Before any organisation decides to outsource recruitment to an external specialist, shouldn’t it be crystal clear about what they want that specialist to do? After all, even the best outsourcing partner can only be as good as the brief they are given, But in a world where change seems to accelerate with every passing day, how does a business determine what sort of talent it should be seeking to acquire, not just for today, but for an increasingly puzzling future?

Over recent months Ochre House has been benchmarking a range of major companies, as well as a targeted selection of fast growing SMEs to measure their talent management strategies. And the one of the most worrying findings of the research has been the fact that very few have any real concept of what skills and capabilities their employees will need in five years time, let alone how feasible it is to source such skills in the current marketplace.

Fortunately there are a few businesses taking the idea of strategic workforce planning seriously and providing a template for any others that might care to follow their lead. One of the most striking examples is Arcelor Mittal, the world’s leading steel company. Here HR is one of only two functions that report directly into the chairman and CEO, Lakshmi Mittal and is tasked with maintaining a rolling plan which identifies what capabilities the company will require over the next three and five years and how to access them.

It’s an expensive and time consuming enterprise, but it allows the organisation to achieve something that is really quite remarkable – a prediction of what the future might look like and how the business can take best advantage of it. But that has only come about because the people at the very top have recognised just how vital this is and have been willing to invest the necessary time, resources and cash to make it a reality.

This, in my opinion, is the key. HR professionals cannot create the all-important alignment of commercial and talent strategies on their own. Commitment from the boardroom is essential. But only by clarifying the target that an outsourcing partner will be trying to hit can a business get best value from the outsourcing decision.

Helena Parry is a director at recruitment outsourcing and talent management specialist, Ochre House.