We’ve all heard the adage “a company is only as strong as its weakest link” which many business owners seem to live by – and indeed reel off when they feel necessary. However, despite leadership teams recognising the important role employees play in an organisation’s success, talent management remains an HR imperative, rather than a business one.
It’s perhaps fair to say that there can be heavy reliance on HR professionals to manage the flow of people throughout the business with management teams expecting to have only minimal input; something the talent management community undoubtedly recognises as a situation that is not ideal to say the least. There is no doubt in my mind that a successful talent plan needs to be a business imperative and form the foundations of the wider company strategy. And while a level of responsibility lies with the senior management team to integrate people strategies into business planning, HR professionals can – and indeed should – take steps to move this journey forward.
Consider what is really needed from talent strategies
It can be argued that people management has almost created an industry for itself by developing ‘innovative’ and ‘creative’ people solutions that don’t necessarily meet the demand from the organisation in question. If we narrow talent management down to a simple descriptor of the end users desired outcome, the ultimate requirement is to fill resourcing gaps. The intricate detail as to how this will be done is simply not the concern of company leaders.
In order to get talent on the business agenda, then, HR Professionals must ensure any people strategy is presented in simplified manner, directly identifying how this will result in the desired outcome for business leaders. Perhaps one way to achieve this is to consider how you would judge an external talent management supplier and assess the work they carry out and incorporate these KPI’s into your own delivery to the board.
Remember talent isn’t a numbers game
When getting management teams on board with talent strategies, there will more often than not be a question focusing on specific numbers; “How many new employees have you brought in over the last year?” or “ How many candidates did you put through interviews?” for example. However, people management simply is not, nor will it ever be, a matter of numbers.
Reporting nice neat numbers in the short term to the board is an indicator that the people strategy implemented isn’t working. Getting 10 new starters into the business, for example, might look good on paper, but if they do not stay long enough to make an impact then time and money will have been wasted. Talent management is much more a quality focused serviced designed to have longer term results. Success is based on getting the right people, into the right role at the right time.
Make the most of technology
The human resources community has long discussed what role technology plays in people planning, but little has materialised from these debates. Latest digital innovations have the ability to be a talent manager’s best friend if utilised to their full potential. This is even more evident when we consider that technology plays a huge role in our daily lives. In fact, as the CIPD recently reported in its Social Technology, Social Business report, almost two thirds of the UK workforce now uses a mobile device for work. For a resource that is responsible for the development, growth and management of these individuals, then, it would make sense to utilise their media preferences.
The talent management space has long been subject to debate as to the business role it plays, but as the economy becomes increasingly positive, a company’s employees will drive its success. Having the right skills internally to do this is quite simply, then, a critical imperative – one that will be determined by talent management.
