Almost every organization and countless senior leaders talk about “talent”. But only a minority really get their groove on with the subject, i.e., walking the talk with their actions on people capability.
There are some key points worth bearing in mind about this.
The 5 things
NO. 1: Expending effort to recruit or develop talent and then failing to take the right steps to retain and harness that talent is just plain stupid.
NO. 2: You should look after your great employees; because people who are really good at what they do seldom stick around in organizations that don’t bring out the best in them.
The same applies to those who just need a bit of help and guidance to up their game and bring their personal magic to the work they do for you.
NO. 3: You can invest gazillions of moolah in “best practice” process improvements and all-singing-all-dancing technology. But, ultimately, best practice processes and tools or technologies can, and will, be replicated by others. Whereas, talent cannot be copied—it can only be acquired and nurtured, through effective recruitment and employee development and engagement.
NO. 4: Refusing to develop your employees for fear of losing them is like refusing to maintain a prized car because it might get stolen. That’s plain organizational stupidity.
The destiny of your organization is inexorably linked to your people capability.
NO. 5: Employees will treat customers, colleagues and other stakeholders in a way that reflects how they themselves are treated and how they feel about their work.
If the vibe they feel is sweet, then the sweetness will flow through.
Talent management is partly about propagating that sweetness.
Some other things
Building and fostering organizational talent isn’t purely about sending people on training courses. Training can be an efficient mechanism for improving technical know-how. But the skills deficits that hinder most employees at work tend to be “soft” competencies—like personal effectiveness, self-leadership and navigating group dynamics.
So your talent development should place appropriate emphasis on growing employees’ soft skills.
Expanding employees’ capabilities shouldn’t be only for the stars in your team/organization. Rather, the approach must be cohesive. Even the clerical staff who oil the wheels of the day-to-day activities are part of your aggregate talent.
Nurturing that talent base also requires good succession planning.
A decent succession planning approach should address the risk of key personnel departures, in tandem with offering career development opportunities that leverage individual employees’ strengths.
It sounds straightforward and isn’t exactly rocket science.
It is indeed straightforward.
It doesn’t require an army of HR or organizational development consultants, any sophisticated all-singing-all-dancing software, or any snake oil salesmen. It’s simply good leadership and organizational effectiveness, i.e., doing the right things for your organization’s sustained success.
Yet a significant proportion of managers and organizations still can’t seem to get it right—to the detriment of their employees and their broader organizational capability.
Perhaps it’s because “the right things” can’t always be measured in numbers or reflected in profit and loss accounts or balance sheets.
If you’re the Big Bwana in the big chair, remember that your best people will leave one day. So it’s vital to cultivate a pipeline of emerging talent, just like many top-flight soccer clubs do through their youth academies.
It’s not a burden
Succession planning is not a burden. It’s just one simple step away from organizational heartbreak and misery.
And it’s an intrinsic element of sound talent management.
An effective talent management approach always augments employee engagement. And having a high proportion of staff whose hearts and minds are aligned to the work agenda is part and parcel of fostering an organizational success culture.
So, ask yourself this: “Am I truly unlocking the immeasurable capabilities and contribution of our organizational talent to secure our enduring success?”
