Miguel Premoli
Talent Management
Creating an Integrated Talent Management Practice
Talent can just happen….people join the organization, some get promoted, others leave and are replaced, they get rewarded, and things just happen….Or it can be Managed as a Strategic asset.
Definition
Talent management is a relatively new discipline with no more than 15 years, also there are many definitions of what talent management is and even what refers to as talent within an organization, thus. I propose the following definitions.
Talent Management is a set of mission-critical processes that ensure organizations have the quantity and quality of people in place to meet their current and future business priorities.
As for Talent (as individuals), I believe we all have talents and can develop them, it’s just a matter of putting individuals with the right talent in roles and environments where talent can flourish and develop.
So, when referring to talent, I refer to everyone in the organization.
Creating a practice
To create an integrated Talent Management practice, there are inputs to consider, a series of steps to follow, definitions and choices to be made, and tools and processes to enable it.
Let’s start with the Inputs: Strategy and Culture.
The business needs and growth strategy are the key elements, a talent practice is put in place to support the organization achieve its strategic objectives. However, the talent practices and choices made to define them will shape the culture, so a second key input to consider is the desired culture. Talent practices create culture.
First step: Talent Philosophy
A talent philosophy is a foundation for every talent practice in the organization.
It details the company’s point of view on performance, behaviours, accountability, transparency, and differentiation.
That clear point of view means that managers can easily explain the outcomes of talent processes and employees know that talent decisions are made using a consistently and equitably applied approach.
Key definitions of a Talent Philosophy
Performance: How do we manage performance? Does high differentiation or fairness prevail? Incentives, Individual vs Teams?
Differentiation: Do we differentiate talent? Hi, potentials? If so how do we determine who is a HP, how do we compensate, develop and communicate to the individual and the organization?
Behaviours: What are the expected Leadership behaviours? What makes a Leaderleader successful? How do they shape the culture?
Transparency: How transparent should we be with employees about their career potential in our organization?
Accountability: How accountable are managers today for increasing their team’s engagement?
Talent Architecture: Do we build from within (Build), Hire (Buy) what's the right mix?
Ownership and Roles. Who owns the talent, and what are the Managers, employees and company roles in talent development?
Second Step: Talent Strategy
The Talent Strategy is the output of what we do: Build the Capabilities needed to achieve business results
A talent strategy identifies the key success factor of a Business Strategy.
Translates it into Critical Capabilities (people + processes + systems + organization) the organization needs to develop to achieve the business strategy, and
Creates a roadmap to build those capabilities using six levers:
Acquiring Talent
Developing Talent
Designing Organizational models
Crafting Reward mechanism
Building Leadership Capabilities
Enhancing Functional skills
Third Step: Talent Model
An integrated Talent Management model includes all the elements of managing people which lets the organization rapidly and effectively respond to business needs
Defining a Talent Model upfront helps integrate all elements: Processes, tools and systems of Talent Management to achieve the desired outcome. (The Talent Strategy)
Third Step: Talent Processes
For each process there are a series of definitions or key questions that must be addressed, being consistent with all the previous elements: The Business Growth and Desired culture, the Talent Philosophy and Strategy.
Acquisitions of Talent
When do we hire (buy), and when do we develop (build)?
What is our Employee value proposition, and how do we communicate it as an attractive Employer Brand?
How do we manage the Attraction /Recruitment/Selection/On BoardingOn-Boarding process?
Performance
What is the purpose of our performance management processes?
Performance Evaluation: measuring what happened in the past
Performance Management: managing performance through the year
Performance Acceleration: make sure objectives and performance are at best