WHAT IS TALENT MANAGEMENT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

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Table of Contents

Introduction Con formato: Espacio Después: 0 pto, Interlineado:

Doble
Where To From Here?

Transitioning

Retaining

Developing

Attracting

Planning

Talent management model

Some Of The Top Reasons To Invest In Talent Management

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Introduction to Talent Management

You might have heard of the term talent management and possibly wondered if it is
just another word for human resource management. Some view ‘talent’ as
employees who are top performers or those with high potential, while others view
talent as everyone in an organisation. The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development, UK) goes on to define ‘talent management’ as,

“…Systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and

deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation,
either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling
business/operation-critical roles.”

Human resource management would ideally include talent management, however,

some organisations have human resource departments, which are highly
transactional, instead of also being strategic and transformational. This means that
organisations might be meeting immediate needs, however, are not allocating time
to strategically predicting what their people needs will be in the future. Ultimately,
talent management consultants exist so that organisations can more effectively
address their goals and business needs in order to improve business performance
in the long run. A talent management plan will enable your business strategy
through your people.

Some Of The Top Reasons To Invest In Talent Management

Now that we have set a definition of what talent management is, below are some of
the top reasons why talent management is important and why your organisation
needs to invest in it. Employee motivation: create more reasons for employees to
be attracted to the organisation, such as a higher purpose or meaning for
employees. 91% of employees surveyed by Chandler and Macleod said that they
wanted more than just money to feel engaged and motivated.

Attract top talent: Recruit the most talented and skilled employees available. When
you have strategic talent management, you are able to create an employer brand,
which organically attracts your ideal talent, and in turn, contributes to higher levels
of business performance and results.
Continuous coverage of critical roles: an organisation will be prepared for gaps in
critical skills and have a plan to address the critical roles and highly specialised
roles in the workforce. This means that an organisation will have a continuous flow
of employees to fill critical roles, which ensures operations run smoothly and your
clients and stakeholders are satisfied. It also means that other employees are not
left with extra workloads, which could eventually lead to burnout.
Increase employee performance: It is easier to identify ‘good fit’ employees, rather
than making decisions in recruitment which do not work towards the ideal
organisational strategy. This can lead to less performance management issues
and grievances. It will also ensure that the top talent within the organisation stays
longer.
Engaged employees: an organisation can make systematic and consistent
decisions about the development of staff, ensuring that the people you require it
have the skills and development necessary and saving money on unnecessary
development. Additionally, when there is a fair process for development,
employees feel more engaged and this again increases retention rates and also
ensures that the organisation can meet its operational requirements.
Retain top talent: well-structured onboarding practices create 69% higher levels of
retention. This means that an organisation saves on recruitment and performance
management costs in the long run.
Improve business performance: when employees are engaged, skilled and
motivated, they will work towards your business goals, which in turn increases
client satisfaction and business performance.
Higher client satisfaction: a systematic approach to talent management means that
there is organisational wide integration and a consistent approach to management.
This, in turn, translates to general communication and dissolving of silos within the
business. When systems are more integrated, client satisfaction rates are usually
higher, since they are dealing with fewer people and their needs are met faster.

“Successful organisations like Apple and Google, renowned for a strong company
culture and ideology, attract a workforce that doesn’t just work for a paycheque.
Employees share the same beliefs and motivations and therefore invest more of
themselves in achieving great results and contributing to the overall business
success”.
Talent Management: The next wave, Chandler and Macleod.

Talent Management Model

Talent management can include; talent acquisition (and recruitment), learning and
development, organisational values and vision, performance management, career
pathways and succession planning. While there are many talent management
models, the elements of talent management can generally be categorised into five
areas; planning, attracting, developing, retaining and transitioning.
 Figure 1. Talent Management Model

Planning

The planning stage of talent management is comprised of 3 key areas.

1. Understanding the organisational/business strategy

2. Evaluation and measurement/analytics
3. Developing a Workforce Plan

With any talent management approach, it is critical to be aligned with the broader
organisational strategy. The environment surrounding the organisation is also
taken into account when assessing the organisational strategy. Prior to
developing the workforce plan, an evaluation of previous initiatives, an assessment
of the workforce profile and talent performance and the behaviours to date, are Código de campo cambiado

carried out. A workforce plan is then developed based on the current workforce
situation and the future desired state. The workforce plan ensures that the right
people, at the right time and with the right skills are employed and working towards
the strategy. In other words, the workforce plan translates business strategy into
organisational talent needs. Some of the areas, which are assessed in order to
develop a workforce plan include:
 Figure 2. Developing a Workforce Plan for Talent Management

The planning stage addresses needs across the organisation and is proactive,
rather than reactive to ad hoc needs or the needs of only a few leaders or teams
and divisions. The plan enables the organisation to become more integrated, rather
than work in silos and to best use the resources available to it, including its
employees. Once the initial assessment or analysis is carried out, then; the talent
required is identified, the timeline in which the organisation requires the talent and
in what capacity (permanent, contractor, casual and so on). This is where
forecasting talent needs for the future commence.

At this point, an assessment can be carried out if the talent is recruited externally
for future needs, or developed from within, and whether or not there is enough
talent internally and with the right skills to step into future or higher-level
roles. Developing a workforce plan is a continuous process, once the initial plan
has been developed it is revisited when there are major changes affecting the
organisation. Below is a sample of a portion of your workforce plan; identifying the
roles required currently and in the future.

Figure 3. Current and Future Roles- Workforce Plan

Having a workforce plan means that an organisation can be prepared for changes
within the organisation and that it is well prepared and resourced. For example, if
an organisation has several highly specialised roles, which are difficult to recruit
for, a workforce plan will document the need for the organisation to develop talent
internally for such roles (once the current talent leaves the role). Without a
workforce plan, critical and highly specialised roles may go unnoticed and therefore
unfilled for 6 months or longer, thus affecting business performance.

Case Example

A major hospital in the United States was concerned that employees would leave
once a new hospital being built nearby opened its doors. It commenced workforce
planning and identifying its critical roles. After extensive analysis, the hospital
identified that employees were satisfied with the hospital as an employer and
retention rates were close to 90%, which meant that it didn’t need to take as much
action to retain staff once the new hospital opened. (Case study was taken from
Strategic Workforce Planning report, by The Conference Board, 2006.) Workforce
planning can, therefore, be an approach to assess what is really going on in an
organisation rather than basing decisions on assumptions. It can also support an
organisation to respond to external drivers and influences, rather than reacting.

Attracting

Attracting Involves:

1. Employee Value Proposition

2. Marketing
3. Talent acquisition
4. Consultants/Freelancers
Organisations that understand what their value is to potential employees, will often
develop an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). The EVP articulates to employees
a realistic, yet aspirational statement of the value the organisation can offer to an
employee. An example EVP from Hubspot is: “We're building a company people
love. A company that will stand the test of time. So we invest in our people, and
optimize for your long-term happiness”. The EVP forms part of the marketing to
then attract the type of talent the organisation seeks to find. A general approach
used to develop an EVP, is to:
 Figure 4. Development of an EVP

Depending on the workforce plan and how much talent an organisation needs to
attract, the marketing strategy is developed. This might be as simple as an online
notice of positions available, to hosting a stall at career or school fairs. The EVP
forms part of the marketing strategy, as does the general brand of the organisation.
Consider Apple again, many candidates apply to work for Apple because of the
brand and its products. Google as we had mentioned, is well known for its
workplace culture in addition to being a popular brand, this makes attracting
suitable candidates easier since talent will mostly seek out opportunities to work
there, rather than need to be headhunted or for the organisation to excessively
invest resources to attract candidates. The more transparent marketing and the
EVP is, the more likely an organisation’s retention rates will be higher. Talent
acquisition also forms part of the attracting element of talent management, and it is
generally recruitment, which is carried out strategically. Rather than asking, “Is
this person a good fit for this role?” an organisation would ask, “Is this person not
only a good fit for this role, but also for the company as a whole, and for future
roles they may inhabit?” – JP Medved, Capterra. Since the workforce plan
identifies talent acquisition requirements, it is already clear if recruitment will be
focusing on external or internal applicants. This would also include whether or not
an organisation chooses freelancers or consultants rather than employees for
some projects or roles. Attraction is often the first point of contact a potential
employee will have with an organisation, the impression that they have as a
candidate will influence their experience of the organisation as an employer and
possibly guide their decision to take potential job opportunities presented to them,
or remain with the organisation. It is critical in attracting to provide a realistic
overview of the organisation, and at the same time highlight potential and
articulates through communication and the processes, which a candidate is taken
through, that the organisation has something of value to offer to a candidate.
Developing

Developing Involves:
Onboarding
Performance Appraisals/Management
Learning and Development
Capability frameworks
Career pathways

Employees in a well-structured onboarding program are 69% more likely to remain

with an organisation after three years. In particular, the first three months of
employment are critical to determining if an employee will remain with an
organisation and if they will be engaged and productive while they are employed.
This means that it is critical to create the best possible transition into the workplace
and to clearly communicate business vision, culture and role accountabilities as
soon as possible to new employees. The structure of an onboarding program
depends again on the talent needs identified in the workforce plan. An example of
this is using a tiered approach: a basic on-boarding program for all employees and
an additional one specifically for leaders or managers.

Performance management processes are critical to realigning talent with the job
requirements, culture and overall strategy of an organisation. Typically
performance appraisals are carried out annually, however, an organisation
depending on their culture and needs could have more casual discussions on a bi-
monthly or quarterly basis. Performance appraisals are conducive to clarifying
expectations and also initiating and formalising development opportunities.
Development of talent can include; leadership development, emerging leaders,
technical development, team building or team development days, secondments,
project work and on the job development. Depending on how an organisation
chooses to define ‘talent’ they may focus some initiatives purely on employees who
are high performing and with high potential, or they may include all employees.
Either way, part of the talent management process would ideally include
processes, which are inclusive and fair, rather than meeting one need and as a
result, isolating a large group within the organisation.

One approach might be to focus development on critical roles, high performers and
high potentials, and at the same time create clear pathways for all employees to
have other opportunities to develop based on their situation and the organisational
needs. An organisation or leaders within it may also make networking
opportunities available to employees or ‘talent’ as a form of development. A few
areas that some organisations consider when identifying talent is included in the
table below.
 Figure 5: Typical traits of performance versus potential, by Kyle Lagunas

Larger organisations will often develop capability frameworks in order to identify

what capabilities roles require and what is expected of employees at a basic,
intermediate and expert level. This then guides the development initiatives for an
employee. A capability framework can start to develop talent for succession
planning; it supports the retention of employees and can also provide measures for
performance. It also makes expectations clear to employees, articulate areas of
development required to move into certain roles they may be interested in, and it
makes the process of development and selection fairer and objective. Below is an
example of a Capability Framework.
 Figure 6. Sample Capability Framework

Career pathways within an organisation, identify roles that talent could potentially
step into once they have had the necessary development. This is a form of
succession planning and an incentive for talent to remain within an organisation,
knowing that there are clear steps in the direction that they aspire to.
Development of talent increases business performance, it contributes to an
organisation’s continuous improvement and ability to meet changing requirements,
and it can also support innovation and retention.

Retaining
Retaining Involves:

Culture
Remuneration strategy
Retaining talent includes aspects of Developing, which we have already discussed,
and it also involves the intentional culture that is set by an organisation and its
remuneration strategy. Culture is made of many elements, it involves the talent
acquisition process and the experience employees have when they first commence
their employment, to when they start working on projects and are introduced to
people across the organisation. Role accountabilities, communication, and
perception of being valued by the organisation all help to form the culture, and of
most importance, the leadership team plays an integral part in culture, through
setting the norms of what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour. Culture is a
continuous commitment and can be changed over time. This then ties into how
attractive an organisation is to potential candidates, and retention rates of current
employees as well as to how well the organisation's clients are dealt with and
therefore business performance overall.
Talent Management Deserves Focus

Some of the elements that can be taken into consideration when evaluating the
culture of an organisation are displayed in the model below.

Talent Management Paradigm Graph

Transitioning

Transitioning Involves:

Succession planning
Internal mobility
Retirement
Knowledge management
Exit interviews
 Succession planning is part of the workforce plan and can take place prior to
talent acquisition, however, it can also be done when there have been unexpected
changes in the workforce. Succession planning is a proactive measure and takes
into account the amount of time required to develop talent for a particular role, or to
bring someone in externally. It will usually involve the assumption that a particular
role will become vacant within the next few years, either because of retirement, the
nature of the role having high turnover, or it being a stepping stone type of role.
Succession planning can also take into account internal movements or mobility or
may plan for such mobility if identified as the most appropriate solution. In order to
keep talent within the organisation, it must have a strategy and processes in place,
which allows for internal mobility. Development, remuneration and culture could
serve as incentives for retention if an organisation is too small for such
opportunities. During the analysis of the workforce profile, if an ageing workforce
is identified, appropriate measures would be put in place to plan ahead for the
retirement of such talent. This could be in the form of transition contracts, such as
working part-time for several years or taking on different responsibilities for health
reasons (if required). Again, having this knowledge in advance to talent retiring
means that as an employer, an organisation can be proactive and plan ahead for
gaps in critical roles that will become available and can also support their
employees in planning ahead for their future. Understanding where there will be
gaps in critical roles and when is necessary for best practice knowledge
management. Often employees may leave with a limited notice period, taking with
them implicit and explicit knowledge. Implicit knowledge being the harder of the two
to obtain from other employees, means that there is information about the
organisation, which is unable to be sourced from anywhere. “As the Baby Boom
generation of corporate leaders and experts approaches retirement, businesses in
the U.S., Canada and many European nations face the loss of experience and
knowledge on an unprecedented scale,”…“Younger workers can’t be counted on to
fill the void, as they lack the experience that builds deep expertise. They also tend
to change jobs frequently, taking their technological savvy and any knowledge
they’ve gained with them.” - Diane Piktialis, The Conference Board Lack of a
knowledge management plan can result in a significant drain of business wisdom
that decreases innovation, lowers growth capacity, and reduces efficiency in the
organisation. Having a plan ahead of time, and a reasonable idea of employees
who will be transitioning, for various reasons, allows an organisation to implement
a knowledge transfer plan prior to an employee’s transition elsewhere and retain
valuable information.

“ASHEN is a way to ask a meaningful question in the context of mapping the

knowledge assets of an organisation”.

– David Snowden.

Below is the ASHEN approach to gathering the data required to manage

knowledge transfer within an organisation.

Figure 8. ASHEN Model, by David Snowden

An exit process is a great way of collecting data and feedback from talent as to
what they would strengthen as far as culture, processes and anything else they
wish to comment on. It is an opportunity to gather information on how to
continuously improve the organisation. Some talent may consider returning to an
organisation, and the exit interview and process is an additional way of letting the
employee know that you value their feedback and opinion, thus creating a
relationship which makes it easier for top talent to return.

Where To From Here?

After reading some of the major benefits of talent management, you may wish to
go through the list of top reasons to invest in it and identify if there are areas you
wish to strengthen within your business. Once you have done this, you might also
review the various elements of talent management, and assess which you could
implement. Below are two checklists, to help you get started on your talent
management journey, or continuously improve initiatives you already have in place.

Checklist - Top reasons to invest in talent management

Does my organisation need to:

Increase employee motivation

Attract top talent
Continuously cover critical roles
Increase employee performance
Enhance employee engagement
Retain top talent
Improve business performance

Fuente:
Mona Momtazian
https://expert360.com/resources/articles/talent-management-important#3