Only 50% of British businesses undertake talent management activities, despite a majority recognising that it has an impact on their bottom line, according to research launched by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) at a series of conferences held in London.

The research found that 38% of companies have a formal talent management strategy and the same percentage have a formal definition of talent management.

The report found that companies have very different definitions of talent management. Paul Turner, professor and executive in residence at Nottingham Business School, told the conference: “There are those [companies] that have an exclusive definition — where only the top performers are seen as talent and treated as such. On the other hand there are companies which have an inclusive definition which sees that everyone has talent.”

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UK firms are lacking effective talent management schemes, prompting concern over the development of British workers and competitiveness of UK business at large.

According to research from Capital Consulting and Cranfield School of Management, less than half of all businesses have implemented dedicated talent development programmes, suggesting that many employers are failing to take full advantage of the employment talent available.

This is despite the fact that 60 per cent of businesses surveyed agree that such talent management is essential for effective business development.

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The Service Research & Innovation Initiative (SRII) today announced that Sun Microsystems, Inc has joined 15 leading technology companies and academic researchers in their mission to increase the amount of funding for services research, development and innovation in the technology industry. Sun Microsystems will serve as an advisory board member for the SRII.

Sun has long been a driving force behind the development of industry standard technologies and practices. The company leverages its research and development for innovation in systems, storage, software and services. However, as customers increase demands for non-traditional services, Sun seeks to collaborate with other industry and academic leaders to determine how to drive service innovation across the industry.

Sun works with many partners to service our customers, and we want to find ways to collaborate in an efficient and impactful way, said Jon Greaves, CTO of Services, Sun Microsystems, Inc. When companies begin connecting partners, customers, vendors and others to deliver new services, security and privacy issues must be considered. Sun is looking to work with the SRII to create best practices around services delivery and innovation across the industry and the globe. We are excited to utilize the collective intelligence of the group to solve those problems.

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The Services Research and Innovation Initiative (SRII) today announced that the organization has created an online community for members and non-members to share ideas, research and opportunities around the topics of services research and innovation in the technology industry. Co-founded by IBM, Oracle, the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA), and the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), SRII was formed to increase the amount of funded service research, development and innovation in the technology industry.

The announcement was made at the organizations first symposium, held in Santa Clara, California, where speakers such as Congressman Mike Honda; Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm; Sophie Vandebroek, president of Xerox Innovation; John Seely Brown, author of The Only Sustainable Edge; and Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president, Technical Strategy and Innovation for IBM, gathered to discuss the challenges of improving technology services.

As the convergence of technologies takes place, complexities increase at both the consumer and enterprise levels, said Tom Pridham, executive director of the SRII. It is time now for the technology industry to invest R&D dollars into services that will make these technologies easier for consumers and enterprises, or we risk losing the opportunities these technologies afford. The SRIINet provides a community for companies, universities, research institutes and governments to use their collective brainpower to address concerns and opportunities around technology services.

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