Talent Management discussion

I think Talent Management is a key topic of discussion across the HR community . However there are varied opinions held by people about the concept and its application . From an application view point we think that HR functions can be categorized under the umbrella of Talent Management and can be divided further into -planning ,acquiring, maintaining, retaining and developing . Jac Fitzenz( ref : How to Measure Human Resource Management (3rd Edition) by Jac Fitz-enz ) has added another dimension to it ie analytics . For convenience sake we can look at the three key functions under the big Brand Talent Management . They are talent acquisition , talent retention and talent development . With the global talent hunt on for varied profiles the common refrain that one hears is- Yes there are people but where are the right people ? Tapping these right people itself is a  key challenge and may be a hiring manager’s nightmare or most creative project ( ref:How to Become a Talent Magnet: Getting Talented People to Work for You by Mike Johnson  ). It is refreshing to view HR from Talent Management perspective. It helps us to a) build a framework around the disparate practices b)helps us to be more specific and accurate in any of the initiatives that we take up as practitioners c)gives us a sense of direction and an idiom to express both the day to day and long term initiatives  and planning being carried out in the function.

We examine the critical issue of Talent Acquisition in the Indian context . Whilst it is an important job there are many issues and challenges around the role of the Talent Acquisition team itself and they are :

a)many do not understand its criticality in the organizational context b) it becomes a whole lot transactional c) it becomes repetitive and monotonous taking into consideration the huge churn rate  d) organization themselves view hiring / sourcing departments as very operational units meant to take instructions and implement .

So are we talking of brain dead people who will only take inputs and process the information according to a well defined pattern … well it is for the individual organization to figure out what  kind of model they follow and as a result decide  the kind of people they want in the talent acquisition team .All in all Talent Acquisition is a critical role and we do need people there who understand business, have a working knowledge of the HR function ie structured interviewing processes and tools , competencies , various job elements  etc. Also one cannot forget the fact that in the race for establishing  huge organizations in a short period of time we might sacrifice various quality processes associated with the talent acquisition process as the emphasis is on getting the headcount in place within the specified timelines.

Talent Retention

This is an area where right from the CEO to the line manager everyone can add a lot of value with their orientation , willingness and ability to allocate resources and most importantly a  sound realization that these practices go a long way in adding to the bottomline .These practices could range from sound on boarding to processes and practices that bind the disparate elements  of an organization i.e. rewards and recognition programs , effective use of intranet, seamless HR service delivery  ,knowledge management initiatives etc . The key element here is also to have a conducive work environment where superior – subordinate relations, peer relationships are both personally and professionally value adding to the individual .Also a lot of initiatives will evolve over a period of time as the organization grows and HR will have to design  lot of industry specific practices .

Talent Development

This involves identifying the developmental needs of the employees in the context of the larger organizational goals and the individual career aspirations . The initiatives under this heading range from classroom learning , e-learning , leadership development and management development practices like career development , succession planning ,stretch assignments , job rotation etc. As competition gets fierce it is highly essential that companies design  , and implement practices that suit both the organization and individual .Here one will have to examine the larger organizational goals and the approach or philosophy one wants to adopt towards any developmental exercise let it be a competency based approach or an approach driven by the needs that emanate from the annual performance evaluation exercise . Once the goals are evolved  and approach is firmed up then one has to embark on the path of actually evolving a framework that converts  into actionables the gaps that are to be bridged and the new skills that need to be acquired .There would be various developmental tools or initiatives that would be used for this transformation  process ie converting the needs into deliverables .

Thus there are three concepts under the talent management framework to enable us to understand the approach and implement it in day to day practice . There is plethora of information and resources available for understanding this approach  . We can recommend the websites of SHRM(www.shrm.org) , CIPD(http://www.cipd.org)and The Talent Management Handbook by Lance and Dorothy Berger to  carry this thought thread ahead ….

 

AV

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