People management is at the heart of any company’s operations. This is why we no longer talk about “resources” but “talent”.
Talent management constitutes, today, a daily job for HR managers and others to go beyond annual appraisals (which we know is of little use) to serve a more open, transparent and inclusive relationship promoting the art of giving feedback.
While defined practices and usages are constantly evolving, the expectations of people grow in the same direction as well. Hence, the new generations, difficult personalities or intercultural management approaches constitute some of the challenges emanating from this field.
Furthermore, the attraction and retention of talent – along with the provision of required support to ensure their development and preserve their motivation and – ultimately – their contribution to the company performance pose other challenges that the companies must overcome to remain effective.
In this respect, it is worth mentioning that talent management enjoys a strategic aspect, where current employees seek to develop skills, thus generating varied positive results reflected in the reduction of turnover rates and the transformation into the leaders of tomorrow, while encouraging others to join the company as well.
To ensure that every vacant position is filled by the best possible candidate is, therefore, a goal that must be jointly achieved by management teams and employees, alike.
This starts with a proper diagnosis of skills to determine the difference between the company’s existing ones and those required to be available to ensure the achievement of its business objectives. Once this has been done, it would be necessary to identify whether the acquisition of missing skills must be carried out internally by training employees on such an acquisition or externally through the recruitment of third-party talent. In the latter case, it is – still – not sufficient to post a job opening. On the one hand, successful sourcing (i.e., talent identification) must be ensure; that is to have all the required means to identify passive candidates – people working elsewhere who are not aware of the job opening nor have the necessary skills therefor. The goal is, therefore, to find the best candidates for the position – and not to sort through those available. On the other hand, it is deemed of great importance to have developed an employer brand in advance so as to generate a sense of pride among employees and desire among potential candidates, as well as to close ranks and to help achieve cohesion and team spirit – all the more important when the company grows significantly (following a merger or – simply – a strong growth and massive recruitment pattern) and requires to bring together employees from different corporate (or personal) cultures.
Now, let’s be clear. These approaches apply to all employees – not just to highly-potential candidates. And, while these can serve as key players, they are not – however – enough to ensure the company’s success.