talent management - Bureau of the Fiscal Service management The building blocks for success. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Chartered Institute of Management …

talent managementThe building blocks for success.

Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants



nOte On terminOlOgy

in framing our research, we asked participants to describe what the concept of a ‘career framework’ meant to them and their organisation. All participants strongly stated that a range of factors were needed to maximise the contribution of people within in their organisations.

not all organisations used the term ‘career framework’ in managing this area or communicating with staff; the most common term used being ‘talent management’. Where reference was made to the idea of a career, it was often termed ‘career progression’ or ‘career development’.

Active terminology seems to be preferred because of its greater resonance with managers and employees compared with the more passive ‘framework’ concept. reflecting this, we have used a combination of these terms to encompass our original discussion about ‘career frameworks’.

our definition of ‘talent’ follows that of the joint ciMA, ciPd, cMi and investors in People ‘Valuing your Talent’ project, which states: ‘We believe that the term ‘talent’ should not be reserved for ‘high flyers’ but instead that all people have a role to play in contributing to the success of their organisations, whatever their size or sector.’1

interviews and roundtables conducted during the research were carried out under chatham house rules, where information was contributed on the basis that it would not be attributed to individual organisations.

COntents

02 inTroducTion

03 AbouT The reseArch

05 syMPToMs of Poor TAlenT MAnAgeMenT

08 benefiTs of beTTer TAlenT MAnAgeMenT

09 building blocks for success

18 AcTions for leAders

19 TAlenT MAnAgeMenT And ciMA

22 conclusion

11

aBOUt the researCh

This report is based on a 2016 study undertaken by CIMA with Power of Numbers Ltd. The research was commissioned by the Great Place to Work action area of Future-Focused Finance2 in order to enable NHS finance teams to learn from good practice in talent management and career progression amongst large commercial and public sector organisations. As exemplars of best practice, the findings have wider relevance for any organisation wishing to improve their talent management.

A total of 18 large public sector and commercial organisations directly contributed to the study through roundtable workshops, one-to-one interviews and an online survey, alongside wider desk research. drawing on the experience of these organisations, this report collates examples of good practice across all aspects of talent management and career progression and suggests actions which organisations can take to implement these practices.

We asked participating organisations to rate themselves in terms of how they help people develop their careers (figure 1). over half considered that they were very strong in this area, while recognising that there was still some room for improvement.

Those organisations that rated themselves lower were all part way through a programme of change in this area and could point to specific actions in progress which they believe will have significant impact in the future.

intrOdUCtiOn

The role of finance is changing in seeking to add more value to the business, and more than ever finance people in all sectors are seen as critical in solving major organisational challenges. This report investigates how large commercial and public sector organisations manage their talent, identifying four fundamental building blocks for success.

We then consider the value of the ciMA professional qualification in talent management, both to the individual and the organisation they work for.

2/3For more inFormation visit www.cimaglobal.comTalenT managemenT: The building blocks for success

symptOms Of pOOr talent management

Inadequacies in talent management are impeding organisational competitiveness and financial performance

in increasingly volatile times, organisations need to be constantly alert and ready to address new risks and opportunities. uncertainty means that businesses need to build their adaptability and resilience, and in the public sector there is pressure to do more for less while simultaneously addressing growing demands for greater transparency and accountability. effective talent management will be a critical success factor, and with half of all ciMA members looking to change roles within the next two years3 employers must pay close attention to their talent management strategy or risk losing key staff.

our previous research in this area4 has shown that, while most companies understand the importance of human capital, they do not appear to have the right systems, processes and information in place to manage talent effectively. furthermore, inadequacies in talent management are impeding organisational competitiveness and financial performance.

All the organisations emphasised that people are a critical resource with a variety of skills, motivations, expectations and preferences, and that good talent management and career progression needs to take account of that diversity. They agreed that the concept of a ‘career framework’ extends well beyond describing the range of available roles and possible career paths that people can follow. All participants strongly stated that a range of factors were needed to maximise the contribution of people within in their organisations. While this includes providing managers and employees with a picture of the finance and other roles that might be relevant for them and the different routes or paths that they could follow in developing their

careers, there were other, more subtle factors enabling successful investment in staff.

in recent years, we have seen the role of finance evolving, seeking to add more value to the business. More than ever, finance people in all sectors are being seen as critical in solving major organisational challenges. consequently, all the organisations interviewed prioritised finding and developing the right finance staff who are able to:

• lead the continual drive for savings and efficiency• generate new thinking that enables an organisation

to adapt to the growing complexity of its operating environment

• Play a role in sustaining organisational memory

figUre 1: hOw well dOes yOUr OrganisatiOn help peOple develOp their Careers?

‘As the finance function becomes more efficient, the priority in finance transformation is shifting from how to take cost out of an overhead function to how to get more value from finance disciplines. And as management accounting becomes more influential, it is increasingly valued for its contribution towards ensuring business success.’ Finance Business Partnering the conversations that count, CGMA 2015

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TalenT managemenT: The building blocks for success 4/5For more inFormation visit www.cimaglobal.com

insufficienT roles available

depending on the scale of the organisation and its business unit structures, there may be an insufficient number of roles opening up to allow people to progress. individuals often reach a stage in their career where promotion is not appropriate, but a lateral move to gain experience in a different role or business unit would be highly beneficial both to themselves and to the organisation.

This may be appropriate when, for example, an individual has been unsuccessful in applying for a promotion.

absence of goals

We found that a high proportion of people have few or no goals in relation to their development or career progression. Where goals exist, they may only be nominal. We identified the following issues:

• goals are insufficiently specific, realistic or actionable• individuals have not set out (or do not understand) the

actions required to reach those goals• individuals are not putting those actions into

practice systematically.

over-PromoTion

sometimes people are given a promotion just to keep them in the team or organisation. The roles offered are frequently whatever is currently available and sufficiently attractive to the individual. however, this can lead to big problems where the role is not matched to that individual’s strengths (an example being a technical specialist moving into a leadership role) or where the level of stretch is too great. This can be compounded by not providing them with enough support, either in preparation for the move or to address any capability gaps. The same problems with over promotion can occur when managers believe that ‘no-one else can be found’ either internally or externally to fill the role.

failing to address these causes can lead to a cycle of talent mismanagement (figure 3). The negative impacts include poor staff morale and motivation, succession risks and the inability to generate fresh ideas and insights to overcome challenges. Pressure on senior leaders increases as the organisation under-performs.

figUre 2: the symptOms and impaCt Of pOOr talent management

limiTing PoTenTial

People are not stretched and are unable to deliver their full potential

Too many specialists reinforces silos

stagnation means that people do not develop

The most productive and /or high potential staff leave

sTaff Turnover

issues

Too low

Too high

not enough fresh blood to generate innovation and new thinking

few applicants, particularly for more senior roles

inabiliTy To recruiT

increased risk exposure, higher costs

emPloymenT gaPs

unfilled permanent roles

figUre 3: the CyCle Of talent mismanagement

STAFFLEAVE

The negative impact on your business?

• Poor morale and motivation

• A lack of fresh insights to solve complex challenges

• big succession risks

• Pressure on senior leaders as the organisation under-performs

We asked participating organisations to identify the main symptoms and impact of poor talent management. They identified four main areas (figure 2): a lack of suitable applicants for more senior director and deputy director roles, limited scope roles leading to silo mentality, issues with high (and low) staff turnover, and poor succession planning resulting in employment gaps, higher pressure and increased staff costs.

These symptoms can be traced to a number of common causes:

Wrong mindseT

individuals are not transferring between roles, either by taking on more senior positions or moving across to same-level roles that broaden their experience. We found that this is invariably caused by mindset, either of the manager or the individual.

managers may:

• have a stability bias, wanting to get a settled team and keep it that way

• go into recruitment looking for people who will stay in the job for the long term

• hoard ‘stars’, those people who they see as ‘having an indispensable badge’.

individuals may:

• become comfortable and stay in the same role too long• move too quickly, not getting the benefit of the full

experience of the role they are in. Participants stated that this occurs less commonly.

lack of career conversaTions

Without the appropriate conversations between individuals and their managers, it is almost impossible to get development and career progression right. Many senior finance managers are not having these discussions with staff (or having them too infrequently), often because they fear the individual leaving their team. Without regular dialogue, there is a risk of managers assuming that if individuals who do not raise the prospect of progression are not thinking about it or interested in what opportunities may be open to them. failure to address this can lead to demotivation among staff.


Benefits Of Better talent management

All participants believed that their investment in talent management was having positive effect in some or all of the following ways:

• higher volume and greater quality of top leadership applications

• ability to promote from within• resiliency to cover roles with multiple people• high motivation with improving feedback from staff• increased productivity

BUilding BlOCks fOr sUCCess

The whole organisation needs the mindset, flexibility and central resources to create and maintain successful ‘pools of talent’

Analysis of our research findings identified 4 fundamental ‘building blocks’ for successful talent management:

• foster the right mindset• create flexible talent pools• enable the movement of people• Provide the necessary central tools and resources.

Within each building block we identified good practice themes and actions for leaders.

Twelve years ago, we were struggling to find good FDs across the group, so we set out to grow our own FDs. We have just succeeded in promoting the first person into role and more are on their way.

“”

We use a ‘value add tracker’ for those on our leadership development programme to enable them to measure how much time they spend on activities that generate value for the organisation. It is very basic but it does give something tangible to show how their development is making a difference.

“

”Enable the movement of people

building block 3

Foster the right mindset

building block 1

lead from the top

Promote from within

empower each part of the business to take ownership

Motivate people to take personal responsibility

give individuals a route-map to inspire and navigate

drive active line management

Create flexible talent pools

building block 2

define the relevant talent pools

decide on the sufficient scale

Accelerate learning

get the right people together to manage each pool

support and adapt the pools as needed

facilitate movement between pools

Provide the necessary central tools and resources

building block 4

create an expectation to move

Provide options for movement within the business

increase fluidity of movement with other organisations

face up to moving people on

Manage the percieved risks of movement

Prioritise and keep things simple

raise awareness

Provide an easy-to-use portal


building block 1 – foster the right mindset

lead from The ToP opportunities to develop and progress should be for all employees and not just a few ‘high fliers’. The finance leadership has to set the right tone at the top around people development to gain trust and build confidence. To reinforce this, communication from all managers on talent management and career progression should be consistent. Where managers are not contributing on this effectively, they should be challenged.

‘Senior leaders should be regularly engaging and speaking with the workforce about retention and motivation. It has to be a regular on-going dialogue. You can’t just rely on an annual survey.’

PromoTe from WiThin There is strong support for the ‘home grown’ approach to talent development. organisations do recruit externally and encourage people to gain experience in other places but, especially for more senior posts, the advantages of filling roles with internal people who have a deep knowledge of the business, its environment and ways of working, is consistently seen as preferable. This requires a long-term commitment.

‘Our systems are quite complex so we need corporate memory – why things are the way they are. So all of our senior managers are promoted from within as new people would not have the awareness of the product set.’

emPoWer each ParT of The business To Take oWnershiP

Within the overall ambition and culture for talent management set out by the senior leadership, individual parts (business units, support functions) must be empowered to take ownership of implementing the actions that work for them within the overall framework of people development.

‘It’s essential to address the hygiene factors quickly. For example, get a standardised approach to the Personal Development Review (PDR) process – underpinned with training on how to do a PDR review.’

People only reach their full potential if motivated to do so. They need to take personal responsibility for their development and careers. Processes, systems and resources by themselves do not give individuals the curiosity and energy to learn and stretch themselves. organisations have to make clear what is expected of employees, help them set and communicate their development goals and provide them with support (such as mentors) outside of line management hierarchies.

‘Make the link to objectives of the role and the opportunities for the person fulfilling those objectives – so they can see the causal connections between investing in their career and outcomes for the individual and organisation.’

give PeoPle a rouTe maP To insPire and navigaTe

employees need to understand that careers are now much less prescribed, often involving a wide variety of roles that require a broader set of skills and capabilities. career progression is not just about moving up narrow hierarchical structures but can involve moves laterally or to different teams or parts of the business. An overview of the ‘role landscape’ and mapping out examples of the different potential routes can broaden and inspire people’s thinking. crucially, this should simplify the readacross between potential roles by rationalising the number of finance job titles and providing a set of consistent ‘core role’ descriptions.

‘We have reviewed around 50 different jobs acrossour finance teams and rationalised these down into 8common roles. Each of these now has a common core set ofresponsibilities and skills with a little bit of scope to makeminor tweaks to fit the exact position.’

moTivaTe PeoPle To Take Personal resPonsibiliTy

drive acTive line managemenT

building a consistent approach to talent management and career progression needs investment in managers to help them develop the necessary attitudes and skills. Above all, they need to be encouraged to have regular conversations with staff and be open to seeing people move around the organisation.

‘Create an environment where the individual and their manager are able to have a career conversation which is mutually beneficial for both the individual as well as the organisation and not necessarily for the benefit of the manager.’


building block 2 – create flexible talent pools

define The relevanT TalenT Pools

examples of talent pools from the research included:

• every consulting professional being in a group with15-25 colleagues organised by grade and customer market

• all team leaders across a department• all managers (between 20-25) within a customer service function• all fast streamers across a company• Cross-departmental pools by grade (not filtered by performance)• senior talent pool (150 people)• national talent pool for graduate entry• Bonus pools within a business unit (15-30 people)• individual teams.

decide scale

Where talent pools are used to create opportunities for movement (such as through the use of rotation schemes), it is critical that the pool has sufficient scale, with enough people in it to be able to back-fill when colleagues move to a different position. This helps build resilience and aids succession planning.

some of the participating organisations actively try to create headcount space for people to move roles to ensure that strong performers don’t have to wait long before having the opportunity of promotion or to develop breadth of experience. Pools of reasonable scale encourage diversity, with employees drawn from different teams, or even different business units. Those individuals can then act as conduits for carrying knowledge and contacts between the various parts of the organisation. Participants reported better cross-boundary collaboration as a result.

acceleraTe learningone of the main functions of a successful talent pool is to connect employees with the development to acquire the skills and competencies for future roles. The first step in this is to describe the competencies required at different levels. This can be done both in general terms and also laid out specifically role-by-role. once talent pools are established, training and development pathways can be tailored for the individuals in these groups. A number of the participating organisations mentioned the value of development centres, which bring cohorts together for face-to-face contact.

for one company, this involves running development centres several times a year for 20 participants in a diverse group drawn from across the business. individuals are nominated from their ‘talent pool’ (one example of this being high performers showing potential to move up). The group are given a range of observed tasks, assessments and personality reports. reported benefits include the experience for the employees; the learning that gets taken back to theirbusiness units and the establishment of new contacts across the organisation.

All the participants pointed to the importance of creating and managing ‘talent pools’ of people. not every organisation adopts that specific term, but each makes use of groups or cohorts of employees for a mix of development, performance appraisal and advancement/promotion purposes.

Where talent pools are widespread and inclusive (where most or all employees are in a pool that is being actively managed), they give a robust structure to the oversight of people’s development needs and progression potential. They can also play a crucial role in balancing supply and demand of suitable people to fill different types of role across the business.

As an example of general competency descriptions, ciMA provides an overview of typical requirements for management accountants. This covers technical, business, leadership and people skills, underpinned by ethics, integrity and professionalism.

A range of different models to oversee the talent pools were described. These typically comprise some form of committee or management group meeting once a quarter or every six months to:

• compare employee performance assessments• identify high potential people• Agree actions for progressing individuals who are ready for promotion,

facilitating the moves of others to broaden experience and actions to address people who are struggling with performance issues.

Particularly within larger multi-business unit organisations, a range of approaches were used to identify the managers who needed to be involved in talent pool assessment moderation and decision-making. one organisation reported the following approach:

• graduate pool moderated by the scheme’s senior manager• Analysts and financial controllers moderated firstly with groups of local

managers and then an higher-level aggregated review• senior finance staff are moderated by business unit finance directors with

facilitation support from hr.

beyond this formal moderation for performance and promotion purposes, there is also an important informal role for hr and l&d leads within finance to keep contact with those managers who oversee talent pools:

• To keep their responsibility for the pool at the front of their mind!• To prompt for feedback on ‘high fliers’• To sit in on important discussions (for example around potential

‘People leaders’)• To take away actions to support those individuals.

Most of the participants used some form of talent grid to map and assess individual performance. good practice in carrying out these assessments was suggested as:

• Providing written evidence for ratings to try and remove subjective nature of the assessment

• gather feedback from peers, managers and especially juniors, who can comment on leadership skills, etc)

• separate backward looking performance reviews completely from forward looking talent reviews.

geT The righT managemenT


suPPorT and adaPT

faciliTaTe movemenT beTWeen Pools

As organisations seek efficiencies and hierarchies become flatter, it can be difficult to match career progression aspirations against the reality of the shrinking number of roles. With limited opportunity to move up the hierarchy, managers must identify alternative incentives.

one solution to this problem is to offer lateral changes in role. The the use of talent pools provides the ability for ambitious people to shift into another pool where their chance of subsequent progression might be increased. Again, hr and l&d colleagues have a role to play in facilitating cross-functional conversations around managed moves. individuals should be encouraged to be proactive in asking for consideration for ‘managed moves’ and to play an active role in their own career planning.

‘We have developed a ‘Career Pathways Tool’ to help people navigate their own careers more effectively; the challenge is to create the volume of opportunities for movement across roles to gain experience.’

flexibility is crucial: as the business changes, the needs for particular type of skills and capability change with it. Talent pools should also change, to reflect these shifts.

several participants mentioned the constant need to scrutinise roles within the organisation and ask ‘do we need this?’ one company in particular has a semiformal policy of examining a role whenever anyone leaves to determine whether it is still needed or whether it should be redesigned or scrapped completely. This idea of constantly ‘moderating the workforce’ is considered to be a powerful way to drive efficiencies by ensuring that all roles add as much value as possible.

one company calculates an operating efficiency metric of finance employee by role. This process, which exposes just how many people are effectively playing the same sort of role, is aided by rationalising the variety of finance job titles and descriptions. That, in turn, enables the organisation to consider how some of the activity in those roles might, for example, be centralised or moved to shared services.

building block 3: enable the movement of people

creaTe an exPecTaTion To move

enabling the movement of people around the organisation is fundamental to maximising opportunities for promotion and giving employees the breadth of skills and experience they need for evolving roles. it also rewards and motivates employees with new roles and builds resilience, enabling the ability to quickly cover or fill roles. Achieving the necessary levels of movement demands an expectation in the workforce that this is the norm (if not for all, then for most or many). This can be built through a mix of formal rotation policies and informal support, and requires information on the options for movement to be visible and easy-to-access.

PromoTe from WiThinorganisations take positive steps to enable different types of move, including secondments, maternity covers, role swaps, ‘step in’ contracts, participation in projects and transfers into other parts of the business (eg from finance into marketing, analytics or operations). creating movement can be built into contracts or encouraged through monetary incentives, help with relocation costs, offering flexible working terms and enabling people to be upskilled.

‘Half the time is spent working across other areas in the business. This is very beneficial as it gives great insights into different aspects of finance without going on secondment or applying for a new job.’

‘We need more and brighter people given the challenges we face. The best way to ‘up the quality’ is to expose people to a wide variety of experience as they progress through their careers.’

increase fluidiTy of movemenT WiTh oTher organisaTions

Moves to other organisations can be used to broaden experience. businesses with a wide network of close suppliers and partners can facilitate moves into these for their employees. increasingly, we see organisations maintain contact with people who have left, resulting in a steady stream of returners who have gained wider experience elsewhere.

face uP To moving PeoPle on

effective talent management has to consider the possibility of people moving roles or leaving the organisation as part of open and honest conversations around performance and potential. it is good practice to help people find alternative roles and to keep the relationship positive.

‘When we restructured the department, we had lots of attrition. This was expected to happen and indeed was an important part of changing the culture.’


manage The Perceived risks of movemenT

Managing the perceived risks of movement can help encourage managers to allow people to move on and absorb new talent into their teams. This involves investing getting people ready to make a move (so preparing them in advance for their new role) and ensuring that there is a no-blame culture if a move does not work as well as anticipated.

Not being afraid to fail is important. Put people in places where they are stretched but make sure they have support. Never hang someone out to dry!’

building block 4: Provide the necessary central tools and resources

PrioriTise and keeP Things simPle

While it is critical for each part of the business to take ownership for its own talent management, it is both efficient and effective to create some central tools and resources for people to access. in deciding what to provide, organisations should focus on what is essential, avoiding overwhelming managers and employees with too much detail. it is also good practice not to put everything ‘on a plate’ and instead to design the resources to get people doing some of the thinking for themselves.

‘When you click on a job title you see the role detail, and also what technical skills as well as behavioural competencies are required for that role. You can then choose to take a competency assessment for that role and measure your current skillset against that of your aspirational role. Where there are any gaps you are given suggestions as to what development you can undertake to fill those gaps – the skills and behaviours at each grade together with mandatory training. This is all supported by discussions with your performance manager’.

enable quick access To resources

Tools and resources to support talent management and career progression should be provided in a central intranet portal. This could be developed specifically for the finance function or integrated into a more general hr and learning platform within the business. The portal can raise awareness of the ambitions for talent management, set out the role landscape and routes for development, describe competencies and skills, supply templates for development conversations and career planning and help deliver and track training.

‘There is a finance portal to access all the materials. It’s very clear and easy. I access it all the time to get things like the competency framework, learning materials, courses, how to access a mentor, objectives of the finance organisation, links to external websites.’

Maintaining a high profile for this area is essential if it is not to be sidelined by day-to-day pressures. regular prompts can help maintain interest and energy, particularly for those employees who are less driven in thinking about their careers. senior leaders play a vital role in getting the message across, and this can be supported by investing in promotional materials. These should quickly and persuasively summarise what the organisation is trying to achieve around talent management, as well as signposting available opportunities and resources. Providing links on internal websites and employee newsletters, and referencing these during talks and presentations will help to underline the message.

raise aWareness


aCtiOns fOr leaders

The role of leaders is crucial in making a success of any increased or redesigned investment in talent management and career progression. From our research findings we identified the following actions for leaders to support each building block.

building block 1: fosTer The righT mindseT

1. agree and communicate a vision for talent management and career progression

2. help people easily understand the landscape of potential roles by developing a rationalised set of finance roles, titles and job descriptions by grade

3. Provide career route examples that extend across the different parts of the organisation and its wider system.

4. Provide a cohesive and simple link between the range of possible roles and the required competencies, qualifications and behaviours, identifying the training and development opportunities available to reach these

5. motivate and challenge finance directors and other senior leaders to drive talent management and career progression within and across their organisations or business units.

building block 2: creaTe flexible TalenT Pools

1. identify a range of models for creating and actively managing talent pools, ensuring they have the necessary scale and resources. These could be a mix of geographic and/ or cohort-based, examples being new graduates, business partners and future leaders

2. Pilot one or more talent pool models to test and demonstrate their effectiveness

3. empower teams or business units to develop ‘bottom up’ talent pools.

building block 3: enable The movemenT of PeoPle

1. set out the expectations for the movement of people around the organisation and its wider system

2. support creative ways to maximise movement, such as lateral moves or project secondments

3. develop kPis to track and assess the volume of movement.

building block 4: Provide The necessary cenTral Tooland resources

1. develop and source a set of central tools and resources to support talent management and career progression. cima have a wide range of cPd resources available on the competency and learning website

2. design and champion a portal which promotes talent management and career progression and provides easy access to the available tools and resources.

talent management and Cima

value To emPloyees

ciMA is the world’s largest professional body of management accountants, offering the most relevant accounting qualification for a career in business. Thousands of employers around the world, in all sectors, train their people with us. ciMA members are qualified to work across the business, in a wide range of finance and management roles.

The ciMA syllabus and assessment is developed with employers and designed to ensure that ciMA qualified finance professionals are business-ready: competent in the range of skills which employers expect of a professionally qualified management accountant.

employers have the further assurance that as members of a professional institute management accountants are bound by a code of ethics and a commitment to lifelong

learning; their continuing professional development. Their membership confirms that they are in good standing with the institute and that they meet these obligations.

To satisfy employers’ expectations, we determined that qualified management accountants at entry level should have a firm foundation in a broad range of the competencies they might need as their careers develop. The ciMA professional syllabus has three levels, addressing requirements up to the level of a senior manager. The operational level corresponds to entry level; management level to manager level; (figure 4) and strategic level to the early stages of senior manager level.

once qualified, further skills development is supported by continuing professional development (cPd) and a commitment to lifelong learning. This helps ensure that the skills of our members remain relevant.

expertise in subject matter is acknowledged by peers in industry or area of specialism; can handle very complex matters and supervise other’s work on complex matters

expertise in subject matter is acknowledged by peers in industry or area of specialism; can handle very complex matters and supervise other’s work on complex matters

senior execuTive (c suiTe or exPerT)

senior manager or advanced

has the experience and expertise to handle complex matters with confidence and can supervise other’s work on difficult matters

Management decision making wth formal responsibility for colleagues and/or actions and decisions have a wider impact. scope is wide and focus is medium to long term.

has acquired specialist knowledge through cPd (e.g. further study or practical experience); can handle difficult matters with confidence and supervise other’s work on routine matters.

manager or inTermediaTe

limited or informal resposibility for colleagues and/or where broader approaches or consequences need to be considered. scope is mid-range and focus is medium term.

enTry level or foundaTional

Performs a generalist role with confidence and has sufficient knowledge of subject matter to work independantly on routine matters but will engage an expert when necessary.

responsible for achieving results through own actions rather than through others. scope is narrow and focus is on short term objectives.

descriPTion - exPerTise descriPTion - senioriTylevels of comPeTence

figure 4: levels of comPeTence


even in smaller organisations where there may be fewer jobopportunities, supporting staff to progress through the ciMA qualification will motivate staff, enabling them to develop skills and competences that will be of value both to themselves and to the business.

value To The individual

The ciMA qualification (figure 5) has been designed to blend management accounting, financial accounting and business focused subjects, delivering the skills that employers demand. As a result, our members work in a wide variety of business roles in all sectors. Many go on to become project managers, consultants, finance directors or chief executives, and others run their own businesses.

our on-demand exams and flexible structure fit around other work, study and family commitments, allowing students to progress at their own pace. our flexible entry routes give anyone with a passion for business the chance to study, regardless of educational background.

studying ciMA demonstrates a commitment to professional and career development. employers worldwide recognise that ciMA students are commercially aware, hardworking and serious about their future.

even in the smallest organisation, studying ciMA offers the individual a valuable opportunity to develop new skills, knowledge and expertise as they progress through the qualification. As part of the world’s largest and leading professional body of management accountants they will join a community of like-minded peers and benefit from a wide range of resources, benefits and services.

figure 5: The cima qualificaTion


fooTnoTes

1 http://www.valuingyourtalent.com/about-valuing-talent/index

2 future-focused finance is a nhs initiative which aims to ensure that everyone connected with nhs finance has access to the relevant skills, methods and opportunities to influence decision making in support

of the provision of high-quality patient services. http://www.futurefocusedfinance.nhs.uk/

3 ciMA salary survey 2016

4. cgMA Talent Pipeline draining growth, 2012

references and furTher reading

ciMA qualifications http://www.cimaglobal.com/Qualifications/

ciMA employers http://www.cimaglobal.com/employers/

studying with ciMA http://www.cimaglobal.com/studying/

cPd resources for cima members:

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Members/cPd/resources/

https://competency.aicpa.org/

ready for business: bridging the employability gap http://www.cimaglobal.com/research--insight/ready-for-business-bridging-the-employability-gap/

cgMA Talent Pipeline draining growth http://www.cgma.org/resources/reports/pages/talent-pipeline-draining-growth.aspx

disClaimer

interviews and roundtables conducted during the research were carried out under chatham house rules, where information was contributed on the basis that it would not be attributed to individual organisations.

aUthOrs

rebecca mccaffry fcma, cgma, cima

ross Pow, Power of numbers

The research provides a collated picture of good practice across every aspect of talent management and career progression in large organisations. It became clear that successful talent management programmes require flexibility, evolving alongside the needs of the organisation and those who constitute its workforce. Reflecting this, the majority of organisations taking part considered that they themselves still had scope for improvement.

CIMA people are recognised globally for their competence and confidence. Our professional accounting qualification can play a vital role in sustaining a robust talent management programme at all levels, both within the finance function and across the business.

COnClUsiOn

22/23For more inFormation visit www.cimaglobal.comTalenT managemenT: The building blocks for success

nOtes


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Documents

talent management - Bureau of the Fiscal Service management The building blocks for success. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Chartered Institute of Management …