One of the most common discussions in the talent management space revolves around how organizations look at geographic slices or pieces of their company instead of looking at the organization globally. Along the same lines, organizations tend to view “international” separately from “US” operations.
Talent management is completely different than the rest of HR. In talent management, we are very used to managing transactional and compliance based HR processes that not only are different but that MUST be different across organizations and around the world. What this means to you is that how you manage transactional HR processes and technologies MUST be approached differently than how we manage talent globally.
The global practice of managing talent grows in importance everyday. As each organization looks on a broader basis at their overall talent inventory and realizes my above point that they cannot manage talent locally, the demand for global talent management processes and technologies will only increase.
This morning, I was pleased to see Taleo announce the acquisition of Jobpartners. Jobpartners is a talent management vendor that many in the US may not be aware of, but one that has captured some of the leading European and multi-national customers in the world– quietly yet dominantly. As a leading vendor in the talent management marketplace, it is exciting to see Taleos’ vision match the demand for global talent management. This acquisition is another step for all of us in the talent management marketplace towards realizing customers true needs — managing talent on a global basis.
Acquisitions by technology companies are never easy and in each case you must look behind the scenes at the true value of the acquisition. In this case, it would seem the value starts with the fact that Jobpartners has one of the leading talent management, specifically applicant tracking systems in Europe. In the fact that Jobpartners has a very talented workforce that makes an excellent addition to an already strong Taleo team. Jobpartners also has a customer base that while based outside of the US, is made up of a number of the Global 100/500 which continues to expand Taleo’s growing customer base that uses its platform to drive global talent management. Lastly, like all US based talent management companies, Taleo realizes they need strong “on the ground” support for their products/services outside of the US and this acquisition adds that to the Taleo arsenal.
As we see the demand for skilled labor growing on a global basis, not because of the creation of jobs, but because of a closer scrutiny on the “new normal” — including doing more with less and a globally aging workforce — the demand for global talent management processes and technologies will only continue to grow in importance.
If you are not thinking globally today re talent management, a global strategy is in order. The vendor marketplace including vendors like Taleo based on today’s announcement continue to prepare, do you?
Another infusion of knowledge…