CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwire) -- 01/25/13 -- Research from SilkRoad, a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software, reveals that HR professionals are rising to the challenge of a rapidly changing workforce by leveraging new technology in talent management. Released today, SilkRoad's "The State of Talent Management 2013" report surveyed 5,753 HR professionals in North America to reveal the top trends and opportunities in talent management, including wide adoption of cloud-based HRMS, at 46 percent. A copy of the full report can be found at the following link: http://www.silkroad.com/Resources/eBooks/research.html

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"HR practitioners are more agile than ever before, adopting a new mindset and capabilities in the face of ever-evolving market forces and external events," said Flip Filipowski, Co-Chief Executive Officer at SilkRoad. "Just as 2012 brought wide-spread adoption of talent management technologies by HR professionals, 2013 is the year to break the silos that have long-prevented organizations from leveraging their talent as a strategic business asset."

Talent management is becoming even more "social" as a mobile-enabled, "virtual" workforce drives demand for cloud-based HR solutions.

• Employees reported using social media at work to "connect with co-workers" (49 percent) and "connect with customers" (44 percent).
• HR professionals reported using -- or anticipated they would use -- social media for "recruiting and hiring" (64 percent) and "learning and development" (54 percent).

The "cloud" is more than just a fad, but talent management remains siloed by partially-automated HRMS.

• While 20 percent of respondents reported having partially cloud-based HRMS, 26 percent reported having purely cloud-based HRMS. However, in-house HRMS are still the most prevalent at 35 percent.
• While the majority of respondents reported a partially-automated HRMS (56 percent); integrations were more likely to include "core" HR functions like payroll systems (77 percent) and benefits (63 percent), than strategic functions like performance (36 percent), onboarding (24 percent) and learning (20 percent).

Compliance reporting for learning is the "Achilles heel" of most organizations.

• Less than half (47 percent) of organizations described themselves as audit-ready, while 23 percent felt that preparation for a learning compliance audit could take up to three weeks. Nine percent said the audit process "made them want to quit."

• While 42 percent of organizations assign compliance training automatically, the majority (59 percent) are still assigning manually. Moreover, 29 percent said they use in-house developed learning management systems, while 27 percent used no learning management systems at all.

Half of organizations have yet to automate transition management.

• A full 50 percent of respondents had not yet automated transition management for employees.
• Of those that had, 44 percent reported using automated software for onboarding new employees, while less than one third reported using it to manage internal transitions.

Nearly half of organizations have explicit employee engagement programs, but a majority of those programs are still missing pieces.

• Only 21 percent of organizations conduct mid-year pulse surveys and 16 percent use social technology to measure engagement. Most still measure engagement using annual employee surveys (58 percent) or regularly scheduled "town hall meetings" (48 percent).
• While 54 percent of respondents saw "trust in management" as the top driver of employee engagement, most rated their C-Suite as either "committed" (34 percent) or "somewhat committed" (27 percent) to the cause.

The State of Talent Management 2013 report incorporated eight surveys on topics ranging from social media and technology, employee engagement, and beyond onboarding, to recruitment metrics, learning and compliance as well as HRMS. Surveys were conducted by SilkRoad from January 2012 through October 2012 using Web-based tools that were targeted toward talent management professionals. Of the 5,753 professional respondents, 45 percent worked at companies with more than 1,000 employees.

About SilkRoad
SilkRoad is a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software. Their passion for creating the finest employee experience drives everything they do. The award-winning SilkRoad Life Suite is an integrated set of employer-branded TM/HCM solutions that power businesses with the latest Web 2.0 and social media innovations: OpenHire® for recruiting, RedCarpet® for onboarding and life events, WingSpan® for performance management, GreenLight® for learning management, Point™ and Eprise for Social Collaboration and Content, and HeartBeat® for trusted HRMS. The Life Suite is ideally suited for businesses of every size because of its unique and open "start anywhere" architecture -- implement the complete suite or begin with one solution and add functionality as you need it. Either way, it's the fastest path to develop more productive and empowered employees who can rapidly boost business performance. Visit www.silkroad.com, follow them on Twitter @SilkRoadTweets or call 866-329-3363 (U.S. toll free) or +1-336-201-5100.