The basics of talent management
ELBONOMICS: It’s better to empower people. They know the job better than you.
How do we attract and retain the best and brightest for the long term? We have a full-service human resources (HR) department incharge of the entire personnel process — from hiring to firing. We’re also involved in training, compensation, labor relations, and total rewards, among others. So, what are we missing? — Jamaican Salad.
Well, I don’t know. I’m not privy to your HR operations. The best thing that you can do aside from consulting me is to read a lot and be aware of the best practices in your industry. Failing that, it’s time to think outside the box. Try major organizations who may be willing to share their best practices.
Unfortunately, that’s one big challenge as they may not be open to sharing their model practices. This is why you should join professional organizations like the People Management Association of the Philippines and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines. They can help you stay abreast of the latest trends and developments in HR and industrial relations.
Another option is to join organizations in your own business community, export processing zone or similar locations. However, this may take a lot of your time, effort and a little money, with the biggest issue coming from your boss, who may not like the idea. Your ini- tiative may be misinterpreted to mean you’re only interested in expanding your network in the hope of getting a lucrative job somewhere.
EMPLOYER BRANDING
Another issue when you try to attract and retain hardworking employees is to keep tabs on what your current and former employees, even job applicants, say when they’re outside of your organization. It’s easy to keep track of this. Check out what people think about your online presence. Then improve on it. That’s being conscious of employer branding.
What makes your company special in the eyes of employees, the customers, and the general public? Is it training? A competitive pay and perks package? Management style?
What is your turnover rate? Absenteeism and punctuality level? How about labor productivity and the image of your product or service among customers? In other words, how would you define the company’s reputation and popularity? Note however, that we’re not talking here of high salary and benefits.
Even if you’re giving the people the most competitive rate in the job market, applicants and your workers would still reject you if your line leaders have a toxic style. No matter what you do, you should focus on knowing how your company is perceived outside and inside the organization.
TALENT MANAGEMENT
In addition to employer branding, you should understand talent management and how to fully manage the Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits (KASH) of all employees. Talent management means a comprehensive coverage of all HR policies and procedures to attract, develop, motivate and retain high-flying performers.
You need to be proactive in doing KASH. You must know your people very well, including their strengths, weaknesses and career aspirations. And how they must contribute to the attainment of the overall business goals. Take stock of the following basic elements:
One, keep abreast of employee morale and satisfaction levels. This requires an annual organizational climate survey of all employees, who should be allowed to respond anonymously. You can do this once every two years with dedicated and talented line leaders, supervisors, and managers who can help detect even minor employee issues.
Other two-way communication channels include the casual, one-on-one engagement dialogue between a boss and direct reports. This is best completed when done with the help of other platforms like an employee suggestion scheme and quality circles or kaizen problemsolving teams.
Two, conduct a training needs
analysis. However, not all work performance deficiencies can be easily cured through training. First of all, you must work back to include the overall corporate strategy as the central point in assessing employee training needs. There must be a link between the company’s strategies that include vision, mission and value statements.
The activity involves identifying KASH aspects that need to be emphasized for employees in order for them to complete their tasks. This describes what needs to be done in the job and what qualifications are necessary to accomplish them.
Three, maintain an employee KASH board in
every department. A KASH board displays the competencies of each worker as required by a particular department. It contains employee names, job titles, photographs and the KASH profile of each worker.
It includes a circle divided into four parts depicting an employee competency level. Each part represents Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits. If an employee is deemed fully competent, with all four parts darkened. Conversely, if only one or two are darkened, that means a worker must work hard to be deemed fully qualified within a certain time period.