Esteemed Magazines August-September 2009 | Page 8

Human Resource Managing Talent Have you noticed lately, even in these • leadership development times of times of economic meltdowns and high inflation that more people are leaving Above all we must maintain profitable growth to employment voluntarily? It’s like people are stay ahead of the competition sure of their Plan B and Plan C as far as making a living is concerned. I have been wondering about this trend a whole lot and it drove us to research far and wide. In our research we discovered that in the business world, as far as top notch employees are concerned, its not all about salary and benefits any more. TALENT is the big word that has set off HRM functions in many companies. It is quickly becoming apparent that identifying, managing, rewarding and talented staff is the only way to survive. It is talent that sustains and keeps fresh the innovative spirit within an organization. Recruitment firms, having realized this have gone a notch higher in head hunting for their clients and they are as many as those who they are hunting. Companies are therefore employing every means possible to attract and retain good people. In summation, one HR manager put it across that creating an environment and culture that supports and encourages talent exploration is what makes their company a career destination of choice. • Succession planning • Workforce planning • Compensation and • Diversity Admittedly, competitive advantage has become increasingly more difficult to achieve with consumers being more informed and selective and globalization taking the face of an eliminator of traditional competition barriers. It is with this scope of information that the challenge of strategic talent management has become more complicated. The best companies are coming to the realization that managing talent is the most important element of their business strategy and they are taking action. How to manage talent - effectively? It just might be that talent is the last great hope for competitive advantage and business development. The open and public secret about talent is that it cannot be copied. That means if you manage the talent within your organization, competition will not have leverage over you. Unfortunately, mismanagement or non-management of talent is fresh ground for an attack from your competitors. Recruit, manage and Reward talent This needs to be developed and worked through the company culture for the current and foreseeable future of the company. In other words, see it, shape it, provide for it and reap from it Page 8 the competencies that will lead us to achieving our business goals. To this end, we need to link position competencies and performance assessments directly to learning initiatives. We must direct human capital improvement projects to have the most impact on our business. Job enrichment In order to stimulate innovation and intrapreneurship, you need to involve high potential people directly in the (re)design of their own job functions. Enrich the jobs of your team members by engaging and challenging them to think about how everything can be done in a better way-including the design of their own work. Talent Management System This affects all business processes as it is the meeting point of all internals (HR, Finance, Marketing, Line management, etc) and externals (customers, labor, government etc. The challenge is to mould the talent in your people into a competitive advantage. Importance of Talent Management If we say that people are the most important asset in an organization, why then would we not manage talent with the same care and attention that we would manage any other part of the business? How can we expect a reasonable return on the investments we make in talent if we fail to manage it to the same level as other parts of the business? Treat EVERYONE as a career employee Why manage Talent? Simple answer: We need to come to grips with and take advantage of the continually changing nature of employment relationships. We must continuously improve business [processes, while maintaining top level efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, we must maintain profitable growth to stay ahead of the competition. From the top of the career ladder to the lowest rung; from entry level to retirement and in every corner of the business, talent must be well managed through: Talent doesn’t just jump out to you. You need to ensure that ALL staff in the organization know that they are appreciated and treat them like you wa