Effective Talent Management Strategies (Part II)

In the first part of the series, we took a look at how an effective talent management strategy helps an organization achieve its goals by clarifying job roles for each employee whilst demonstrating the value of employees to the organization. All of this goes a long way in increasing their level of commitment and ultimately, performance output.

 

Taking it a step further, we shall be discussing talent management strategies which address the following areas:

 

  • Internal talent pools
  • Collaboration and information dissemination
  • Pay-for-Performance culture

 

Creating highly skilled internal talent pools

 

Strategically minded organizations are able to keep abreast with market dynamics when it comes to planning and developing a workforce with the right competencies. They have deeper strategic insight into their employees, and use that insight to proactively put the right workforces in place to effectively respond to urgent marketplace needs.

 

At some point, most companies find themselves in situations where viable candidates need to be acquired within a limited time to atone for a change in leadership or industry conditions. In most cases a prolonged leadership void can be risky and it raises questions about a company’s internal talent pool.

 

How much focus has been directed towards developing internal talent?

Is the company’s internal talent pool adequate?

Are there candidates who can rise to the occasion to fill key positions?

 

A company’s internal talent pool is a reliable and consistent source of talent and a valuable piece of the succession planning process and is the focal point of a successful talent management strategy.  By cultivating talent pools internally, you are ensuring that you will have experienced and trained employees prepared to assume leadership roles as they become available.

 

Collaboration and information dissemination

 

To drive success, business leaders must doggedly seek to overcome organizational silos that prevent the flow of information throughout the organization. All the channels of communication need to be open for companies to become flexible and perform faster.

 

Most times, the innovation required to meet unexpected market challenges exists within the organization. As such, knowledge and experience must be readily available and proactively disseminated.

 

Cultivating a collaborative atmosphere involves the alignment of success metrics – these metrics should involve more than individual performance alone. Organizations also need to provide the tools to facilitate easier collaboration among employees and management. These tools should provide access to rich employee data, including experience, interests and special skills, such as language abilities. Employees should be able to reach across departments or offices to tap into a knowledge base and collaborate easily, while managers can use the information to make informed talent management decisions geared towards increasing business performance.

 

Pay for performance culture

 

A pay-for-performance culture is a 360 degree feedback where managers gain easy access to all the information they need to reward individuals for actual performance. Employee assessment is usually measured by goal alignment metrics, review data and performance notes which are taken all through the year. This allows managers to make consistent, quantifiably fair decisions, thus avoiding improper compensation.

 

Many companies use employee assessments to drive motivation and push employees to reach their full potential. This can produce interesting results as each employee has a unique reason for working which is often related to a particular need. Being able to address each individual’s need in the organization will create a highly motivated workforce that strives for the best as a whole.

 

Additionally, measuring the essential factors that mark the difference between success and failure in specific jobs will ensure the right person is assigned to the right position within the organization. This will ultimately lead to greater job satisfaction, improved morale and employee retention because your organization is staffed with a workforce of people who are highly productive, skilled and committed to doing their very best.

 

Final note:

 

A company that deploys an effective talent management strategy  will enjoy the following benefits:

 

  • Ability to rapidly train and retrain employees according to business needs
  • Create opportunities for real-time collaboration
  • Support the workforce with better analytics
  • A talent management process that will drive true business success

 

All of these are essential to a company’s growth and are capable of propelling the company beyond existing borderlines of success.

 

Written by Genevieve Craig