A talented workforce is like a powerhouse. It has an innate characteristic to achieve unfathomable targets within marginal timelines.
Organizations implement a variety of techniques to acquire, retain, and develop their dexterous personnel. This task is not as easy as it seems. The demand and supply of the labour force are influenced by demographic and geopolitical situations, literacy rate and standard of living, a country’s stage of economic growth, and so on. As a result, skilled labour is perpetually in short supply.
Every country has its statistics depicting talent shortage and the United States of America is no exception. Here, there has always been a severe lack of competent labour. In fact, during the last decade, the talent shortage has tripled. Close to 69 per cent of the hiring team in the country faced issues while looking out for a good fit for their team.
Labour shortage has a direct link to the economic development of a nation. Korn Ferry Insights suggests that by 2030 there will be a global human talent shortage of 85 million people and this would affect cost the world economy close to 8.5 trillion dollars. These figures are startling and talent shortage is soon going to be a momentous economic issue.
All these are enough shreds of evidence that organisations need rock-solid people management strategies.
Before we get into how organisations are aligning their talent management strategies with the ever-changing market situation, let us comprehend first what is talent management.
What is talent management?
Talent management is a never-ending activity that affects every department inside an organisation.
It all starts with employing efficient, qualified, and appropriate people for a specific project. Then attempts are made to improve an employee’s present talents so that he or she can operate at optimal levels fetching desired organisational results. For this Leaders need a talent management strategy.
Talent management strategy is a book of bylaws that aid in wisely managing the current and potential talent force of an organisation.
How to develop talent management strategies:
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Identify the end-game
Every CEO and Founder’s ultimate purpose is to achieve corporate objectives. As a result, it’s critical to match all organisational initiatives, including talent management techniques, to this one end aim.
To do this HR leaders and hiring experts must pose a lucid question – what is the end goal and how human capital can be deployed to achieve it?
Every organization’s end-game is different. It could be anything from – Does the company intend to expand into a new market? Or do you want to introduce a new product? Or does it wish to grow organically and purchase a startup?
Regardless of the nature and style of the organisation, the first step will be to determine the question that leaders wish to answer by implementing talent management strategies.
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Determine the roadmap basis the strategic direction
On deciding the strategic direction the second step is for leaders to identify the favourable and unfavourable variables that must be created, eliminated or modified when deciding on a strategic approach.
For instance: If a company wants to build a factory then it would require skilled labour that can efficiently take over the production in an optimal timeframe.
The goal here is to build a factory, and the road map will include an evaluation of all scenarios, such as whether to hire or relocate existing skilled labour, as well as the associated costs. Hiring local talent and providing adequate training to fit the job is another option to consider. This would aid in retaining the current force, which would otherwise leave due to relocation.
By doing so, the goal of constructing a factory can be met by navigating through new, dependable, and cost-effective alternatives. This is an example of how talent management strategies are intertwined with every business decision.
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Evaluate the existing talent management strategy
Not all strategies need a revamp. Before embarking on a new talent management strategy, leaders must assess the effectiveness of the current action plan.
If gap analysis depicts negative results then it’s sensible to restructure the plan around talent management. However, in most cases, a minor tweak in the plan or its approach can change the game and help achieve desired results. Changing the compensation structure, providing extended health benefits to the family members, shift-change, training programmes, higher educational programmes, etc. are tools that can work as a catalyst.
Also, the cost of evaluating and implementing a new talent management strategy will always be higher. Decision-makers should be mindful of this and must evaluate the strategy at hand first.
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To Build and Implement a transformational talent management strategy
Once the end goal is defined, a road map for achieving it is created, and existing strategies are tested to see if they can assist – the final step is to develop and implement transformational talent management strategies.
These strategies will be unique to every organisation. For some, a mere training session will boost morale and the profit or production numbers might shoot up. While on the other hand, sacking employees who are responsible for the incremental time associated with any task – will be the only right solution.
The HR Leaders can either conduct these activities on their own or hire an expert who can carry out this mammoth process for them.
At Whitehawk Associates (https://whitehawkassociates.com/), we help our clients in addressing such issues. Talk to us about the challenges your organisation is facing and the growth you want to see. Give us a shout at [email protected] by leaving us a quick message and we will be in touch.
Human capital can be leveraged easily yet it is the most sensitive of all elements required to run a business. When Harvard Business Research interviewed 24-high profile CEOs, they mentioned that ‘talent management’ was their topmost concern. Rightly so, CEOs, HR Leaders and Founders are always worried about this capital and therefore talent management strategies serve as strong and indispensable pillars for an organisation.