The Philippine Society for Talent Development (PSTD), in partnership with Fourthwall, recently conducted a comprehensive survey on the talent development planning practices and challenges faced by organizations in the Philippines. The purpose of this research was to gather valuable data on prevalent talent development planning programs and initiatives. The survey focused on understanding current practices and systems employed in crafting talent development plans, as well as gathering insights into the perceived benefits and encountered challenges faced by respondents in this area.

Demographics

A total of 100 talent development practitioners participated in the study. In terms of gender, 61 are female, 35 are male and four chose not to disclose their gender. Participants occupy varied levels in their organizations; thus, including seven consultants, 22 junior managers, 27 mid-level managers, 13 rank and file employees, 7 senior executives and 24 senior managers. In terms of industry representation; the respondents hailed from various sectors wherein two belong to banking and finance; seven from the BPO; four represents business services; 11 are in consulting services; nine are in the academe; 16 respondents belong to the government sector; 12 are from healthcare; six (6) are from hospitality; another six (6) belong to the manufacturing industry; another six (6) are into retail and trading; two (2) from technology and software development; two (2) belong to the transportation and utilities industry and the remaining 17 come from other industries ranging from automotive; energy; and non-government organizations.
Furthermore, the survey encompasses different types of organizations, with 23 respondents representing the government sector, 72 working for private organizations and five respondents being independent practitioners.
When it comes to company size, 10 respondents represent very large enterprises with headcount of 10,000 or higher. On the other hand, a quarter of the respondents (25) come from organizations composed of 1,500 or more employees. 38 respondents belong to medium-sized organizations (200 to 1,499 employees). 27 respondents are employed in small organizations with less than 200 employees.
These demographics showcase proportional representation across gender, position level, industry, sector, and company size, ensuring a comprehensive overview of talent development planning practices in the Philippines.

Main Questionnaire

Talent Development Programs and Initiatives

Respondents were asked to indicate the talent development planning programs and initiatives implemented in their respective organizations. The questionnaire provided a checklist of commonly implemented programs, allowing respondents to select multiple options that applied to their organization. The results are tabulated below:

Most or 68 of the respondents claimed that their organizations invest on designing training programs/curricula for capacity-building. This is followed by 60 respondents who cited that their companies take steps on identifying skills and behavioral gaps. 59 indicated that their organizations employ strategies to foster employee engagement, retention, rewards. More than half or 54 works for agencies utilizing competency-based job descriptions. A little over half (52) develop tools to assess talent performance.

36 belong to organizations undertaking workforce planning. 36 set metrics for talent development programs. Other programs in talent development planning as mentioned by respondents include: competency assessments, career planning, competency framework development, planning on how to upskill employees for digital transformation, succession planning and talent reviews.

While two respondents stated that their organizations did not have any talent development planning programs in place, the majority of organizations invested in various initiatives. The most prevalent programs focused on training and capacity-building, as well as identifying skills and behavioral gaps. However, there was limited emphasis on proactive measures such as workforce planning, career planning, and succession planning.

Talent Development Perspectives

Respondents were asked to evaluate the usefulness of their organization’s talent development plan in talent recruitment and acquisition, as well as in gaining an in-depth understanding of the current talent pool. They rated these aspects on a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The mean ratings obtained were as follows:

• • Usefulness of talent development plan in talent recruitment and acquisition: 3.62
  • Extent to which talent development plan enables understanding of the current talent pool: 3.71
  • Extent to which talent development plan empowers the organization to craft career management strategies: 3.84

These results indicate that while organizations are increasingly investing in talent development planning, there is room for improvement in aligning these plans with talent recruitment, acquisition, and talent pool management. Organizations need to integrate and align all talent development initiatives to maximize their effectiveness.

Talent Development Practices

Respondents were asked to indicate the practices they currently implement to support talent development planning. The results were as follows:

In terms of programs implemented in support of talent development, a little more than half (53) regularly updates their job profiles. Almost half or 49 respondents cited performance evaluations. Almost half (46) have their leaders undergo coaching programs. 43 have training curriculum development initiatives. 40 have individual growth plan in their organizations.

On the other hand, enterprise-wide skills gap assessment is being undertaken in the organizations where 20 of the respondents belong to. The identification of critical talents is being undertaken in the companies of 19 respondents. 16 invests on talent forecasting. 11 implement Employee Value Proposition surveys. 10 implement talent segmentation. Only 6 respondents declared that diversity planning is something that is being undertaken in their firms. Other initiatives in support of talent development planning include: rewards and recognitions, competency – based HR systems and career management programs.

While some organizations did not have specific talent development planning practices in place, the most common practices included coaching training for managers, updating job profiles (job descriptions), developing training curriculum, individual growth plan design, and performance evaluation designs. Other initiatives mentioned by respondents included rewards and recognition, competency-based HR systems, and career management programs.

Talent Development Challenges

Respondents were asked to identify the key challenges they faced in talent development planning. These were their responses:

When it comes to challenges encountered in implementing talent development planning, most of the respondents (46) pointed out the challenge of identifying the areas where upskilling, reskilling, or cross-skilling are needed. There were 39 respondents who pointed out training managers on coaching/mentoring their talents. Setting the appropriate metric for monitoring and assessing talent development was a challenge for 39 respondents. 36 declared having difficulties in defining the technical and behavioral competencies required for a job role. 35 said that its identifying factors affecting talent attraction, engagement, and retention. 33 believe that it’s developing the right training programs to address the skills gap. 32 shared that they perceived a level of bias in their organization when it comes to the selection of talents for development programs.

A quarter (25) cited misalignment of the talent development plans with the organizational needs. Estimating the workforce supply and demand in the organization was cited as a challenge by 24 of the respondents. For 29 respondents on the other hand, its customizing talent development programs to target specific needs, skills, goals.

These results show that identifying areas for focus for upskilling, reskilling or cross-skilling is still one of the top challenges among organizations in the Philippines. Additionally, compelling managers to coach their talents in their team was also cited as a common concern along with monitoring and evaluating the results of talent development programs and initiatives.

Conclusion

The survey findings indicate that organizations in the Philippines are investing in talent development planning programs, with a focus on traditional initiatives such as training, gap analysis, and job description updates. However, there is a need to shift towards a more holistic approach that encompasses career management and succession planning, which play crucial roles in employee retention and long-term business sustainability.

Efforts must be made to promote and implement programs and initiatives that address the identified challenges, such as workforce planning, upskilling/reskilling/cross-skilling, and coaching/mentoring practices. By aligning talent development plans with organizational needs and promoting comprehensive talent management strategies, organizations can unlock the full potential of their employees and foster a culture of continuous learning and growth.

The complete survey results will be published in the State of the Industry report, which will be made available during the 2023 PSTD National Convention.