attributed 64% of their costs to labor, while attributing 72% of their organization's value to employees. Despite the importance of talent to the organization, execs said less than half of hires last year were good hires. On top of that, only 22% of companies surveyed said they know what's driving employees to disengage from work.