21 de February de 2020
What shape is Spain’s Human Resources system currently in? How has Talent Management developed at a business level? These questions formed the basis of the 4th Barometer on Talent Management in Spain, a research report carried out by the International Organization of Human Capital Directors (DCH) in collaboration with EAE Business School. The report was published at the start of the year. To gain a better insight, we talked to the author of the report, Pilar Llácer, who shared her impressions on the results and conclusions.
Pilar Llácer is a Professor of Ethics, specializing in Digital Transformation, a lecturer and researcher at EAE Business School and author of the book “Te van a despedir and lo sabes” (‘They’re going to fire you and you know it’ - Editorial Almuzara.
Can you give us a brief summary of how the 4th Barometer on Talent Management in Spain was developed and calculated?
For the last 4 years, EAE has worked with the DCH in a collaboration designed to show and explain the key dimensions that make up the world of Talent Management and Human Resources in Spain. We survey Human Resources directors to see how the main trends and projects have developed in this area. On this occasion, the results were obtained thanks to the participation of 200 Human Capital executives working for the leading companies in Spain.
What dimensions were evaluated?
There were 4 dimensions evaluated: Attraction, Loyalty, Development and Exit.
What new developments did the research reveal about these 4 dimensions?
The research revealed various new developments. In terms of Attraction, which covers all areas of contracting employees, we can observe a trend in the market for contracting people with more experience. In other words, there has been a 9.8% increase in hiring senior profiles compared to the previous year. Companies have opted to increase or maintain their workforces at the same levels.
In relation to the dimension of Loyalty, which encompasses all the processes that build stronger ties between the employee and the company, flexibility and work/life balance are two of the factors that are most highly rated by employees. This means that flexibility of working hours and working from home are increasingly seen as a positive thing and valued more highly. A total of 70% of Spanish companies now have policies in place to manage employee commitment and loyalty, compared to 22% that don’t.
With respect to the dimension of Development, which comprises the processes through which companies develop and enhance the training of employees, one of the most significant findings is the rise in online training, which has increased by over 20% from the year before. Moreover, there is an increasing emphasis on high-potential programs, particularly to train middle management and junior profiles. The Professor also explained that there has been a decrease in employee career plans, although they are still used.
Last but not least, in the field of employee Exist, Professor Llácer emphasized that companies do not tend to do exit interviews, which may become a problem, with both parties losing out: the employee may leave unhappy and spread a bad image of the company, while the company does not gain anything from the process but rather, just the contrary, it leaves itself exposed.
Now that we have a clear overview of the dimensions and the related key results, whish of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are most relevant within the Barometer?
The Sustainable Development Goals were established in 2015 after the implementation of an agenda agreed by the various leaders of the UN with the aim of “eliminating poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity through sustainable development”. Llácer explained that these goals act as a guide for evaluating the impact of companies’ policies on society.
According to the report, the SDGs with the most significant impact in the Spanish business sector are gender equality, health and wellbeing, decent work and economic growth, and action on climate change. Gender equality is the most widely implemented SDG followed by health and wellbeing.
There are 17 SDGs in total and those that have been implemented to the lesser degree are Peace, Justice and Solid Institution, and Underwater life.
In view of this scenario, what can we conclude? What is the current state of contracting in Spain?
The conclusions clearly show that a growing trend towards hiring senior positions with more experience to tackle today’s complex reality. The aim of the research was not to evaluate the current state of the contracting system. However, it has revealed results that should be taken into account in this respect, such as how much employees value flexibility and work/life balance policies.