Time to rethink talent in the boardroom

Boards, like the organisations they oversee, are being pulled in multiple directions: The advent of innovative technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI), evolving stakeholder expectations, demands for climate action, the need for progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the changing economic, political, health, and geopolitical landscape are all transforming the role of organisations in society. Ultimately, at the center of all this change are the people inside organisations doing the work.

To better understand how organisations—and boards, in particular—are addressing talent and the future of the workforce, the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program surveyed and gathered insights from nearly 500 board members and C-suite executives in more than 50 countries.

The research findings revealed that many respondents believe their boards need to be more proactive about discussing talent-related priorities. However, for some organisations, balancing talent discussions among the long list of topics on board agendas could be challenging.

Key highlights of the report include:

• More than three-quarters of respondents regard skills and talent availability as a major source of risk
• However, only 36% of board members and executives surveyed globally believe their board’s workforce-related discussions are adequate to meet their organisation’s needs with respondents in Asia-Pacific being most critical about the sufficiency of workforce discussions in their boardrooms: Only 25% say their discussions are sufficient, compared with 33% in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and 43% in the Americas.
• The majority (58%) say their organisations are just starting to explore how AI will impact their workforce, and only 2% have introduced a long-term strategy for AI

All in all, many directors understand the increased importance of nonfinancial rewards in the future as well as in the past. While challenges related to balancing financial rewards and workforce requirements have been a familiar topic for many businesses, creating a workplace that gives something more—meaningful work, the organisation’s purpose, and the sense of belonging—has become an important task and will likely remain so for boards in the future.

Given multiple competing demands and pressing issues which demand the board’s attention, the issue remains: how can boards carve out enough time to fully explore the talent agenda at their organisations? This report identifies 5 key questions directors can ask to assess whether, and to what extent, their boards are appropriately addressing talent and the future of the workforce:

1. How has the board considered the talent strategy as an integral part of the overall organisational strategy and purpose?
2. Does the board have clarity, through working with executive management, over the key elements of the talent agenda with an impact on strategic ambition (from immediate operational challenges to longer-term strategies and considerations)?
3. Has the board allocated sufficient board meeting time to consider those prioritised talent aspects?
4. Has the board considered the appropriate cadence to reconsider or review the talent strategy alongside the broader corporate strategy?
5. How do you ensure your board has the necessary knowledge and experience, or has access to external specialists or other means to understand the workforce views, to oversee workforce strategy adequately and in a balanced manner?

To read more about this Global Frontier survey and what Boards should consider in building a viable talent strategy, please visit: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/prioritizing-workforce-issues-in-the-boardroom.html