Talent Management

Talent Management

'Today's high performers are like frogs I'n a wheelbarrow. They can jump out any time',
cautions an expert while talking about the war for talent. This only underscores the importance of talent management and the need for an appropriate retention policy.

HR today is no longer concerned with just managing the human resource. It is rather managing human capital, human assets and from this point of view, one can say that it is actually human talent management. People with talents is certainly a long term bet for any organization because those can contribute better towards the organization's growth.
But, identifying or spotting talent, growing and nurturing them, retaining them all pose serious challenges for modern-day HR Managers.


What is talent :-Talent represents unusual, unique or innate capability in an individual in a particular field or activity It is something that an individual possesses and that sets him apart from other persons. People can be talented I'n a variety of ways and in a variety of fields. But I'n the organizational contact the relevant aspects are with respect to what the organization expects in terms of value to the organization. These could be good communication skills, the power to grasp, quickness in decision making, facing up to challenging situations, ability to perform under pressure, ability to shoulder higher responsibilities, and an attitude to win, come what may.

Spotting talent: Spotting talent is both easy and difficult at the same time; easy because, many a time, watching a person performing his assigned duties, could bring out the talent of a person. Difficult, because many a time one has to bring out to the open the talent hidden I'n an individual, and this requires some special efforts.
I'n view of the rapidly changing technological developments and the way organizations work, the parameter of talents required will also undergo a transformation.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, 'the war for talent is fierce, and is likely to become more so with the massive number of employees retiring I'n the next five years. Top organizations are moving beyond the vanilla "employer of choice" concept to
a more rigorous strategy of attracting and retaining the right employees through branding.'

Nurturing talent: Nurturing talents is another important aspect. The organization has to make it known to to the individuals that his or her special talents are noticed by them. Apart from this, the organization has to ensure that the ' flowers' (the highly talented employees) are allowed to blossom and not allowed to 'blush unseen and waste it's sweetness on the desert air'. This essentially means that opportunities are provided to the 'high flyers' to show-case their talents, and develop them, at the same time providing opportunities for developing talents In other vital areas of interest to the organization too. One way of bringing out hidden talent is to observe the individual when shifted to an altogether new area of work and how he is able to cope up with the hitherto unexplored area of work, as far as he is concerned.

Motivation and rewards: Motivation plays a crucial role in developing and retaining talents. Apart from salary increases, there should be challenges in terms of complex assignments, involvement in decision making, special rewards and recognition programs and fast-track promotion opportunities, delegation of authority and power and so on.

Retention of talent: Retention acquires particular significance, since even if one talented employee leaves, the cost of replacement will be immense. The importance of retention of high-fliers has already been highlighted I'n the beginning.The policies and programs of HR should be so oriented as to retain the talent within the organization. HR should give an indication that 'there is something to stay on' within the organization, so that retention policy is effective. The environment I'n the organization is something which will make people remain attached to the organization. An open door policy, providing direct access for the employees to the top man I'n the organization, freedom for experimentation, will all contribute to prevent attrition.

Retention of key persons like head of department or head of a project is vital. I'n order to ensure that there is no sudden vacuum when a key person leaves, there should be more people trained to hold such key positions, so that when one leaves, his role could be taken over by the other equally trained person. I'n his book, Corporate Chanakya, Mr. Radhakrishna Pillai gives solution for such a situation, based on the Chanakya philosophy. Chanakya advises to split the responsibility implying that instead of having one such head, the organization has three heads; so, when one leaves, one of the remaining heads takes over. Pillai narrates an interesting situation: 'A company once had a vacancy for a President's post. But it appointed three Vice-Presidents instead and split the job. Amazing results were achieved. I'n the long run, they ended up with two highly productive Presidents.'


Organization culture: A feeling of oneness should be an important part of the culture and values followed by the organization. The organization culture should be such as to ensure that people are oriented towards a shared value and work I'n cohesion.


Outsourcing : With increased need for aligning the HR function with the overall business strategy and goals, more and more organizations are resorting to outsourcing of routine functions like recruitment, salary processing, legal issues, compensation etc. It is then and only then HR can devote time and energy for their vital strategic role.

Focus on leadership development: The emphasis should be on development of leaders who could hold reins in the future. Appropriate leadership training programs need to be initiated for this purpose. Availability of leaders who have grown up within the organization, who understand the organization well, who have been moulded to carry on the business goals further ahead will ensure succession planning easier. To quote Dave MacKay, 'leadership comes with empowerment - employees can't be leaders, unless they have the power to take risks, make decisions, innovate and lead '. Hence the significance of leadership development. Leadership development program needs to address all levels of people across the organization, so that there are no adverse impact on the organizational efficiency, due to attrition even at the lowest rung of the corporate ladder.

Leaders so trained and developed should be able to face the tests faced by Sun Tzu's ( the Art of War) soldiers about whom he could send a message to the King, (who wanted to test his abilities), saying: 'Your soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for your majesty's inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire; bid them go through fire and water, and they will not dis-
obey.' Such rigorous training could take you towards victory I'n the war of talent.

The letters I'n the word Talent also aptly convey the simple truths for a successful talent management program, as you can see below.

T - Tact: use tact while dealing with employees and communicating with them
A - Alertness -be always alert about what is happening within the organization,
and organizations outside
L - Leadership - evolve programs to instill leadership qualities I'n employees
E - Empowerment - employees need to be empowered
N - Needs - understand employee needs and expectations
T - Thrill - create the 'Thrill' to be with your organization and to remain tied-up
to your organization.