Talent Management Strategy - Essay Example

? Talent Management Strategy Talent Management Strategy In recent years, there has been a rising need for organizations tomeet or even exceed their goals and objectives more effectively and efficiently. One of the key focuses towards achieving this has been to enhance the linkage between talent and an organization’s strategies and challenges (Beardwell & Claydon, 2007). It is clear for the management of organizations that effective strategy execution needs adequate numbers of the talented and right people with right knowledge and skills, in the right positions and roles. Talent management strategy has thus gained prominence in the modern business management strategies. Israelite (2010) defines talent management strategy as the process which ensures that an organization has the right and competent people for particular jobs at the right time in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives. This strategy includes the processes of induction, performance management, career planning, compensation management, succession planning processes, assessment, goal-setting, and recruitment. These processes are aimed at retaining employees and fostering their continuing development of competencies and skills to achieve the short term organizational goals and long-term strategic objectives (Armstrong, 2007). This paper has envisioned a nonprofit organization with two hundred people, in which twenty are identified leaders. Based on this, the paper will devise a talent management strategy concentrating on the entire talent needs of the organization. The paper will also define the principal components of talent management and examine how the process of talent management provides a competitive advantage for an organization. Finally, it will assess the need for a talent management strategy to change with the anticipation of the organization doubling in five to six years. Formulation of talent management strategy starts with building a talent strategy. Therefore, it will first be important to understand what the organization’s talent management strategy is currently and what is intended to be changed and achieved within certain duration. This will involve seeking information and even involving human resource team, program officers, middle-level managers, and top management of the organization (Silzer & Dowell, 2010). Also, this step of formulating talent management strategy will seek to answer questions regarding the organization’s current and desired states, as well as the organization’s culture. In answer these questions, an understanding shall be sought regarding its mission statement, vision, organization statement, strategy, corporate values, and balanced scorecard as well as how these goals and statements cascade through the organization’s units, departments, and divisions. It will also be critical to understand which roles and skills are required to support improved organization’s performance and encourage creativity and which criteria the organization can employ to identify both underachievers and high performers and to measure performance (Israelite, 2010). Based on the information obtained by analyzing these aspects, a decision should then be made on how the organization should look like in terms of capabilities, structure and leadership in order to achieve its objectives and goals. In other words, desired state of performance and improved position should be defined. The next key step in the formulation of talent management strategy should involve examining any talent management components that are already in place within the organization and analyzing how each of these components is working. The organization’s talent management priorities should then be documented based on the talent requirements and goals of the organization, as well as based on the analysis of existing talent management systems and processes (Armstrong, 2007). More importantly at this stage of formulation of strategy it will be critical to define the competencies that the organization needs. The first competency to be defined is core competencies that involve behaviors and qualities that are required from the employees. The second one is job-specific competencies which involve defining competencies such as employees’ abilities, work-related behaviors, knowledge, and skills (Blass, 2009). The third one is defining leadership competencies, and this involves looking at the behaviors and qualities desired from managers, supervisors and top management of the organization. In particular, the leadership competencies of the twenty identified leaders in the organization should be defined. Thereafter these competencies should be associated with specific job positions and roles. Besides, the proficiency levels required for each competency should be established, and those requirements should be used to create a competency profile for each job (Beardwell & Claydon, 2007). Gap analysis is the next important step in the formulation of talent management strategy. There is a need in conducting a gap analysis and skills inventory with the focus being on the key skill and competency areas. This step entails gathering information about current state of skills and competencies in the organization and providing a baseline for measuring and assessing progress (Silzer & Dowell, 2010). This will provide the organization with the opportunity of identifying qualified candidates for new assignments and special projects. Also, it will allow employees to manage their career as they will see where they are currently and where they need to be in the future. The current employee skills in the organization can be evaluated using tools such as 360-degree assessments, annual performance appraisals, and self assessments (Israelite, 2010). The other useful information regarding employees’ current level of skills, competencies, and talents can be found in the “talent profile,” which includes colleges/universities attended, language skills, professional qualifications, work history, interests, membership in associations, and current goals and awards. The combined employee information will then be used in the gap analysis and in the talent profile record system. The final step in the formulation of talent management strategy is managing change. The process of managing change should be done carefully to ensure that the strategy achieves its goals. The process should be alive to the fact that some or all employees may resist talent management processes as it makes their work performance more visible and establishes a direct link between their career path and their performance (Blass, 2009). In order to prevent any undermining of the value, success, and speed of the initiative, there will be a need for introducing learning and communication experiences that can encourage the employees towards embracing the new initiative. After the organization has a solid management strategy, the next step will be how it translates that strategy into a functional and valuable system in the organization (Silzer & Dowell, 2010). There are seven key components of talent management strategy, which when strategically implemented, combine to give the organization a competitive edge and help it achieve its goals and objectives. The first component is strategic employee planning, which involves identifying the key personnel and roles that will help realize organizational goals. Therefore, planning should help identify the gaps and strengths as well. The second component is performance management that entails aligning the right individual with the right role in order to enhance their performance (Beardwell & Claydon, 2007). This component ensures that the organization is aligning a talented employee with the roles and responsibilities that suit him or her to support their development and move the organization forward. The third component is talent acquisition and retention that aims at not only bringing new talent into the organization but also at cultivating and recognizing talent that already exists in the organization. The other component of talent management strategy is compensation that seeks to align the strategic goals of the organization with the incentives that acknowledge the value of the employees, reward their contribution to the successes of the organization, and recognize them (Armstrong, 2007). Learning and motivating is another component of talent management strategy that involves implementing learning programs that include tasks and activities that support the initiatives and culture of the organization. Also, it makes employees see how their growth positively impacts the organization and, therefore, see how valuable their role is within the organization (Blass, 2009). Career development also forms a critical component of the talent management strategy; this component is tied to the talent retention component, and it seeks to nurture potential leaders and competent employees in the organization by providing tools of professional development to the employees. The final component is succession planning, which involves understanding which roles are important for the success of the organization, who fills them, and what happens when the holders of such positions are not available. More importantly, this component involves planning how the organization will continue running smoothly in the absence or departure of the holders of different positions (Israelite, 2010). Talent management process is a strategy for a competitive advantage for any organization. It provides competitive advantage to the organization by defining strategic differentiating capabilities, as well as developing the process of identifying and nurturing the same. The process also empowers the HR department to create a positive effect on the strategy of the organization and to provide the link between the strategy and the talent management process. Beardwell and Claydon (2007) note that various studies have shown that this process is a strategy for a competitive advantage in the following ways: it clarifies the present and future responsibilities and roles; it maximizes the contribution of all employees; it aligns human capital needs with the strategy of the organization; it focuses efforts on recruitment, development, and training that are instrumental in enhancing employees’ performance and the ultimate success of the organization; it minimizes the disruption that may arise from sudden departures; and ensures knowledge and skills is transferred across intergenerational workforce in the organization. It has been argued that unlike other non contingent capabilities that cannot contribute to a greater extent towards development of sustainable competitive advantage of an organization, talent management process has the potential of achieving greater and sustainable competitive advantage in an organization (Silzer & Dowell, 2010). A well designed talent management strategy should change with the expectation of the organization doubling in five to six years. This is ideal in ensuring that the organization continually sustains or improves its competitive advantage. Since organizations have short and long term goals, it is critical that talent management strategy should change to suit these goals as well as to adapt to the ever-changing trends and situations in management (Armstrong, 2007). The changes should be done carefully to ensure that the organization derives maximum benefit from the strategy and achieves its short and long term goals. To achieve this, organization should align the strategy closely with its overall strategic plan and overall organizational needs. The alignment process should be continuous and should demonstrate the ongoing values of employees in the organization (Israelite, 2010). Talent management strategy should change with anticipation that the organization’s capabilities will double in five to six years. While this may not mean that the organization’s responsibilities and even size will double, the changes should take into consideration such possibilities. Employees should be engaged in the change process in order to create an enhanced employee ownership in the ultimate success of the organization. Also, the change process should seek to enhance the commitment of employees to the organization in order to motivate them towards meeting the objectives of the organization that is anticipated to double after a period of five to six years (Blass, 2009). References Armstrong, M. (2007). A handbook of human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page. Beardwell, J., & Claydon, T. (2007). Human resource management: A contemporary approach. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Blass, E. (2009). Talent management: Cases and commentary. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan. Israelite, L. (2010). Talent management: Strategies for success from six leading companies. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Silzer, R. F., & Dowell, B. E. (2010). Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership imperative. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Read More