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Talent management

Our selection of articles, books and online resources can show you how to attract, retain and motivate talent.
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Latest on talent management

Read our latest features and articles on talent management.
Are apprentices the answer to the talent question?
  • Article
  • 02 Feb 2024
Apprenticeships offer employers a cost-effective way to upskill employees, improve staff retention rates and boost diversity. As National Apprenticeship Week begins, find out more about ICAEW’s apprenticeships, what’s involved and the funding options available.
Broader career paths attract accountancy talent
  • Article
  • 01 Nov 2023
With the lure of partner status waning, firms need to think more creatively about recognising individuals with other skills that they rely on for success – particularly if they want to retain them for the long run.
Is private equity reshaping the profession?
  • Article
  • 27 Sep 2023
The partnership model has long been the standard for accountancy firms, but with far-reaching challenges such as AI and staff retention looming over the profession, could PE investment be an alternative solution?
Neurodiversity: the power of thinking differently
  • Article
  • 22 Mar 2023
Up to 20% of the UK population is neurodivergent and yet as we reflect on Neurodiversity Celebration Week, embracing the strengths that diversity of thought can offer business remains a work in progress, says Dan Harris.
Social mobility needed to combat skills shortage
  • Article
  • 24 Feb 2023
As a firm with several locations across the UK, Menzies is acutely aware of the increasing challenges of attracting talent in a competitive market.
Creating an effective talent development pipeline
  • Article
  • 24 Feb 2023
Businesses must do more to ensure employees have a clear development path if they are to keep and attract more talent.
Why people leave the audit profession (and how to keep them)
  • Article
  • 23 Feb 2023
Changeable management approaches, lack of formal training and excessive hours all forced Jackie Crane to become an ex-auditor. What do her experiences tell us about how audit employers must retain talent?
The finance team toolkit part 4: the right people
  • Article
  • 17 Feb 2023
If the current war for talent shows us anything, it’s that systems and processes are nothing without talented people. Here finance transformation executive, Neil Cutting focuses on the ‘people pillar’ of organisational transformation.
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Reports and guidance

Exclusive Special Report 64: Managing People
  • Report
  • 2019
  • PDF (1,487kb)
Managing people is one of the most important skills needed to successfully navigate your way to the top of the corporate ladder. This report provides practical tips and advice on topics such as team management, dealing with difficult people and the effect of technology on recruitment.
Exclusive Special Report 58: Courageous Leadership
  • Report
  • 2017
  • PDF (1,654kb)
Courage is one of the skills that great leaders are deemed to need and perhaps the most important. This report covers the key areas that leaders might want to focus on.
Exclusive Special Report 52: People and skills
  • Report
  • 2016
  • PDF (4,295kb)
This quarterly report deals with recruiting and retaining the right staff with good practical tips and advice from a variety of specialists.
Enterprising Regions
  • Report
  • 2015
  • PDF (492kb)
A review of what makes for an enterprising area
Exclusive Special report 43: 21 years - a celebration
  • Report
  • 2013
  • PDF (1,092kb)
This quarter's special report is a 21 anniversary special, reproducing some of the best articles that we've published since our inauguration in 1992.
Exclusive Special Report 39: Leadership
  • Report
  • 2012
  • PDF (572kb)
This special report on leadership has been compiled to point you in the right direction in your leadership search. The authors all firmly support the idea that, although some leaders may be born, many more are made, and the appropriate training and support forms a vital component in this development.
Exclusive Special Report 24: Innovation
  • Report
  • 2009
  • PDF (321kb)
Innovation may seem to be a purely creative process. However, as the authors explain, by following an established set of principles, the transformation of ideas into product can be harnessed to achieve maximum value.
Special report: Managing talent
  • Report
  • 2008
Members are often telling us how their remit is constantly expanding, and human resources (HR) provides a good example of the kind of responsibilities that often end up in the Finance Director’s area.

Webinars

How to stop accountancy’s brain drain
  • Podcast
  • 23 Aug 2024
In this episode of Behind the Numbers, we discuss ways to improve recruitment and retention in accountancy.
Managing talent in a hybrid world
  • Podcast
  • 25 May 2023
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss best practice in hiring, training and safeguarding talent under hybrid working.
How accountancy can win the talent war
  • Podcast
  • 02 Mar 2023
In this ‘Insights In Focus’ episode, we discuss ways to attract and retain talent in the accounting profession.
How a board should balance major strategic issues with staff retention and wellbeing
  • Podcast
  • 25 Nov 2022
In the second of two Insights In Focus special episodes an experienced panel discuss a dilemma facing a fictional UK-based food manufacturer.
Influencing and persuading – telling your story
  • Webinar
  • 23 Jan 2019
We all negotiate on a much more frequent basis than we realise and some of us are much better than others are winning the argument. David Gillespie, professional actor and coach, brings some practical tips in how to persuade people and better negotiate in this punchy twenty minute webinar.
More webinars

eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Exclusive Developing new products and services: learning, differentiation, and innovation
  • eBook
  • 2012
  • G. Lawrence Sanders
  • Business Expert Press
A guide to producing competitive products by differentiation.
Exclusive Boardroom realities: building leaders across your board
  • eBook
  • 2009
  • Jay A. Conger
  • Wiley
Looks at building leaders across a board, with the latest trends in board leadership and performance as well as talent management for the board and the C-suite.
Exclusive Growing your business: making human resources work for you
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Robert A. Baron, Scott Shane
  • Business Expert Press
This book provides the information needed by an entrepreneur starting a new venture to choose your initial team of cofounders and employees. It gives detail of selecting, recruiting and retaining high-performing talent and motivating employees.
Exclusive Developing leadership talent
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Andreas Koschan, Mongi A. Abidi
  • Pfeiffer
A book for human resource or organization development professionals responsible for designing leadership development and talent management.
Exclusive First-time manager's guide to performance appraisals, The
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Diane Arthur
  • Amacom
Guide to performance appraisals from a US perspective.
Exclusive Developing executive talent: best practices from global leaders
  • eBook
  • 2006
  • Jonathan Smilansky
  • Wiley-Blackwell
A book for human resources managers and senior executives with responsibility for employee management.
Exclusive Reward strategy
  • eBook chapter
  • 2006
  • Michael Armstrong
  • Kogan Page
This title provides guidance on combining human resource management with business strategy. This chapter looks at the definition and need for a reward strategy, the characteristics, structure and content of the strategy, the guiding principles, developing a strategy and what makes an effective strategy.
Exclusive Retention strategies
  • eBook chapter
  • 2006
  • Michael Armstrong
  • Kogan Page
This title provides guidance on combining human resource management with business strategy. This section looks at strategies for retention of key employees and reducing levels of staff turnover. This involves analysing the reasons why staff stay or leave and responding to them.
Terms of use

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

More HR eBooks

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive Engage employees for AI success
  • Article
  • 01 May 2024
  • David De Cremer
Article discusses how in order to make Artificial Intelligence adoption a success it is important to keep employees happy and engaged. Employees find AI intimidating and their feedback is often not part fo the process. The author discusses what organisations must do to develop employee-inclusive AI practice and to keep their employees happy, productive, and engaged.
Exclusive When I grow up, I want to be...
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • Susan Muldowney
A look at the challenges faced by the accounting profession in attracting young talent, as enrolments in accounting-related university degrees decline. Topics include the need to change the perception of the profession among young people, showcase the diversity of roles within accounting, and address outdated stereotypes of brown cardigans.
Exclusive Moulding the future via employee ownership
  • Article
  • 01 Aug 2023
  • John Dormer
Employee ownership can help businesses retain skilled individuals and recruit new talent, whilst boosting productivity and profitability, says John Dormer. By using Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs), employees can acquire equity in a business tax-efficiently. And if a business is being sold, owners may wish to sell it to their employees using an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The benefits and tax advantages of some of the most popular forms of ESOPs are explained.
Exclusive Inc. Best Workplaces 2023
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Bill Saporito
Business magazine Inc.'s list of the best US companies to work for in 2023. Some of the most popular companies focus on employee wellness - particularly mental well-being and work-life balance. They have found ways to extend their culture without busting the budget; for example setting up a meditation room or offering a quarterly 'mental health day'.
Exclusive Three daily leadership habits that build high-trust relationships
  • Article
  • 01 Mar 2023
  • Jennifer Colosimo
Jennifer Colosimo shares three proven daily habits that can help leaders create a high-trust culture that retains employees and drives business results. She has found that the most important element to creating lasting leadership success is building, extending, and restoring trust among teams.
Exclusive Auditing recruitment algorithms
  • Article
  • 01 Jan 2023
  • Sebastian Klovig Skelton
The article focuses on the process of auditing artificial intelligence tools for bias which is being done under the partnership of Parity AI, an independent algorithmic auditing firm and Beamery, talent acquisition and management platform. It is discussed that auditing is important for future regulatory compliances and also for reducing artificial intelligence induced harms to businesses dependent on it.
More articles

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on talent management. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

External resources - Guidance and advice

Benefits Trends Survey global highlights
  • Website
  • Willis Towers Watson
Global highlights from the 2023 Benefits Trends Survey by consultants Willis Towers Watson, providing a look at the employee reward programs and talent management best practices of organizations around the globe.
European Women on Boards
  • Website
  • European Women On Boards
Founded in 2013 EWOB 'directly supports the European Commission in achieving the targets set by the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025' and is committed to help corporations make the change by developing talents and skills of senior businesswomen. EWOB publishes the Gender diversity index.
Generation next: managing talent in finance shared services
  • Website
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
ACCA survey of finance professionals in shared services, looking at the aspirations of young professionals working in global finance shared services today
Global talent trends
  • Website
  • Mercer LLC
HR consultancy Mercer's annual report into the trends affecting employees and the response from employers. The views of 1730 HR leaders and 4500 employees in 17 countries were surveyed. The full report is available to download for free after registration.
Maximising people power: effective talent management in finance
  • Website
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
This report is written by ACCA and KPMG and draws on both organisations' insights and experience. It shows that organisations need to take a holistic approach to talent management, bringing together the goals of the organisation and needs of the individual. It also summarises key trends and gives examples of how companies have gained a competitive advantage through their approach to finance talent management.
Paradigm shift: Building a new talent management model to boost growth
  • Website
  • Ernst & Young
EY report on five key talent management challenges that face companies. Suggests that only a "paradigm shift" - a major shift in thinking and assumptions - can help tackle the global talent shortfall. Proposes a set of strategies to help address these challenges.
Resourcing and talent planning
  • Website
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Factsheets and reports from the CIPD, covering areas such as talent and international talent management, succession planning, employee retention and turnover and international resourcing and selection. Registration required for access to content.
Resourcing and talent planning survey
  • Website
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Report produced by CIPD in partnership with Hays. It is based on responses from 520 UK organisations, examining their resourcing and talent planning strategies and the key challenges and issues they face. Also archive of reports from 2015 and 2013
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