6 Tips for Successful Talent Management in HR

Talent management is the name given to the strategy of how companies can attract, retain and develop employees who are considered ‘valuable’ to an organisation. It also refers to how companies identify and encourage the development of employees in an organisation over the long-term.

It’s usually aligned to a company’s goals and overall growth strategy, and, as a result, a good talent management strategy will reflect the wider needs of the organisation, reflecting its strengths, combating it’s weakness and capitalising on opportunities for growth.

So, why go to the effort of managing talent?

The simple answer is because the benefits outweigh the costs. Good talent management at an organisation can help to:

• enhance efficiency, performance and output
• create meaningful work for employees
• encourage a learning culture in the workplace
• improve diversity
• add value to your employer brand

Here are some simple tips for successful talent management in HR.

Create a clear talent management strategy

Devising a crystal clear talent management strategy is probably one of the wisest investments of your time that you could make if you’re serious about developing and retaining employees at your organisation.

A talent management strategy is basically just a document that outlines the talent management issues that your organisation faces and how you plan to meet them. It can be as simple or as complex as you like, but the important thing is that it’s matched to the wider strategies and goals of your organisation – that’s the trait that defines a mediocre talent management strategy from an exceptional one.

The exact approach you take will depend on the specific needs and protocols of your own organisation, so we can’t really recommend a one-size-fits-all approach here. We can give you some useful pointers to help though.

The CIPD recommends that you think about these subjects when creating your talent management strategy:

• Recruitment (talent acquisition)
• Talent pools
• Succession planning
• Life-long learning
• Leadership development
• Career management
• Deployment of employees
• Performance management
• Employee engagement
• Employee retention

Anticipate future challenges, needs and opportunities

As talent management is such a long-term process, it calls for a long-term vision. One of the most important areas you need to consider is any possible challenges, needs or opportunities that the company may face in the future – things that some clever talent management now could help you to get on top of.

How do you do that though? The main way is through coming up with a range of possibilities and by using your imagination to ask questions about ‘what if?’

INC recommends using ‘scenario-thinking’ to identify both future challenges and the employees with potential who can respond to them effectively. It’s well worth a read if you’re interested in developing your ability to plan for the future.

Reward good performance!

Rewards and recognition are really important when it comes to retaining your employees and encouraging them to stick around at your company for the long term.

It’s natural to expect some type of recognition if you’re slogging your guts out in a role and you’re really devoting a lot of time, sweat and energy to it.

One recent study, cited in Forbes, found that companies which did something as simple as just regularly thanking their employees for their performance noticeably outperformed their counterparts who didn’t, in multiple areas of their business.

Take an individual approach

A lot of people find talent management a tricky part of HR to master because of the personal touch that it often calls for. Blanket policies don’t really work when it comes to trying to nurture the unique talents of particular employees.

That’s because people respond best to others when they’re treated as individuals and not just as numbers on a spreadsheet.

By taking a looser, more informal approach than traditional employee development models, where you get to know an employee and their interests, quirks and strengths closely, you’ll be able to better tailor support to their development over time.

Pay attention to the ‘loop’

The talent management loop is one way of thinking about the distinct steps and processes that are involved in talent management in general. Thinking about these when you’re going about employee development can help you to manage your teams well.

Attract

Attract candidates with desirable skills, knowledge and attributes to your company

Identify

Identify existing employees at your company who have the potential to become future leaders at your organisation, by focusing on talent, drive and past performance.

Develop

Develop the skills, knowledge and experience of your employees through dedicated training and education programmes, coaching and mentoring.

Engage

Develop a motivating learning culture at work that engages employees and keep them passionate about developing their skills, experience and knowledge.

Retain

Use this learning culture and focus on employee engagement to encourage employees to stay at your organisation and continuing working and developing there.

Deploy

Deploy employees who you have developed in strategic positions across the company, developing their skills and the skills of other employees further.

6. Track your performance

Okay, this might not be the most exciting of tips to put into practice when it comes to transforming your talent management skills but it’s definitely one of the most effective.

Keeping tracking of how well you’re meeting your talent management objectives will give you a good indication of what’s working with your current approach and what needs to be improved.

Some simple metrics to track can include:

• Progress towards goals and targets
• Time taken to complete projects (efficiency!)
• Employee satisfaction

We hope you’ve found this blog useful for getting to grips with talent management. Best of luck in your own practice!

Looking to improve your talent management skills? Get your free CIPD course guide and study a qualification to transform your skills.