How successful organizations strategically manage their analytic talent

Purpose Because analytics are increasingly becoming a key source of competitive advantage, attracting, engaging and retaining analytical talent and building an organizations' analytical capability is now a key skill top management needs to learn. This paper aims to investigate this issue. Design/methodology/approach Given that analytics is a relatively new management discipline and that only a few leading companies manage the talent it requires as a strategic resource, the authors collected their best practices. Findings The paper specifies the four main practices that top executives need to follow to create and develop a talent‐powered analytical organization. Research limitations/implications The authors offer anecdotal research on leading companies. Practical implications What distinguishes talent‐powered analytical organizations is their ability to unleash their analysts' talents to maximize and continually expand the company's analytical capabilities. Originality/value By building and aligning the four key talent management capabilities revealed in this paper, organizations can maximize the strategic impact of their analytical talent and continually expand the organization's collective analytical capabilities.