Talent management planning – where HR are going wrong

There’s an old adage that you cannot run before you can walk. The same principle can be applied to talent management; you cannot create an effective talent management strategy without first understanding the business strategy.

That’s because talent management is more than recruitment, it’s about unifying talent strategy with business objectives. By focusing first on business operations and the organisation’s strategic goals, you can accurately and very naturally prepare for the future and provide the necessary skills as and when required for the maximum benefit.

As well as linking to business strategy, effective talent management responds to outside factors that could impact the organisation and the skills it requires. For instance, what will be the impact of skill shortages or rapid technological advances?

This bigger picture thinking ensures you know what you are planning for and can answer questions such as; what skills are needed, and by when? Are these skills currently available in our workforce? If not, can employees be upskilled or promoted to fill skill gaps? If so, how can suitable employees be identified? Which skills will need to be recruited externally? Do we require permanent or temporary/contract resources?

What are HR departments missing?

Given the number of factors today’s HR professionals need to take into consideration, it’s logical that many in HR look for further insights from big data and analytics. Accurately forecasting workforce requirements, future skill gaps and even predicting resignations barely scratch the surface of the answers big data can provide.

However, it seems the adoption of these tools is far from universal. In a recent survey of 1,516 employers and employees, only 30 percent of employers said they use data and analytics to organise, operate and manage talent, while 22 percent plan to begin using data in this way in the next 12 months. That leaves almost half who have no current or future plans to use big data and analytics for talent management purposes.

Perhaps this is due to the challenges employers say they face when using data and analytics in talent management. According to our survey, these include making sure the data collected is meaningful and will help make informed talent decisions (87 per cent), up-skilling the HR team to use data to make decisions (43 percent), legal issues around the data that can and can’t be used and what can be done with it (19 percent), data security (18 percent), recruiting a data engineer and data scientist (12 per cent) and data storage (12 percent).

What else should they be looking for?

I’ve focused so far on the importance of using data and analytics to link talent management to an organisation’s objectives and the wider world of work in which we all operate. Now I’d like to look at what it is candidates want since this too is a key talent management factor you need to consider.

According to our survey, the number one reason people look for another job is for more challenging or exciting work (61 percent) followed closely by a lack of career development (60 percent). This presents an opportunity for employers to link career development and the provision of new, exciting and challenging tasks with the organisation’s overall goals.

In our survey 68 percent of employers said they align the career development of their staff with the current and future skills their organisation will need to achieve its goals. But 11 percent do not, another 11 percent only do so for their top performers and the final 10 percent only do so for future leaders. Yet 80 percent of employees want – and expect – to be involved in projects that help develop their skills so that they can move into a higher-level role. To develop their career they also expect internal training (69 per cent) and mentorship programmes (66 percent).

This is positive news since rapid technological change and the digitalisation of the workforce will make upskilling your existing staff even more important if you are to keep up with the rapid rate of change. This includes artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, which are expected to take over the routine and repetitive functions of a job, leaving staff free to focus on higher-level duties. How this will play out in your organisation should certainly be factored into your talent management strategy.

I hope these tips help you manage, develop, retain and plan talent effectively. For more on talent management, look out for my upcoming blog on how to determine if a top performer is likely to excel in a management role.

Hopefully you found this blog valuable. Here are some other related blogs that you will also enjoy:

• Interviewers – how can you find the best person for the job?
• How to assess ‘fit’ in a job interview
• Come on HR – Make the most of your Data
• Three common mistakes to avoid when writing a job advert
• How to ensure your candidate enjoys their interview
• Seven ways to keep your team motivated when times get tough

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Author

Nick Deligiannis

Former Managing Director, Hays Australia & New Zealand

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Nick Deligiannis began working at Hays in 1993 and since then has held a variety of consulting and management roles across the business, including the role of Director responsible for the operation of Hays in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. In 2004  Nick was appointed to the Hays Board of Directors, and was made Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

Prior to joining Hays, he had a background in human resource management and marketing, and has formal qualifications in Psychology.