Link: http://acetalentnet.com.au/docs/120108_RR_Predictions2009_JB_Final.pdf

Another worthy addition from Bersin and Associates...

Every year we provide predictions for the coming year in order to facilitate planning. Last year, we anticipated the tremendous expansion in the talent management market and the evolution toward more collaborative solutions. But no one – not even renowned financial gurus – predicted our current economic state. Obviously, the economy will have dramatic influence on next year's predictions.

This article will highlight just a few of the trends we foresee. To get all ten predictions – and suggestions for dealing with their impact - download our complimentary report, Enterprise Learning, Recruiting and Talent Management 2009: Predictions for the Coming Year.

Budget cuts force restructuring of HR and LandD. In research for our recently published TalentWatch™, 26% of responding organizations are involved in major restructuring. Another 30% of respondents are in companies with a new top management team, and another 19% are going through a merger or acquisition. Reducing costs is now the top business issue for HR and LandD executives.

At the same time, the corporate training market shrunk by nearly 17% in 2008, the largest drop since we started our research.

The result is a focus on the centralization of HR and LandD functions to reduce costs and integrate training and capability development with talent management. We're also seeing staff reductions and layoffs of senior executives. Unfortunately, we'll likely see more of the same in 2009. See recent research report on learning in an economic downturn.

Succession Management Emerges as a Critical Issue. When a major business change occurs – whether it's reorganization, layoffs, or the departure of a key executive, succession plans give you the ability to rapidly identify key talent.

Unfortunately, our research shows that most companies have not yet instituted a complete succession process covering critical roles, and many still lack executive succession planning.

Talent-driven companies such as Goldman Sachs, IBM, and Cisco have thrived despite the economic climate. They do this by maintaining steady investments in the leadership development and succession management. On the flip side, we've seen front-page examples of companies without succession planning – such as Yahoo – and the business impact that comes with a leadership void. See recent blog on this topic.

Succession management will be a topic of great interest to corporate boards, business leaders, and Wall Street in the coming year. It should be high on your own list.

The LMS Market Continues to Grow and Shift in Focus. Most companies are now in their second or third LMS implementation, and most large organizations are now focused on consolidating LMSs to one centralized system. The software-as- a-service model has made it easy for companies of any size to implement an LMS.

However, while growth continues, customer need is causing the LMS market to expand into two different directions – an expensive proposition for solution providers.

On one hand, customers want the LMS to bolt onto the corporate talent management software system, so that all performance and development plans can directly access the organization's existing learning catalog. This has led every major LMS vendor to build out their own performance and talent management software.

At the same time, customers now realize that the LMS will never be a "destination location" for employees. In fact, logging into an LMS is typically an uninteresting – and often daunting – experience. Consequently, customers are now building learning or knowledge portals. These portals present a wide variety of information and tools in the context of an employee's job.

What this means is that the "bread and butter" functionality of LMSs is still critically important (in fact, you can't really run a training organization today without such support), but perceived by the customer as a given. Customers now are looking for portal-based architecture and talent management functionality.

The LMS market will remain important and strong in 2009. However, some vendors will struggle to determine in which direction to move their solutions.

Download our report today to see all ten predictions for 2009. The report covers social networking, Learning 2.0, training spending, career and capability management, performance management, talent management systems, learning in the multi-generational workforce, and recruiting tools and strategies.
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