Holistic Approach to Talent Management

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer

Introduction

Talent Management is a set of integrated organizational HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees. The goal of talent management is to create a high-performance, sustainable organization that meets its strategic and operational goals and objectives. In the current environment, know-how, innovation and experience constitute the main advantages that organizations can have over their competitors. The most talented employees drive these advantages and therefore attracting, developing and retaining talent is fundamental to a company for remaining ahead of its competition.

What is the Issue?

According to a global survey of HR professionals by KPMG, War for talent – Time to Change Direction, addressing skills shortages is a higher priority than it was two years ago and will become critical in the next two years as globalization and competitive pressures take hold and improving economic conditions prompt employees to look for new jobs. The Key insights of the survey are as under:

• Skills shortages are set to increase as globalization and competitive pressures take hold across sectors and industries and improving economic conditions spur employees to seek new jobs.
• Two-thirds of survey respondents say it is more important to address the talent needs of all employees, in the context of the business and its strategy.
  
• Just over half agree or strongly agree that pursuing high potential talent at the team’s expense puts the business at risk.
  

In the changed scenario whether the existing approach of HR, which focuses on high performers, will still be effective?
In a recent global survey of People and Change practitioners from across the global network of KPMG member firms worldwide, most respondents agreed the answer is no. There is a new war for talent, and this war is different than in the past. The report author Robert Bolton points out there is little evidence that focusing on high performers, a strategy that has become deeply entrenched for many companies since the 2001 publication of The War for Talent, actually contributes to business performance.

Analysis of more than 100 adopters of typical “war for talent” practices, carried out last year by AM Azure Consulting, shows only 25 per cent could be said to be performing well in their marketplace and a third have disappeared entirely. “In 2001, the focus was on attracting and retaining ‘high potential’ and ‘high performing’ employees,” said Bolton, co-leader of KPMG’s Global HR Centre of Excellence. “In 2014, however, 66 per cent of respondents [to their survey] are telling us it’s much more important for organizations to have a holistic approach to talent management that addresses the needs of all employees as well as those in critical roles.”

What More?

The most common causes of talent and skills shortages given are generational, with younger skilled workers less interested in traditional roles. Scarcity of people with skills for emerging roles is seen as the most critical market shortage. “These findings should serve as a wake-up call to HR managers who may still be clinging to outdated approaches to talent management,” said Bolton. “Addressing skill shortages throughout the entire organization, and not just at the most senior levels, should be a top priority in 2014.”

What Needs to be done?

Executives and HR management have always focused on basic talent management—acquiring, hiring and retaining talented employees. But, to drive optimal levels of success, business leaders need engaged, high-performing employees. The key to inciting a workforce to greatness is to

• align your talent management with company strategy,
• define consistent leadership criteria across all functional areas and throughout the organization , and
  
• Identify specific competencies (analytical, technical, education, experience) to cultivate for continuing growth.
  

Business leaders who implement the best talent management processes are more prepared than their competitors to compete in the global economy and capitalize quickly on new opportunities. True success is only available when companies do more than adapt to long-term trends; they must be able to anticipate and jump on new opportunities before the rest of the market. This calls for a strategic plan and a Strategic Talent Management Plan allows you to:

• Become "proactive" versus "reactive". Filling critical talent management needs and addressing company and industry changes promptly;
• Identifying essential skills to be developed in all employees, and minimize training costs by focusing on key development areas; and
  
• Improving the recruiting process by identifying high-quality candidates using job descriptions based upon the expertise of high performing employees holding uniquely valued company or industry competencies.
  
• Align Individual Goals with Corporate Strategy
  

The best talent management plan is closely aligned with the company’s strategic plan and overall business needs. Goal alignment is a powerful management tool that not only clarifies job roles for individual employees, but also demonstrates ongoing value of your employees to the organization. When you engage employees in their work through goal alignment, you create greater employee ownership in your company's ultimate success and they become more committed to your company and achieve higher levels of job performance.

To achieve "goal alignment" in your organization:

• Clearly communicate your strategic business objectives across the entire company.
• Allow managers to access and view the goals of other departments. Goal sharing also helps departmental heads find ways to better support each other, as well as identify areas where they may be unintentionally working at cross purposes.
  
• Focus employees’ efforts on your company's most important goals;
  
• Strengthen accountability by assigning measurable and clearly articulated goals that are visible company-wide.
  

Conclusion

Companies that rely on outdated approaches to talent management, that focus on attracting and retaining high potential employees, may lack competitive advantage as the war for talent ramps up. A holistic approach to talent management should target on finding and attracting the best talent in the market with a superior talent acquisition strategy [as an answer to the "War for Talent).Further, the said strategy should also contain training and development to train, coach and mentor existing talent. In reality both strategies have to go hand in hand. Because, if you are able to attract good talent, but cannot retain it your recruitment will be like a hamster on a treadmill. And if you spend a lot of money on training and development but are not able to attract the right talent your talent management strategy will not blossom and will suffer.

By Dr A Jagan Mohan Reddy

The author is senior faculty HR at Institute of Public Enterprise