Talent
Management
Strategy Template
Strategy Document
Developing and implementing an
effective talent management strategy
Many HR groups struggle to formulate a talent management
strategy that maps out their goals and priorities for the year
and ties these to their organization’s strategic plan and goals.
The reasons why are varied, but without a talent management
strategy and plan, the results are usually the same – the HR
team is not seen as playing a strategic role in their
organization, and talent management activities aren’t given the
organizatonal importance they should have.
Often the hardest part is getting started with the right
framework for the strategy and plan. To help you, this
template walks through the typical steps in a strategic
planning process, so you can use to draft your own HR talent
management strategy.
1 Identify
organizational
goals/priorities
2
Identify
organizational
drivers and
challenges
HR stategic
talent 3
management Identify
gaps
planning
process
Define HR
4 priorities
and goals
5 Inventory your
talent management
processes/functions
and address gaps
6 Measure the results and
communicate success/contributions
Talent Management Strategy Template 2
Step 1: Identify organizational goals/priorities
What are your organization’s strategic high-level goals or priorities? Are there any upcoming changes or
new directions/initiatives for the organization? Start by listing each one of them.
Goal Descriptions Timing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Step 2: Identify organizational drivers and challenges
Identify and consider the key drivers and challenges that could impact your organization’s ability to achieve
its goals. Consider both internal and external challenges. These could include things like a highly
competitive job market, new or changed legislation/regulations, results from an employee satisfaction
survey, new technology, etc.
Drivers and challenges
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Step 3: Conduct a gap analysis
Compare where your organization is today with where it wants to be, and identify any gaps that it needs to
address in order to achieve its goals. In identifying each gap, consider also the risk of not addressing the gap.
For example, if your organization has a goal to rank #1 in the industry for customer satisfaction, you need to identify
your current customer satisfaction rating and the rating required to rank #1 in your industry, then identify the gap
between these two. The risk of not improving customer satisfaction ratings by this degree could include
a drop in market share or in sales.
Example
Goal Gap Risk
Drop in market share of 13%.
Need to increase
Rank #1 in the industry for
customer satisfaction rating by Drop in market position from #2 to #3
customer satisfaction
7% points.
Decreased sales of $1.5 million
Gap analysis template
Goal Gap Risk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Step 4: Define your HR priorities and goals
Based on the goals, challenges and gaps you identified in steps 1–3, identify HR
goals for the coming year to support the organization in achieving its goals. You
should typically identify 3–5 goals. Don’t forget to make them SMART (specific,
measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, time-bound) and link them to the
applicable corporate goals.
When defining your measures of success, make sure you include ways to measure both
the implementation and effectiveness. That is, was the initiative executed as planned,
as well as did the initiative have the desired effect.
Example
Title Coordinate training in customer service competencies for Support organization.
Source training courses in customer focus, communication and analytical thinking
Description for the support organization to help improve individual and overall ratings for these
competencies.
Courses/activities must be identified by end of Q2. All courses/activities must be
Due Date offered/conducted before end of Q4.
Relevant training courses are sourced by end of Q2.
Measure
Courses are scheduled and held before end of Q4.
of Success
90% of support staff complete the training by end of Q4.
Priority High
Dependencies Budget for training courses needs to be approved before end of Q1.
Resources None other than regular HR staff.
Costs Goal is to not exceed $1000/ employee for training.
Corporate
Rank #1 in the industry for customer satisfaction
Goal Supported
HR goal template
Title
Description
Due Date
Measure
of Success
Priority
Dependencies
Resources
Costs
Corporate
Goal Supported
Talent Management Strategy Template 5
Step 5: Inventory your talent
management processes/functions
Next, do an inventory of your current HR talent management processes to determine if you need to make
any changes to existing process or add new process to support your goals. Where gaps or needed changes
are identified, put plans in place to address them.
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
Recruiting
Talent inventory reporting
Requisition creation
Requisition approval
Job postings
Resume management
Interview management
Candidate assessment
Candidate selection
Offer creation
Offer approval
Offer extension
Job description management
Role specific job descriptions
Job codes assigned for job descriptions
Job description assignment to all employees
Job description maintenance/update process
Job descriptions linked to performance appraisal
Review of job codes and job description
assignments for all employees
On-boarding
On-boarding program definition
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
New hire on-boarding checklists
New hire training requirements
New hire training completion tracking
New hire goal creation/assignment
New hire goal alignment
Probationary/new hire reviews
Progress reports for new hires
Orientation compliance reporting
New hire survey
Goal management
Organizational goal definition
Organizational goal communication
Employee goal definition
SMART goals
Role specific job descriptions
Goal progress/status reporting (organization
and employee)
Goal alignment reporting
Development planning
Development plans to address current
performance gaps
Development plans to address professional
development (current role)
Development plans to address career development
(future roles)
Reporting on overall training requirements
Reporting on development plan progress
Talent Management Strategy Template 7
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
Reporting on development history and impact on
performance
Reporting on existence of development plans to
address poor performance
Competency assessment
Definition of organizational competencies
Organizational competency assessment
Definition of job specific competencies
Job specific competency assessment
Definition of leadership competencies
Leadership competency assessment
Competency assessments by others (not manager)
Reporting on competency ratings
Reporting on competency gaps
Addressing of competency gaps
Performance review
Annual performance review
Quarterly performance review
Ongoing feedback and coaching
Performance improvement plans (corrective action)
Performance improvement plan progress reporting
Detailed review status reporting
On time completion reporting
Reporting on individual, group and organizational
scores
Talent Management Strategy Template 8
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
360 degree feedback
HR initiated
Manager initiated
Employee initiated
Management/leadership assessment
Employee assessment
Report on 360 feedback
Report on results by rater
Reporting of results by relationship group
Compensation management
Pay for performance
Salary scale establishment
Compensation budget allocation
Merit increase allocations
Bonus criteria
Bonus allocation
Stock option allocation
Process status reporting
Budget allocation reporting
Compensation adjustment/payout reporting
Succession planning
Identification of high potentials
Identification of retention risks
Assessment of workforce potential
Identification of needed talent pools
Talent Management Strategy Template 9
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
Creation of talent pools
Talent pool development plans
Reassessment of talent pool members
Reporting on status of development activities for
talent pool
Identification of succession candidates
Reporting on talent assessment process status
Reporting on talent assessment results
Comparing/ranking of employees based on
performance and succession data
Development/learning management
Learning catalog
Scheduling of session based learning
Use of e-learning
Tracking of scores, pass/fail
Certification management
Tracking of certification expiries
Measurement of training effectiveness
Competency gap reporting
Development needs/plans reporting
Course attendance reporting
Off-boarding
Manager checklist
Exit Interview
Trends for departures reporting
Attrition by manager reporting
Talent Management Strategy Template 10
Have Need Need to
Talent management function
in place to add improve
Departures by performance rating reporting
Other (specify)
Step 6: Measure the results and
communicate successes/contributions
With your HR goals and priorities in place, it’s important to assess and measure their effectiveness and
communicate the results to the organization. As you work on achieving each goal, make sure you track
relevant metrics so you can report on progress and success, or take corrective action as needed. This is
important to help you determine if the goal or associated initiative was effective and is worth retaining.
Again, make sure you measure both the implementation and effectiveness. That is, was the initiative
executed as planned, as well as did the initiative have the desired effect.
For each HR goal, define the methods you will use to communicate results:
Example
HR goal Results Audience Method Frequency
Relevant course identification Monthly update
Coordinate training All managers Email
in customer service in customer Monthly
Schedule and conduct
competencies for support, VP of communication
courses before the
Support operations re course schedule/
end of Q4
organization availability
Customer support staff
Quarterly update of
completion of required
course completion
courses on customer
rates by staff
service competencies
Results communication template
HR goal Results Audience Method Frequency
1.
2.
3.
4.
Talent Management Strategy Template 11
Conclusion
Establishing a talent management strategy, and executing it, is not an easy task, but definitely
one that will deliver benefits to both HR and your organization overall. With talent
management best practices in place, you can build a world-class workforce that is aligned,
inspired and delivering exceptional results - and most importantly, helping your organization
achieve its strategic goals.
The Saba Experience:
Your success
24/7 customer support Regular user group meetings
Collaborative online Standard or customized
starts here!
customer community implementation services
Value-added strategic Dedicated customer
services success rep
Learning Performance Engagement Recruiting Workforce Planning
Every company says they want to engage, motivate and inspire their people. As we see it, the problem is not that they can’t – it’s that they don’t have
the environment that really enables their top talent to thrive. Saba creates that environment, with talent development solutions that put people and
teams in the driver’s seat of their own experience, while staying aligned to your business goals. And delivering deep performance insights that
connect people to business success, like no one else can. Saba. The Talent Development Company.
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