Talent management systems are failing deliver the desired results for UK HR departments due to a lack of communication on how to make the best use of them, according to the Ochre House Network think-tank.

According to the think-tank, made up of over 650 major employers including Aviva, Balfour Beatty, EDF Energy, Microsoft, Morgan Crucible and TNT, HR specialists need to simplify their language to better engage with line management at all levels.

Ochre House director and think-tank leader Helena Parry says: “There is a general call in the Network for the capability of HR to be ‘up-skilled’ so that it can better handle the communication challenge, together with a warning that HR professionals should not lose touch with the basics of the function in the search for commercial and strategic credibility.

“Attention to delivery on these basics and the championing of the employee might actually bridge the gap between the tactical and the strategic and end up achieving the desired level of credibility through delivery.

“Businesses are no longer willing to have faith in ideas and theories. There is a hardening of attitudes across the board, intangibles are out of fashion and senior management wants all support functions to ‘show me the money’.”