Talent Management Strategy - an SME Starter Guide
Your organisation can retain and attract the talent pool it needs for success with planning and brainpower. It really is possible!
Talent management refers to the full scope of human resources processes that attract talent, properly on-board new talent, develop and grow talent, and engage new talent in the culture of an organisation to retain high performing people. Engaging in talent management practices assist organisations:
Bring employees up to speed quicker
Identify gaps in skillset and job fit
Efficiently train people to develop new skills to keep pace with the changing demands of the workplace
Engage employees to increase motivation
Retain employees to stabilise overall productivity longer
Dynamics of Sustained Performance
The workplace operates under rules of a job demand vs job resources dynamic. The more job resources an employee has the higher their level of engagement.
However, engagement is inhibited by the demands of the job, which has a direct effect on performance. This statement isn’t to suggest that your team is full of ‘snowflakes’ that aren’t prepared to take on additional work, but there is a limit to the demands that can be placed on any one person. A significant increase in job demands and out of scope work can significantly reduce engagement and eventually lead to burnout and lower personal and organisational performance.
What can you do, if your team is stuck in a burnout cycle?
As a leader, are you in tune with the job demands placed on your team? If not, take the time to ask
Increase worker autonomy – nothing breaths disengagement like micromanagement
Providing regular supportive feedback – stay tuned for my blog post on ‘just in time feedback’
Provide social support to employees – if you have a company group benefits provider, some social support may already be available
Provide coaching support and clarity around management structure
Train your team to be capable problem solvers and critical thinkers
A strong talent management strategy puts in place processes that continuously match the level of job resources to job demand.
Where to start:
Step 1: Identify the demands that exist within each job. Have the jobs in your organisation evolved? If so, has your team been given the necessary training to deal with these new demands. If not, your recruitment efforts should be targeted to attract talent to tackle them.
Step 2: Put structure and support in place to ensure the talent you hire is onboarded properly.
Step 3: To reduce uneven task demand on employees, gaps in available talent must be regularly identified and filled, which brings us back to step 1 – upskilling and attraction.
Part of the task demand of positions within an organisation goes beyond skills - the personal and social qualities to fit within the interpersonal constraints of a job are equally as important. To succeed employees must have the right skills and experience, but also the correct disposition to cope with the social and interpersonal demands of their job and the work environment.
For example: the level of engagement of a technically trained employee that was hired to work in the back end of the business, not the front line, may be blocked by demands that the employee park take in public relations or sales activities with clients. Was this an expectation of the position at the outset of the role and clearly communicated to the individual?
How can I develop a Talent Management Strategy that works for my Business?
A clear and communicated organisation strategy, is the backbone for securing a successful talent management strategy. Once leadership is clear on the objectives it wants to achieve, in consultation with its operational leads (as to what’s realistic and what’s not) can the HR Group really work their magic and prepare a talent management strategy that ties directly to the objectives of the business. It should also be noted that without commitment and buy-in from leadership a talent management strategy no matter how strong and tailored to the needs of the organisation simply won’t work and produce the desired results.
If you’re a business leader, chances are you need your team, to help you on your journey to success. Having a plan in place that works to attract, retain and engage those individuals on that journey with you, will be key to ensuring that.
Talent management can be overwhelming, I get it. Especially for SME leaders as you work to battle the compensation and benefits on offer from MNCs when recruiting talent, and don’t have the resources to spend thousands of euros on different retention and engagement exercises. That said, talent management doesn’t demand mega spending power – understanding the dynamics of employees positions, providing training and coaching support internally so people can do their job effectively and simply taking the time to sit and listen to what’s happening on the front line can have a drastic impact on employee morale and retention.
With that in mind I wanted to share a Talent Management Framework, to help you in your strategy development. Here, is what I consider to be the building blocks to developing a coherent strategy and some ideas of what should be considered under each heading:
Recruitment and Selection i.e. workforce planning, recruitment strategy, employer branding, onboarding
Performance Management i.e. training, development and coaching
Career Development i.e. career path planning, learning and development, benchstrength analysis, succession planning
Employee Engagement i.e. culture, internal communications, rewards and recognition
Special Projects i.e. continuous improvement or change management initiatives required to sustain competitive advantage
The Growth of Talent Management
Forty or fifty years ago, talent management was viewed as a peripheral responsibility just relegated to the "personnel" department. In recent years, most executives say that their organisations performance is likely to suffer because of insufficient talent development.
Since the average organisation spends over one-third of its revenues on employee wages and benefits, the critical need to manage talent systematically and optimally is clear.
If you’d like to learn more about implementing a successful talent management strategy for your business, please feel free to connect with me at – https://www.bourkeconsulting.ie/book-now
