A Complete Guide on Talent Management!

Right off the bat, talent management sounds like another human resource term that reinvents something obvious by giving it a fancy name.

We don’t think so!

Talent management refers to the efficient hiring, retaining, and developing of top talents available in the industry. We believe that the greatest asset of a company is its talented employees.

Companies are always at the risk of losing their high-performing talents. This makes talent management that much more critical.

Ultimately companies can effectively address their human capital management and development, which stems from overall business development.

Listen to our podcast on: Developing Talent In Your Organization

Why Talent Management?

"The key is to develop and promote insiders who are highly capable of stimulatiing healthy change and progress, while preserving the core." - Jim Collins

Now that we have a fair idea of the definition, let’s look at why it is so important.

1. Attracting talented employees

In today’s marketplace, there is a great war for talent. To win the war, you need to stand out from the crowd. Investing in talent management helps you create a superior employer brand. A strong employer brand organically attracts top talents.

2. Filling gaps in the workforce

Whatever the size or age of your business, one thing is sure to happen - Attrition. Investing in Talent Management will ensure that you identify the gaps in the critical areas of your workforce. Identifying gaps ensures a continuous flow of talented employees to fill the gaps.

A complete workforce ensures a smooth flow of operations and saves your employees from burnout due to gaps in the workforce.

3. Engaged WorkForce

When HRs were asked about the most important benefits of talent management, the engaged workforce was on top.

An effective talent management strategy involves steps for employee engagement. Employee engagement not only helps to create a productive workforce but also promotes development.

This pillar includes everything from the onboarding of the employee to monitoring the satisfaction of the employee. It allows HRs and managers to finetune strategies that work towards the development and satisfaction of employees.

4. Retain Employees

If having an engaged workforce is the numero uno benefit, then employee retention is the next in line. There is no use in hiring talent only to see them leave after some time, right?

It’s worse if he ends up working for your competitor!

Research has shown that companies investing in TM end up having 69% less attrition than those who don’t. These companies can motivate and retain their employees better than others.

Low attrition rates mean that you end up saving resources and time on recruitment.

5. Effective Business Strategy and Client Satisfaction

Skilled, engaged, and motivated employees contribute towards an effective and productive workforce. An efficient work environment results in the optimization of your business strategy.

Optimization finally leads to superior services and products in the output, which leads to increased client satisfaction.

Also, an optimized business strategy refines and simplifies the structures of a company which leads to the reduction of confusion. Also, having an integrated and structured organization meets the clients' needs faster as contact points are reduced.

Talent Management Processes

"Develop talent for tomorrow, rather than just hire for yesterday." ― Pearl Zhu

Now that we have gone through why talent management is crucial, your company should consider developing a TM model.

While there are various models available when can broadly categorize them into five components-

• Planning.

• Attracting.

• Selecting.

• Developing.

• Retaining.

Let's look into these in detail.

1. Planning

Probably the first step in any model. Proper planning sets the stage for the ultimate optimization of your model. Usually, planning involves the following steps-

• Understanding the business strategy.

• Identifying the gaps in the workforce.

• Developing the appropriate job description.

• Creating a plan for recruitment.

Before developing any workforce plan, a prior assessment of previous initiatives should be done. Any unsuccessful attempt in the last stint should be avoided.

The planning stage ensures the workforce to be integrated rather than segmented. A well-oiled integrated workforce ensures proper communication to the recruitment team regarding the kind of talent required. In an integrated workforce, other departments can also provide inputs regarding the kind of talents needed.

Also, having a plan ensures that the company is prepared for any changes with resources and time.

2. Attracting Top Talents

There is no use in identifying the gaps and developing a plan if you cannot attract top talents. There are a few key areas you need to look at when we talk about attracting.

• Employee Engagement- It's important that you invest in employee engagement. This creates a positive employer brand and improves employee retention, increases productivity, and improves business. Also, if your employees are happy and satisfied, they tend to act as your brand ambassador.

• Employer branding- We believe that the future of branding is personal. A message shared by an employee gets far more engagement than when the company shares it. And people are more attracted towards the opinions of employees. So positive reviews on sites like Glassdoor and indeed gets precedent over your employer value proposition. Of course, you also need to invest in your employer brand.

  • 50% of people don’t want to work for a company with a poor employer brand.

  • 90 % of job seekers apply for a company with a strong employer brand.

  • 67% of employees don’t mind a pay cut when working for a good employer brand.

  • A good employer brand provides authenticity and credibility to your work culture.

• The pool of top talents- At last, your recruitment campaign must reach the intended audience. Make sure your job listings are made available on all the job portals.

On top of that, make sure your application process is simple and seamless. 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of an application process due to its complexity. Your work doesn’t end here. Make sure your career page is optimized and simple.

3. Selecting Talented Employees

This is a crucial stage in the talent management strategy. Your selection procedure is the key to how well your new talent will perform.

There are various channels through which you can select the right candidate.
You can conduct group exercises, personal interviews, or even a written test.
But you should be wary about what kind of selection procedure you invest in. You don’t want to conduct an aptitude test for a sales position. Similarly, you should not test the leadership skills of a very independent and technical position.

Selecting the right candidates will not only optimize your business strategy but also keeps your employees satisfied.

Recommended Resource: Talent Acquisition: Process and Best Practices.

4. Learning And Development

According to a survey conducted in 2018, 94% of talents prefer companies that provide scope for professional training and development.

Every dollar invested in employee learning and development returns $30 in productivity.

You must take appropriate steps to enhance the skills and proficiency of your employees. This gives your employees satisfaction that they are progressing in their career paths.

To get an idea of how to go about it, this list should make some sense.

• Identifying your company goals- The first step should be to identify what values and goals your company strives for. It is important because this needs to be considered a base while considering the options for development programs.

• Identifying the gaps in the skillsets of your employees- Then comes identifying the gaps in the skillsets of your workforce, which act as a hindrance towards your goals.

• Professional training to bridge the gaps in the skillsets- And finally bridging those gaps with the help of appropriate training programs. An atmosphere of learning and development increases employee retention. It develops a culture where your company is more adaptive to changes.

5. Motivate And Retain

Employee retention is a crucial part of any company. The good news is that you don’t need to do anything much if you have already invested in the previous options.

On top of following all the practices mentioned above, you need to improve accountability, communication, and the perception that the company values employees. This develops a superior work culture where employee retention is improved.

Most importantly, you need to take into account your middle managers. Good managers promote positivity in the workplace, which is reflected in your employees. Good leaders set the norm of what is acceptable in the workplace, which leads to superior work culture.

Talent Management Strategy

A company that can leverage resources and manage talents across a broad array of opportunities may have an efficiency advantage over firms that cannot. - Gary Hamel

Talent management is a strategy that needs to be on point with correct implementation, regular improvements, and periodic checks. Below are the pillar strategies that form up talent management.

1. Accurate Job Descriptions

The management must provide accurate job descriptions to the newly acquired talent. No matter how skilled or knowledgeable the candidate is, if they are not provided with the necessary information about their job, they will likely struggle in the long term.

To minimize situations like that, guide them and let them know what is expected of them. Hand out their goals and set a milestone so that the candidate can target them and work around them. And yes, do not forget the accessibility of tools that will help them in achieving their targets.

2. Consider the Work Culture

With the modernization of the corporate world, organizations are seeing a shift in their work culture. Employees are now more attracted to the employee-centric culture and driven to provide a flexible work environment and all the necessary benefits.

Consider bringing in the cultural changes gradually and slowly to attract top talents. Moreover, keep in mind that the talent will fit in with the culture and get along with everyone in the organization. It is crucial to keep these things in mind so that the workflow in the organization remains intact and hassle-free.

3. Encourage Collaboration

Talents with exceptional skills and competencies are an asset to the organization. They are enthusiastic as well as innovative with their out-of-the-box thinking. However, never underestimate the power of the experience that your long-term employees bring with them.

When enthusiasm and innovative thinking are combined with experience, it can work wonders for the management. That is why practice collaboration in the workplace so that talented individuals can work together with experienced employees and bring efficiency to the organization.

4. Recognition on point

An important part of the talent management process is recognition. It has been the key to increased employee productivity and improved engagement levels. Furthermore, studies have shown that rewarding and recognizing employees have been pivotal to motivate, encourage and manage employees.

Rewards and recognition programs have provided organizations with an excellent opportunity to showcase that they care for their employees and respect them for being such a crucial part.

Recommended Resource: The Ultimate Guide To Employee Rewards and Recognition.

Finally

In today’s industry, talent management is a very effective tool for developing your company’s growth. Usually, companies with talent management will see an increase in employee turnover.

Competition is increasing for talented employees, so it's of utmost importance that you get on the talent management bandwagon. And Fast!

This article is written by Iftekar Ahmed. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. When he is not playing guitar or solving puzzles, he is often seen fussing over foods he can't eat because he is on a perennial dieting spree. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com