Talent Management: A Distinct Competitive Advantage
Govindraj V & Kavita T

Talent management is a strategic way of selecting, recruiting, developing, and retaining staff. The term "talent-management systems" doesn't necessarily mean systems in the software sense, but it certainly encompasses that. The difference between talent-management and HR systems is that the former is a strategic process, while the latter is administrative and tactical processes. For example, HR is still heavily skewed toward administrative processes, like benefits administration. Talent management is skewed toward thinking about workforce optimization, development, and strategic recruiting and retention. The more a premium is placed on human capital and talent, the more companies become reliant on highly skilled knowledge workers, and the more they have to infuse their organizations with the concept of talent management.

The Employee Life Cycle

Companies that invest in employees’ professional growth will increase their life cycles considerably

To be successful, enterprises must recognize the importance of optimizing the return on their human capital investment. Enterprises must understand the crucial difference between skills and competencies, and how this understanding will allow them to identify and nurture high-performing and high-potential employees. Employees must be empowered to achieve their professional and personal goals in alignment with the enterprise’s goals. This requires an employee-driven career development program and a process to effectively manage the employee life cycle. A proactive talent management process allows enterprises to focus limited training dollars on the core competencies and skills needed to meet the ongoing demands of mission-critical projects and keep the business moving forward.

Candidates’ Business and Behavioral Competencies Vs Traditional Technical Skills and Knowledge.

Employees and candidates should be judged by their competencies. Competencies are those characteristics (behavioral, business and technical) that, when applied, distinguish and predict superior performance in a given role. Although skills and knowledge are elements that can easily be identified, competencies are those characteristics that are not easily identified but have an equal or higher impact on performance. High-performing workers must possess analytical, technical, communicative and entrepreneurial competencies. Internal and external recruitment must be competency-based.

Employees with the appropriate skill and competency mix are the key factor that will help an enterprise grow. Their knowledge makes a distinctive difference in the marketplace and differentiates enterprises from respective competitors. Understanding weaknesses is as important as understanding strengths, as it helps enterprises better concentrate on the alignment of core abilities, critical business objectives, sourcing initiatives and employee goals. When undertaking project staffing initiatives, consider employees’ personal preferences as a deciding factor — employee desire coupled with limited experience ensures a better fit, as opposed to the selection of a highly skilled employee with no desire.

Better talent at all levels results in a distinct competitive advantage. To motivate and grow a talented workforce, enterprises must:

• Understand and embrace the importance of talent management.

• Believe in the employee value proposition (life cycle).

• Integrate talent management processes.

• Help employees to be successful by encouraging the development of new competencies and skills.

If an enterprise does not actively communicate concrete guidelines for advancement, it will find itself continually fighting a losing battle in the retention and recruitment wars. Although retention may not be a key factor today, companies that keep the talent pipeline primed will be ready when opportunities arise. Successful enterprises create and deploy a process to develop role definitions and identify needed business, technical and behavioral competencies, as well as required skills, learning paths and resources that will:

1. Enable employees to achieve their professional goals while at the same time contributing strongly to the goals of the enterprise

2. Provide both managers and staff with the ability to actively plan and manage their futures within an enterprise

3. Provide consistent development criteria across the enterprise to ensure equitable performance assessments

4. Provide 360-degree skill and competency assessments

5. Allow enterprises to make knowledgeable decisions about employee selection, succession planning, performance management and compensation

6. Increase individual, team and organizational performance

7. Allow employees to compare roles within a given career path, thus providing an analytical tool to guide their professional development. 

Summary

• At least two times per year, inventory and assess competencies and skills to better understand     your present and needed talent reserves.

• Align training and development activities with competency and skill gaps.

• Balance resource assignments based on organizational needs and individual preferences.

• Link core competencies and skills to specific roles and job families.

• Shorten nonproductive stages and increase Employee Life Cycle Value through job rotation.

Most ITES workers see their talents as portable; that is, they are no longer committed to long-term employment at one company — unless they have an incentive to stay. During this economy, financial incentives are difficult to justify. Career development options, relevant training and other noncash incentives go a long way to keeping employees motivated and challenged. Understanding, embracing and making full use of the ELC proposition presents a significant opportunity for enterprises to maximize the value of their people investments. As a proven best practice, enterprises must ensure that they are effectively aligning strategic business goals with employees’ development goals, as well as retaining the long-built knowledge and culture bases that actually define them.

Bibliography

Referred Article on Creativity by Linda L. Oestreich
Parallel Thinking in Problem Solving – Edward deBono
Talent Management - Gartner

Author:

1. Govindraj V,
   Sales Officer – Saffron Global Limited, Gurgaon
   vg_raj@sifymail.com

2. Kavita T,
   Sr. Team Leader, Solutions Integrated Marketing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi