It's the question all businesses and nonprofits ask: What's the best way to attract Talent to the organization? One school of thought is that high-quality candidates will continue to flock to you as long as the service offered is good enough.

While this is certainly one thing that drives talent, a report compiled by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) indicates it's far from the biggest factor.

Distributed at the AICPA Not-for-Profit Industry Conference, “Talent Pipeline Draining Growth” offered several findings about human capital and the management of it. The findings:

• Inadequacies in talent management are hurting the competitiveness and financial performance of firms. Growth prospects are blighted by failure to make most of human capital.
• There is disagreement and disconnect at the C-level (most senior leaders) for talent and development, particularly in relation to succession planning and training and development investments. CEOs and CFOs differ from human resource directors in their perceptions.
• The majority of companies do not seem to be paying adequate attention to succession planning. Only a third of respondents see talent management embedded in business strategy.
• Many of the talent-management tools employed by organizations are ineffective. Performance-based bonuses and personal development programs are rated as effective by just a third of respondents.
• There is a lack of clarity on who has the responsibility for measuring the effectiveness of talent management. Again, CEOs and CFOs see it differently from HR directors.
• Business leaders are concerned about the quality of data and analytics they receive on human capital. Data need to be translated into actionable insights.