As Peter Drucker wisely said, “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Fair Cultures today is about to unravel key insights on talent management strategies for future-ready workplaces. If you want to ride the wave, and not be crushed by it, you have to read this interview with Soeren Winter, Talent Executive, Board Advisor & Coach.
With a career traversing diverse sectors - from agency and RPO to consulting, E-Commerce, and the cutting-edge realm of Web3 & Blockchain, Soeren brings a multidimensional perspective to talent management that sets him apart in the industry.
As Board Advisor at Chapter 2, former VP Talent at Parity Technologies, Senior TA Director at e-commerce giants Wayfair and Zalando, his expertise spans a wide range of critical areas, including talent strategy consulting, organisational design, executive coaching, and talent technology consulting.
1.Why is it important to align talent strategy with broader business goals? How is this process changing in today’s workplaces and shifting cultures?
Aligning talent strategy with broader business goals is crucial for ensuring that both are optimised to complement and reinforce each other. Without this alignment, organisations risk having their talent strategy work against their business objectives, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. A talent strategy must be purpose-driven and act as a powerful enabler of the business strategy, ensuring that the right people are in place to execute the company’s vision and goals.
As Jim Collins aptly states in his book “Good to Great”: “great vision without great people is irrelevant.”
When talent and business strategies are misaligned, organisations under-utilise their most important asset: their people.
As workplaces and cultures continue to shift, the process of aligning talent and business strategies is evolving. We live in an increasingly globalised world, and businesses must adopt a more holistic perspective, considering diverse and inclusive approaches to talent management. Transparency, particularly in terms of company culture, values, and goals, has become a key priority for today’s workforce, especially for younger generations. Research shows that 88% of millennials believe transparency from employers is critical to building trust (Harvard Business Review 2019). “Millennials Expect Transparency in the Workplace" (HBR), and they highly value open communication.
Additionally, with the ongoing shortage of skilled employees and the need for agility in responding to market changes, it is more important than ever to move quickly and ensure continuous alignment between talent strategy and business goals. For instance, Germany faces a shrinking workforce due to demographic changes, with estimates showing the country could lose up to five million workers by 2030 (German Federal Institute for Population Research (2020) - The Future of the German Workforce. This makes it even more critical for businesses to not only attract but retain skilled talent through well-aligned strategies that support long-term business objectives.
2.What key elements ensure that the talent strategy not only supports but drives business objectives?
I think to ensure that a talent strategy not only supports but drives business objectives, it is essential to start by evaluating the company’s overall business purpose, vision, and strategic roadmap. Understanding why the business exists, what makes it successful today, and how it can remain successful in the future is key to developing a talent strategy that truly adds value. It’s important to truly understand how talent is enabling the business to be better in the long run, this foundational understanding helps ensure that the talent strategy addresses the fundamental needs of the business.
Once the business strategy is clear, the next step is to align the talent strategy with the company’s specific requirements for success. This includes elements such as organisational design, culture, values, leadership behaviours, and the employer value proposition (both existing and aspirational). Importantly, inclusivity should be woven into every part of the strategy, ensuring that the company fosters a diverse and inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and empowered. The Talent Strategy must reflect these key factors and drive alignment in areas like performance culture, total rewards, learning and development, internal mobility, talent acquisition, and talent assessment. You need to create a strategy that aligns all of these elements as otherwise it will create a not engaged workforce, high attrition, etc.
3.What are the most common challenges you face when setting up talent management frameworks in new industries or markets?
The most common challenges are a too limited understanding of and with that approach towards comprehensive talent strategies. Not all talent leaders, nor executives understand the dependencies of different talent strategy elements and see why it is required to consider all of them in alignment with each other. If you approach the above mentioned elements in silos, you get to solutions that are not optimised for the entire employee life-cycle. For example if a company decides to hire many highly talented fresh graduates for their sales team, expects them to grow rapidly and exceed expectations but do not offer learning and development as well as rewards structures that support that kind of talent or an inclusive leadership approach that can allow them to experiment and learn from their mistakes in a constructive way, they will create disengagement, decreasing performance and higher than usual attrition in these teams.
These can get overcome when the Talent Leader helps the business to understand these interdependencies and design a talent strategy that makes the company AND the employees successful.
4.With your unique perspective on the future of work, especially in tech-centric sectors, how do you envision the role of human capital evolving in the next 5-10 years?
I envision the role of human capital evolving significantly due to the rapid and steeply increasing development of artificial intelligence (AI), especially in the next 5-10 years. AI is set to fundamentally reshape the landscape of human capital, automating routine tasks, optimising processes, and providing advanced insights into workforce management. AI will enable humans to focus on higher-value activities such as creative problem-solving, relationship-building, and strategic decision-making, but of course also change many jobs fundamentally. According to the World Economic Forum, “the AI revolution will free humans to deploy their brains on more creative and intellectually fulfilling activities” (World Economic Forum, 2023).
For talent leaders, this shift brings both opportunity and responsibility. They will need to not only embrace AI but also develop a deep understanding of its impact on their specific areas of work. AI-driven tools will increasingly influence hiring practices, talent development, and performance management, offering data-driven insights that enhance decision-making. Talent leaders can leverage AI to build more agile, adaptive and engaged workforces capable of thriving in a constantly changing environment. As noted by Deloitte, 70% of workers are willing to delegate tasks to AI to free up time for more creative work (Deloitte Insights, 2023).
AI will shape workplace cultures, promoting greater transparency, efficiency, and personalisation. Talent leaders must ensure that AI integration aligns with company values, inclusivity, and fosters environments where both human and technological potentials can flourish. By understanding AI’s technological trends and addressing its ethical implications, talent leaders can help create workplaces where people and technology co-create value, focusing on human ingenuity and creativity.
In short, the role of human capital will evolve toward greater synergy between people and technology, with talent leaders ensuring that AI enhances, rather than diminishes, the human aspect of work.
5.What advice would you give to up-and-coming talent leaders who aspire to innovate and lead in today’s workplaces?
My recommendation is to ensure that they don’t solely focus on putting out fires and addressing immediate challenges, although these are undeniably important and differentiate those who execute from those who only talk about solutions. It is equally important to reserve time and mental space to think holistically about what the business truly needs in the long run. Talent leaders must balance tactical problem-solving with strategic vision.
Engage regularly with your stakeholders and employees to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and aspirations, this requires dedicated time and effort. By having these conversations, you’ll be able to design a talent strategy that not only addresses today’s problems but is also impactful for the future of the business. Building relationships with key players at all levels of the organisation will help you identify trends, anticipate challenges, and adjust your approach in a proactive way.
While solving immediate problems is critical and requires diligent execution, make sure you consistently step back to reflect on the bigger picture. Successful talent leaders understand that their role is not just to react to challenges but to actively shape the environment in which people thrive in today and in the future. Investing in people development, fostering inclusivity, and promoting a culture of continuous learning and adaptability will drive innovation and set the company up for future success.
Lastly, always keep an eye on the evolving landscape of work, particularly the impact of technology such as AI and automation, and consider how these trends can be leveraged to enhance your talent strategy. Talent leaders who embrace these innovations will be well-positioned to lead organisations that are agile and future-ready.
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