A critical component of any business is its people. Talent management encompasses things like workforce planning, recruiting (also known as talent acquisition or TA), employee engagement, performance management, succession planning and other factors.
It’s a good idea to evaluate these strategies yearly — or sometimes even more often — since the business landscape is changing so rapidly. Having an agile approach to talent management will only propel your business forward, leading to faster processes, a stronger and more talented team, and ultimately more profit for your organization.
Customers and talent are two very different stakeholders. Each of these stakeholders will want different things from the organization. They have unique needs and distinct expectations of the organization, so it is important for your advising firm to help you understand the viewpoints of both stakeholders.
The companies that succeed share some common characteristics focusing on management of their organizational talent.
First, they design personalized experiences for their team members to access throughout the duration of their stay as an associate with the organization. Actions such as creating a personalized, inclusive portal for all Human Resources assets can be a great start. Having one online location for all the helpful assets and resources for the workforce provides a unifying presence for associates with Human Resources being the organizer. Utilizing computer programs for human capital management can keep you on the right track and organized so that personalized experiences can be delivered online and through face-to-face interactions.
Second, focus on attaining, developing and rewarding talent with specific skills. Offer special incentives to these associates through financial recognition and other rewards programs. Recognize associates also for obtaining new skills and certifications and specializing in need areas of the company.
Third, realize the role data and analytics can play in your organization. The data can be gathered from both internal and external sources to gain the complete picture. Doing your research and analysis will reveal opportunities to develop the reliability and variety in your workforce that you need in order to prepare your workforce for the future as best you can.
Fourth, focus tirelessly on ensuring that HR becomes and remains the go-to source for creating teams to respond to challenges. The teams created should represent a variety of departments throughout the lifecycle of the product and customer journey. For example, a product engineer may design and build the prototype of a product that photographs well for a catalog, but what needs to be streamlined about the process when hundreds or thousands of the product need to be assembled in the factory each day? What challenges does the production process bring when duplicated repeatedly throughout the day versus the circumstances when just one floor model is being built as a sample?
Lastly, always be transparent to ensure trust, not just when it is convenient to do so. An action as simple as providing a dry-erase white board in an employee relaxation area where employees can share unfiltered ideas, opinions, artwork, caricatures, etc. can help them feel connected and heard. When the board is full, erase it and create a new blank canvas for employee expression.
Organizations need to weave a variety of offerings into their plans to manage their talent. By doing so, they provide a balance of accountability, personalization, freedom of expression and foster all that the principles of diversity, equity, infusion and belonging can to do to enhance and protect an organization and its associates.
Written by Baker Creative’s Katie Dankovich, Human Capital Specialist
