TALENT CHALLENGES

7/29/2019 TALENT CHALLENGES

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summary

Despite a significant degree of academic and practitioner interest the topic of talent management

remains underdeveloped. A key limitation is the fact that talent management lacks a consistent

definition and clear conceptual boundaries. The specific contribution of the current paper is in

developing a clear and concise definition of strategic talent management. We also develop a

theoretical model of strategic talent management. In so doing we draw insights from a number of

discreet literature bases. Thus, the paper should aid future research in the area of talent

management through (1) helping researchers to clarify the conceptual boundaries of talent

management and (2) providing a theoretical framework that could help researchers in framing

their research efforts in the area. Additionally, it aids managers in engaging with some of the

issues they face with regard to talent management.

Analyst research has proven that organizations using this business strategy powered bytalentmanagementsoftware exhibit higher performance than their competitors and the market ingeneral.
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UNDERSTANDING TALENT CHALLENGES OF TODAY

Deb Wheelock of Mercer (a high-end professional services firm, recruiting highly educatedknowledge workers) faced with the classic industry challenges of creating a differentiating

employee proposition and enhancing retention of its large workforce

Interestingly, even with diversity of perspectives, it was found that on today's top talentchallenges to be surprisingly aligned.

some are:-

1. Attracting and retaining enough employees at all levels to meet the needs of organic and

inorganic growth. All three companies are facing a talent crunch. Essar, for example, has grownfrom 20 thousand employees to a staggering 60 thousand in the past 3 years. Fifty-five percent of

their employees have less than two years of tenure.

2. Creating a value proposition that appeals to multiple generations. With four generations in

today's workplace, most companies are struggling to create an employee experience that appeals

to individuals with diverse needs, preferences and assumptions. The Gap, for example, has

153,000 people in its workforce. The stores have a high percentage of Gen Y employees, whilecorporate roles and leadership ranks are primarily made up of Gen X'ers and Boomers. How does

one create a compelling employee value proposition for the organization?

3. Developing a robust leadership pipeline. I believe one of the biggest potential threats to manycorporations is a lack of a robust talent pool from which to select future leaders. This is in part a

numbers issuethe Gen X cohort is small and therefore, as I like to say, precious. But it's also

an interest issuemany members of Gen X are simply not particularly excited about beingconsidered for these roles. There was wide agreement among the panelists that a lack of

individuals ready to move into senior client manager and leadership roles is a critical challenge.


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4. Rounding out the capabilities of hires who lack the breadth of necessary for global leadership.

It's relatively straightforward to identify and assess experts in specific functional or technical

arenas, but much more difficult to determine whether those individuals have the people skills,

leadership capabilities, business breadth, and global diversity sensibilities required for the natureof leadership today. Increasingly, the challenge of developing these broader skill sets falls to the

corporations. Essar has formed an academy specifically to develop and groom its own leaders.

5. Transferring key knowledge and relationships. The looming retirement of a significant portion

of the workforce challenges all companies, but particularly those who are dependant on the

strength of tacit knowledge, such as that embedded in customer relationships, a key to Mercer's

business success.

6. Stemming the exodus of Gen X'ers from corporate life. A big threat in many firms today is the

exodus of mid-career talentpeople in whom the organization has invested heavily and in whomit has pinned it hopes for future leadership. For example, developing talent managementpractices and programs calibrated to leverage technology and create greater work/life balance has

been a priority for Mercer over recent years.

7. Redesigning talent management practices to attract and retain Gen Y's. The challenge of

calibrating talent management practices and programs to attract and engage our young entrants is

critically important to all firms and particularly so for firms that depend on a strong flow of top

talent, such professional service firms like Mercer. All three panelists agreed that making the

business infrastructure more attractive to Gen Y is a high priority.

8. Creating a workplace that is open to Boomers in their "second careers." Age prejudice stillexists, but smart companies are looking for ways to incorporate the talents of Boomers and even

older workers in the workforce. In many cases, this requires rethinking roles and work

relationships.


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9. Overcoming a "norm" of short tenure and frequent movement. Some industries, such as

specialty retail, are known for having a very disposable view of talent. Companies intent on

changing that norm, such as The Gap, must address both external influences in the marketplace

and an internal mindset. The Gap believes retaining employees in roles for 3+ years will be a keyto their future earnings growth.

10. Enlisting executives who don't appreciate the challenge. Many talent executives complainthat business leaders still believe that people are lined up outside the door because of the power

of the company's brand. The challenge of enlisting the support of all executives for the transition

from a talent culture that has traditionally operated with a "buy" strategy to one that places more

emphasis on "build" is widely shared.


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CONCEPT OF TALENT MANAGEMENT

Talent management as:

A conscious, deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people with the

aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organisational needs.

Talent management involves individual and organisational development in response to a

changing and complex operating environment. It includes the creation and maintenance of a

supportive, people oriented organisation culture.

CIPD(Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) defined talent management as:

The systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/ retention and deployment

of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organisation, either inview of their high potential for the future or because they are fulfilling business/ operation-

critical roles.

We define strategic talent management as activities and processes that involve the

systematic identification of key positions which differentially contribute to the organizationssustainable competitive advantage, the development of a talent pool of high potential and high

performing incumbents to fill these roles, and the development of a differentiated human

resource architecture to facilitate filling these positions with competent incumbents and to ensure

their continued commitment to the organization. Despite the growing popularity of talent

management and over a decade of debate and hype, the concept of talent management remainsunclear.


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The talent in an organization is the current employees and their valuable knowledge, skills andcompetencies.

Talent management (or succession management) is the ongoing process of analyzing, developing

and effectively utilizing talent to meet business needs. It involves a specific process thatcompares current talent in a department to the strategic business needs of that department.Results lead to the development and implementation of corresponding strategies to address any

talent gaps or surpluses.

The term talent management is clearly a big hit with HR people.

The term talent management can act a useful reminder that all businesses need to:

think about potential a positive, strengthsbased way of approaching people

focus on the futuretalent management is, to a large extent, a renamed

combination of workforce planning, succession, and career development. Itemphasises investing in people over the medium term and for future roles. The

language of talent pools and pipelines can help us think about which groups ofpeople and jobs we need to plan for.

attend to both individual and organisational desires in a balanced way, linked with

ideas of the psychological contract and the employer brand

integrate resourcing activities (recruitment, deployment and career movement)

with development activities (leadership development, learning, coaching etc.)These are all positive shifts in thinking,but the term talent management is also

problematic. There are at least three big buts to the impact of talent management onour thinking:


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PROCESS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT

People are, undoubtedly the best resources of an organization. Sourcing the best people from theindustry has become the top most priority of the organizations today. In such a competitive

scenario, talent management has become the key strategy to identify and filling the skill gap in a

company by recruiting the high-worth individuals from the industry. It is a never-ending processthat starts from targeting people. The process regulates the entry and exit of talented people in an

organization. To sustain and stay ahead in business, talent management can not be ignored.

Talent Management process is very complex and is therefore, very difficult to handle. The sole

purpose of the whole process is to place the right person at the right place at the right time. Themain issue of concern is to establish a right fit between the job and the individual.

There are 3 major stages to the Talent Management process in the Nova Scotia Government.

Each stage has a number of activities that result in tangible outputs. Some activities will take

more time and resources than others. All stages involve senior management, line managers andemployees to ensure an open, transparent and honest process.

The talent management process relies on data provided by employees career development plans

and once implemented, is an annual process that becomes a natural part of doing business.

Recruiting, performance, compensation, learning and development, and succession management

solutions tied to analytics provide the processes and information to attract, engage, reward, and

develop a high performance workforce.

In order to understand the concept better, let us discuss the stages included in talent

management process:

Understanding the Requirement: It is the preparatory stage and plays a crucial role insuccess of the whole process. The main objective is to determine the requirement of

talent. The main activities of this stage are developing job description and job

specifications.


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Sourcing the Talent: This is the second stage of talent management process that

involves targeting the best talent of the industry. Searching for people according to the

requirement is the main activity.

Attracting the Talent: it is important to attract the talented people to work with you as the

whole process revolves around this only. After all the main aim of talent management

process is to hire the best people from the industry.

Recruiting the Talent: The actual process of hiring starts from here. This is the stage

when people are invited to join the organization.

Selecting the Talent: This involves meeting with different people having same ordifferent qualifications and skill sets as mentioned in job description. Candidates who

qualify this round are invited to join the organization.

Training and Development: After recruiting the best people, they are trained anddeveloped to get the desired output.

Retention: Certainly, it is the sole purpose of talent management process. Hiring them

does not serve the purpose completely. Retention depends on various factors such as pay

package, job specification, challenges involved in a job, designation, personal

development of an employee, recognition, culture and the fit between job and talent.

Promotion: No one can work in an organization at the same designation with same job

responsibilities. Job enrichment plays an important role.

Competency Mapping:Assessing employees skills, development, ability and

competency is the next step. If required, also focus on behaviour, attitude, knowledge andfuture possibilities of improvement. It gives you a brief idea if the person is fir for

promoting further.

Performance Appraisal: Measuring the actual performance of an employee is necessaryto identify his or her true potential. It is to check whether the person can be loaded with

extra responsibilities or not.


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Career Planning: If the individual can handle the work pressure and extra

responsibilities well, the management needs to plan his or her career so that he or she

feels rewarded. It is good to recognize their efforts to retain them for a longer period oftime.

Succession Planning: Succession planning is all about who will replace whom in near

future. The employee who has given his best to the organization and has been serving itfor a very long time definitely deserves to hold the top position. Management needs toplan about when and how succession will take place.

Exit: The process ends when an individual gets retired or is no more a part of the

organization.


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IMPORTANCE OF TALENT MANAGEMENT

A talent strategy will help you understand the skills, experience and capabilities yourorganization needs to deliver its strategic objectives and business plans. By reviewing your

personnel and their roles you will start to see what you already have, what you will need to buy

in, and what you need to develop to achieve yourorganizations goals.

Despite the pressures of the current economic downturn, equality, diversity and talent remain

high priority. In fact, it is at such difficult times that organisations most need to invest in their

people. A diverse workforce, that fully reflects our increasingly diverse society, is essential to

our capability to meet the challenges of the future; not least because we need the innovation in

thinking and delivery that diversity brings. Failure to make such investment could mean we lose

peoplethe wrong people - and lose along with them much of the richness and diversity of our

future talent.

Talent management can bring

significant business benefits1:

-Ensure that

theleadershipofyourorganisation is rich

and diverse;-Help to achieve strategic business

objectives;

-Build a high performance workplace;-Encourage a culture of learning and

development;

-Ensures value for money through

targeting talent spend and ensuringtalent is coherently managed;

-Address diversity issues, including the

need to deliver diversity targets, and to

eradicate direct and indirectdiscrimination;

-Engage people;

-Retain talented people; and-Enhance your image and position in the

employment market


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From an individual perspective?

When we invest in talented people

they are more likely to:

-Engage with their work and be more

effective;-Be satisfied with their jobs and proud of

their organisation;

-Recommend their employer to others;-Have a good opinion of their managers;

-Feel that their performance is valued;

-Have stronger feelings of personal and

professional growth andaccomplishment; and

-Feel valued and important to the

success of the organisation.


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Talent management has been identified as a key strategy for addressing a number of criticalHuman

The implementation of a talent management process that is transparent and equitable is expected

to create an environment for people to develop their skills in preparation for a range of future

possibilities thereby preparing the workplace for changing roles.Specifically, the talent management process provides benefits to employees, managers and the

organization:

Employees develop and communicate their career paths

Managers and senior management develop a greater knowledge of the talent in theirorganization

Organizational HR Issues are identified and addressed such as: employee careerdevelopment, youth and diversity goals and recruitment and retention problems in key roles.

The current discussions about skill shortages and the ageing population are also being tackled byorganisations by focusing on the talent management issue. It may not be possible to simply goout and recruit new people to meet operational needs. Many leading companies have decided to

develop their own people, rather than trying to hire fully skilled workers.


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Likehuman capital,talent management is gaining increased attention.

Talent management (TM) brings together a number of important human resources (HR) andmanagement initiatives. Organisations that formally decide to "manage their talent" undertake a

strategic analysis of their current HR processes. This is to ensure that a co-ordinated,

performance oriented approach is adopted. In summary, every organisation should beimplementing talent management principles and approaches.

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The task of developing and implementing a talent management strategy often falls to humanresources (HR) professionals working in consultation with the business functions. But HR also

carries out the more traditional administrative functions such as handling employee benefits,

delivering payrolls, ensuring compliance with government regulations, and recruiting and

interviewing new staff.

This section describes the data gathering and analysis that will be the foundation of your talent

strategy. This should be an iterative process. Data leads you to draw tentative conclusions. Youconsult on these, receive more data and redraw your conclusions and so on.

The first stage in developing a strategy requires a relevant research

Some basic research is essential. You will need to know:

-Key workforce data, such as current employees and annual turnover;

-Numbers of staff by grade and profile diversity by grade;

-Recent external recruitment (graduates, professionals etc);

-Cultural characteristics of your organisation;

-The development you provide in general and for specific groups;

-Talent programmes (e.g. Fast Stream) you have and for whom;

-Succession plans.

Analysing of such data helps to decide whether you to focus on the whole organisation, or on

areas of greatest difficulty or opportunity. Appendix B has more suggestions of data to collate.Pulling your analysis together
http://derekstockley.com.au/newsletters-05/018-human-capital.htmlhttp://derekstockley.com.au/newsletters-05/018-human-capital.htmlhttp://derekstockley.com.au/newsletters-05/018-human-capital.htmlhttp://derekstockley.com.au/newsletters-05/018-human-capital.html


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It is important to ensure that the data you are using is relevant, up to date and appropriate. Most

departments have a range of talent development activities and you will need to establish how

well those activities link to the data.The organisational context will determine many of thedecisions that you make about what your talent strategy will seek to address. This section is

about making sense of the comprehensive data you have gathered and understanding the choices

that provide best fit between your talent strategy and the overall strategic direction.

Organisational context

Its important to set your talent management strategy in context. What is the business case for

introducing talent management? This could include:

-Enabling achievement of business/organisational objectives;

-Supporting change;

-Effective succession planning;

-Addressing skills gaps;

-Developing high-potential individuals and future leaders;

-Attracting staff; retaining staff; redeploying staff to other roles;

-Supporting workforce/resource planning.

What are your key business drivers?You will also need to consider the range of internal and external factors that may affect your

organisation and how they are likely to change with time. They will shape your talent strategy.

As a starting point think PESTLE (political, economic, societal, technological, legal andenvironmental)your strategy team may have already done such an analysis.

IMPLEMENTATION

A strategy is only effective if its implemented in the right way. This section covers taking the

high level support in principle and turning it into action.

A structured approachUse a robust and structured approach, based on the principles of project management but make

pragmatic decisions based on your local culture and circumstances.


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You also need to consider what governance you want to ensure accountability for such a

significant investment of resources. You might consider pulling together a programme board that

meets regularly. It can agree tolerances (in terms of time, cost, quality), authorise any changes toplans, make decisions about high level risks and issues, manage the supply of resources, sign off

final high level designs for all assessment processes and products/activities

Evaluation is vital but is notoriously difficult because of the long term nature of the return on this

type of investment. This section suggests areas where you will need to focus your evaluation.

Talent management will typically be only one of several initiatives aimed at transforming the

organisation. Nevertheless, it is possibleand necessaryto demonstrate a return on what can

be significant investment. Information management is crucial. You will need to think about what

you wanted to achieve and by when and who you need to convince. You need to think ofevidence that will convince your finance directorwhich is likely to be more at the

organisational level. It is useful to go back to the original driverswhy was it important toaddress talent management in the first place?


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BEST PRACTICES FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT

Best Practices for Successful Talent ManagementBest Practices

1. Compensation and public recognition are essential.In any organization or enterprise, a football team, a film, or a computer company, talent is a successdetermining force. Talent knows this to be true, and if it is not appreciated, it walks. You can show talentappreciation in many ways. On an organizational level: compensation, public recognition are essentials.Lots of research shows that talent is de-motivated when it is not appreciated financially or given publiccredit for achievement. (Weisinger)

2. Develop a system of measure and use the data to make informed decisions.You cannot manage what you cannot measure. In order to improve Talent Management effectiveness,you need to establish a system of record for talent assets that includes proven and reliable talentmeasurements related to successful performance. (Hauenstein)

Go beyond automated processes to present line managers with reliable information in a format thatsupports evidence-based decision-making. Information presented should help managers answer: Whoare my top performers? Where do I focus individual and group development efforts? Which of my topperformers also possess high advancement potential? Which of the high performing high potentials areready now for a higher level of responsibility? (Hauenstein)


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3. Mine your internal talent.Every company has hidden gems oftalent and untapped skills. Talent mining encourages employeesto keep their talent profiles up to date and helps companies identify people who have the skills they

need regardless of current job or location. (Schroeder)You have to create opportunities for the talented to show their stuff. Focus on their interest: In their nextperformance appraisal, What would you like to do? Their answer will help you learn how you cancultivate their talent. (Weisinger)

4. Invest dollars knowing that talent investments often come with a huge return.You can develop talent in many ways: providing challenging and interesting opportunities, training tofurther expertise. It is expensive to develop talent, and here is where many organizations balk. It is not acoincidence, for example, that the best college and professional sports teams have the best trainingfacilities and that the best universities have the best libraries. The best talents developers, in any area,perceive the expense as an investment with a huge return. (Weisinger

5. Trust talent to succeed.Trusting talent to succeed means showing the talented people you have confidence in their capabilitiesby giving them responsibility in the most important activities. Talented people find this to be motivatingand it increases their feelings that they are valued, a crucial factor in their wanting to stay with theorganization. When talented people fail, it is essential to turn the failure into a learning experience, not acareer setback. (Weisinger)


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6. Provide continuous feedback.A performance review is a bit like managing backwards. Be clear on what you need from people up front,rather than dinging them at the end of the period for not doing what you wanted. (Schroeder)

7. Course-correct as you implement your talent management program.From time to time, Ill wish I did things differently. I use this formula a lot: 1.Timeline: Did we adhere tostart dates, milestones, deadlines, and deliverables? Where and when were we ahead of schedule? 2.

Roster: Who had responsibility for which roles? What was outsourced? How did each person do? Whatdid we learn? 3. Checklists: What supplies and materials did we use? What did we need? What did wenot need? 4. Risk assessment: What were the biggest risks we took? Did we take enough risks? Werethere surprises we did not anticipate? It helps me look for what I can enhance the next time. (Womack)

4

8.The talent pipeline is only as strong as its weakest link.

Many organizations equate the concept of talent management with senior leadership succession

management. While succession planning is obviously important, our belief is that talent

management must encompass a far broader portion of the employee population.Value creation does not come from senior leadership alone. The ability of an organization to

compete depends upon the performance of all its key talent, and its ability to develop and

promote that talent.

9.Talent management is all about putting the right people in the right jobs.

Training people to improve their judgment learning agility, adaptabilityall core requirementsfor most of the talent hired todayis difficult, if not impossible.Lack of motivation for a specific

role or apoor fit between employees values and those of the organization leads to poor

performance, and no classroom experience or learning activity will change this fundamental

mismatch. But you can get a read on these areas during a well-designed hiring/promotion

process.Hiring for the right skills is more efficient than developing those skills. What aboutthe areas that are developable, like interpersonal skills, decision-making, or technical

skills? Assessing those areas at the time of hire is likely to cost less than developingthem later.


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In a nutshell: 12 Top Talent Management Tips

If you have a lot of experience in talent management you may only need some top tips. This

section summarizes some best practice approaches.

-START WITH THE END IN MIND -CONNECT THE BIG PEOPLE

PROCESS

-GET SENIOR EXECUTIVE BUY

IN

-EVALUATE PEOPLE

-TELL A COMPELLING STORY

ABOUT THE ORGANISATIONS

FUTURE

--EVALUATE ROLES

-GET THE TALENT CONNECTED

AND NETWORKED

-PROVIDE CAREER PATHS

-ALIGN TALENT MANAGEMENT

WITH DIVERSITY

MANAGEMENT

-DONT LOSE SIGHT OF THE

EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMERS

-KEEP THE TALENT PIPELINE IN

THE FUNCTIONAL AND

PROFESSIONAL GROUPS WELL

PRIMED

-LEVERAGE THE LINE

MANAGERS OF THE TALENT


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Conclusion

Given the high level of interest in the concept of talent management over the past decade, it is

somewhat paradoxical that it remains relatively poorly defined and lacking in theoreticalunderpinning. This review of the current body of literature suggests that from a theoretical point

of view, the area of talent management is in its infancy and a significant degree of theoretical

advancement is required. The contribution of this paper is two fold; to develop a clear andconcise definition of strategic talent management, and .propose a theoretical model of strategic

talent management. In doing so we draw insights from a number of discreet literature bases. The

paper aims to aid future research in the area of talent management though (1) helping to clarify

the conceptual boundaries of talent management and (2) providing a theoretical frameworkwhich can help in framing their research efforts in the area. Additionally, it should aid managers

in engaging with some of the issues they face with regard to talent management.

REFERENCES

www.civilservice.gov.

www.zanett.com

www.bf.umich.edu/docs/KeyReferenceArticles.pdf
http://www.civilservice.gov/http://www.civilservice.gov/http://www.zanett.com/http://www.zanett.com/http://www.zanett.com/http://www.civilservice.gov/


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APPENDICES

Appendix A: Background to this document

Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity: A Strategy for the Civil Service was published in July2008, reflecting the drive to mainstream equality and diversity further into every aspect of our

business. It contains a number of commitments to help the Civil Service fulfil our new single

public equality duty.The government is committed to promoting equality and diversity across its workforce - creating

a Civil Service that contains the richest mix of talents and is truly representative of the public it

serves.

A Talent Management Task Group was set up to share best practice on using talent management

systems and processes. Members of the group included the Diversity Champions Network

(DCN), the Diversity Practitioners

Network, Civil Service Diversity Staff Networks, the CCSUand representatives from best practice departments in the areas of talent management,recruitment and outreach. The Task Group reports to the Civil Service Diversity Delivery Board.

One of the sub groups of the Talent Management Task Group developed this Practitioner

Guide: How to create a Talent Management Strategy that reflects Diversity to help Talent

Managers to think strategically about talent management: how it can support the organisations

business strategy, and how to maximise diversity.

A second group, the Identifying Talent Action Task Group, has developed a Good Practice

Guide for Identifying and Developing Talent. These two documents are available on the Civil

Service website.


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Appendix B: Suggested background workforce dataFor the group(s) included in the talent management strategy:

-time in current post;

-number (%) in: first post; and second or more posts;

-length of time in grade;

-number (%) coming up to retirement;

-positions of individuals on 9 box grid or by performance markings;

number of posts at this level and next level(s) identified as promotion or development

opportunities;

-number of internal/external competitions in last 12 months at this level and next; and

of these, how many were promotions/lateral moves/external;

-amount spent on recruitment advertising and use of search consultants in the last 3 years;-succession plans for posts at this level and next level (s)with one or more

-successors identified for each post with indication of readinessnow, 1-2 yrs or later;

-likely vacancies in next 12 months3 years;

-analysis of performance, common skills gaps, diversity; and

-details of current development activities on offer at these levels.

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TALENT CHALLENGES

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