The Talent Management Business are the right people to have on your team as you fight to win the ‘war for Talent’.
Since 1998 when McKinsey first began talk about the 'war for talent', the challenges that are being faced by businesses continue to intensify under the pressures of key skills shortages, changing demographics, a more mobile workforce and an increased emphasis on work/life balance. What is becoming very clear is that the businesses that will prosper under these pressures will be those with a robust Talent Management strategy delivered through great TM processes and backed up by a really great TM system. In short, business success will depend upon how well talent strategies support current and future business strategies.
There have been a number of recent studies, which have identified that expertly designed, implemented and managed, talent management will improve strategic performance and business effectiveness, and show great potential to sustain this business success.
As such, Talent Management is a fundamental business strategy that cannot and should not be ignored. However, our own research indicated that there is a great divergence in what should be included in the TM strategic plan. In particular there are two key questions around Talent Management that must be answered:
1. What percentage of the organisation is considered as Talent? Opinions about the target for Talent Management activities vary from the all inclusive approach that sees the whole organisational population as talent to much more exclusive views where talent is seen as a key group within the business (e.g. leadership cadre, a slice through the organisational hierarchy, a key group of people that create wealth or possess key knowledge).
2. What activities should be included in the Talent Management strategic plan? Again there was a large divergence in opinion. Our view is that a talent management strategy will improve your organisational performance through better identifying, sourcing, developing, rewarding, motivating and retaining the talent that keeps you ahead of your competitors.
The research evidence leaves us in no doubt that delivering an effective Talent Management strategy will positively impact organisational achievement. However, in order put this into practice HR departments will have to adopt a more strategic approach that may require up-skilling of the team to deliver the improved services and will need to be supported with the very best Talent Management systems and tools. It seems clear that effective Talent Management can only be delivered by a motivated and skilled HR team using the best available Talent Management systems.
So what is the big Talent Management IDEA? Talent management is the strategy that drives the specific events that people experience in the workplace. The Talent Management strategic plan should encompass the following activities:
Identification and selection
Development and deployment
Engagement and retention
Assessment of Talent and Talent Management processes
The second big question that a company must answer is "what part of our work force population does our Talent Management strategy address?" i.e. ‘do our Talent Management strategies need to be inclusive (directed on the whole community) or focused on specific key groups of personnel?
How we can help?
The Talent Management Business can be of great support to your company at all stages in this process. We work with organisations through all stages of the Talent Management cycle. From helping to develop the strategy, through to designing and implementing integrated Talent Management processes. For more information or a free consultation please contact us at +44 (0)1844 201418 or postmaster@thetalentmanagementbusiness.com
NB The Talent Management Business are distributors of the excellentfocus Talent Management HRIS system.
The Talent Management Business are the right people to have on your team as you fight to win the ‘war for Talent’. 