TALENT MANAGEMENT

 

Ø  Introduction to Talent Management

Talent management seeks “to attract, identify, develop, engage, retain and deploy individuals” who are considered particularly valuable to an organization.

To be effective, it needs to align with business goals and strategic objectives. By managing talent strategically, organizations can build a high-performance workplace, foster a learning climate in the organization, add value to their employer brand, and improve diversity management.

There are many definitions of the term ‘talent’ and organizations may prefer to use their own interpretations. That said, it’s helpful to start with a broad definition and, from our research, we’ve developed a working definition for both ‘talent’ and ‘talent management’:

·     Talent refers to individuals who can make a significant difference to organizational performance. This may be through their immediate contribution or, in the longer-term, by reaching their highest levels of potential.

·     Talent management is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention, and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organization. This may be through their high potential or because they fulfil critical roles.

 

Ø  Benefits of Talent management

A tailor-made, organization-wide talent management strategy provides a focus for investment in people and puts managing talent high on the corporate agenda. It can also contribute to other strategic objectives, including:

o   Creating meaningful work and growth opportunities for staff.

o   Building a high-performance workplace.

o   Contributing to inclusion and diversity.

o   Encouraging continuous learning.

o   Adding value to the ‘employee value proposition ‘.

o   Accessing people analytics for better business decision making.

o   Increasing productivity.

 

Ø  Features of talent management strategy

A clear organization-wide strategy will allow the talent management strategy to align closely with business objectives.

The workforce plan will help focus and priorities talent management activities and typically include:

• Recruitment (talent acquisition).
• Building talent 'pools'.
• Succession planning.
• Life-long learning.
• Leadership development.
• Career management.
• Deployment.
• Performance management.
• Employee engagement.
• Employee retention.

Lastly, but often forgotten, it’s important to analyses the return on investment – evaluating the results of the talent management process in terms of business outputs, succession pools, staff turnover and productivity, compared with its costs.

v Inclusive versus exclusive approaches

Some organizations use an exclusive focus, in which talent management focuses specifically on key or high-potential individuals. Recently, organizations have been adopting a more inclusive approach through a ‘whole workforce’ focus. Often, a blended approach is used in practice, by working to engage and develop all employees, while focusing on a particular core group or groups of employees.

Regardless of the approach, it’s crucial to be fair and consistent in all talent management processes. For example, not ‘joining-up’ talent management programs with diversity policies and activities can mean an organization fails to benefit from accessing and developing talent from the widest possible pool.

v Involving the right people

It’s important to include the right stakeholders in developing the talent management strategy and associated activities. Senior leaders and managers need to be actively involved in the whole process and make it a top priority.

v Participants

Selecting participants for formal talent schemes (sometimes referred to as leadership programs) is key. Our research shows that structured selection processes increase the perceived value of talent programs and participants’ motivation to perform. For those not selected, the negative effects of being ‘passed over’ are not as harmful as might be feared, particularly if individuals are given sensitive, practical feedback and opportunities for ongoing strengths-based personal development.

Sometimes participants express frustration that the career development opportunities they expect do not come immediately. It’s therefore important to set the right expectations and once candidates have completed a talent program, it's important the maintain an ongoing dialogue, for example through ongoing networking opportunities or more structured meetings.

v Managers

Visible senior-level support is a must. A ‘talent panel’ is a useful way to keep directors and senior management involved, especially when it has representatives from across the organization. Line managers are responsible for managing individuals’ performance and for identifying and developing talent in their own areas, but they should also be encouraged to see talent as organization-wide rather than a local resource.

v People teams

People professionals have an important role to play in providing guidance and support when designing and developing approaches to talent management that fits the organization’s needs. HR is also perceived as playing a critical role in facilitating talent pools and programs and in maintaining their momentum.

If organizations choose to implement formal selection processes for talent pools, HR teams also have a major role in ensuring the selection criteria are applied consistently. They should also make sure there’s a learning strategy for those not accepted onto a program.

Further readings

CAMPBELL, V. and HIRSH, W. (2014) Talent management: a four-step approach. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.

COLLINGS, D.G., MELLAHI, K. and CASCIO, W.F. (eds.) (2019) The Oxford handbook of talent management. Oxford: OUP

TAYLOR, S. (2021) Resourcing and talent management: the theory and practice of recruiting and developing a workforce. 8th ed. London: CIPD Kogan Page.

TURNER, P. and KALMAN, D. (2014) Make your people before you make your products: using talent management to achieve competitive advantage in global organizations. Chichester: Wiley.