TALENT MANAGEMENT

Talent management practices have evolved over the years to cater to people-specific trends
much like all other aspects of work, and have changed in fast strides over the last few years.
Strategic talent management is a necessity in today’s hyper-change environment. Global trends
in talent and human capital management have led to a renaissance of the work-worker-
workplace equation.
Talent Management is required basically to manage the Talent Gap. Talent Gap refers to lack
of skilled personnel in an organization. Occasionally, every organization faces such an issue
over time. However, HR Department must make an all-out effort to fill this gap as Persistent
gap may hamper the employee and organization as a whole. By Identifying areas where
proficiency is needed, knowing the KSA required, looking for persons with the required KSA,
identifying the talent gap, providing training and development Talent Gap can be reduced.
Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance,
either through their immediate contribution or in the longer term by demonstrating the highest
level of potential.
According to McKinsey, talent consist of:
A person’s abilities, Intrinsic gifts, Skills, knowledge and experience, Intelligence, Judgement,
attitude, character and drive, Ability to learn and grow.
Thus, Talent Management has become one of the most important issues in corporate HR and
training today. Organizations know that they must have the best talent in order to achieve the
best possible outcome in the long run. It is the science of using strategic HR to improve business
value and make it possible for companies and organizations to reach their goals.
Talent Management is a continuous process that involves sourcing, hiring, developing,
retaining and promoting them while meeting the organization’s requirements simultaneously.
It refers to a conscious and deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people
with the aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organizational needs.
TALENT= COMPETENCE+COMMITMENT+CONTRIBUTION
Talent management is defined as the methodically organized, strategic process of getting the
right talent onboard and helping them grow to their optimal capabilities keeping organizational
objectives in mind.
The process thus involves identifying talent gaps and vacant positions, sourcing for
and onboarding the suitable candidates, growing them within the system and developing
needed skills, training for expertise with a future-focus and effectively engaging, retaining and
motivating them to achieve long-term business goals.
An example of talent management:
Real-life examples of talent management happen every day. Consider, for instance, an apparel
retailer that wants to transition its business model from simply supplying clothes to delivering
customers a truly service-based experience. To achieve this goal, the organization’s leaders
know they will need a new breed of associates and managers. They therefore implement
assessment and applicant tracking tools to help them hire the right candidates and use real-time
performance data to give supervisors the insights they need to make smarter decisions.

IMPORTANCE OF TALENT MANAGEMENT:

1. Attracting top talent
HR applies effec ve talent management strategies to help iden fy the specific skills and quali es they
need in new hires, making the recruitment process more efficient and effec ve. What’s more, when
employees feel valued, supported, and invested in, they are more likely to speak posi vely about their
employer. This helps organiza ons enhance their reputa on and employer brand and a ract new
talent.

2. Driving organizational performance

Employees with the right skills and competencies in the right posi ons are able to maximize their
contribu on to the organiza on, resul ng in improved produc vity and organiza onal performance.
In other words, by a rac ng and retaining top talent and crea ng a culture of performance excellence,
organiza ons can achieve be er results, gaining a compe ve advantage.

3. Better succession management

Effec ve talent management includes iden fying and developing high-poten al employees to assume
key roles in the organiza on in the future. Succession management ensures that cri cal posi ons can
be filled quickly, minimizing disrup ons to business opera ons, which guarantees business con nuity.

4. Stronger organizational culture

Implemen ng talent management prac ces helps foster a posi ve and suppor ve organiza onal
culture, which boosts morale, produc vity, and overall performance. As such, HR professionals must
priori ze talent management efforts and develop strategies that align with the company’s goals and
values.

5. Promoting innovation
By challenging their employees to grow and develop, organiza ons create an environment where
people can voice new ideas and innovate. This enables businesses to stay ahead of the compe on by
developing and improving their products and services.

6. Developing employee skills

Talent management focuses on developing employee skills through training, mentoring, and coaching.
By inves ng in employee development, employers encourage performance and career growth. That
helps them not only to fill skills gaps and build a skilled workforce but also retain it.

7. Improving employee retention

Losing top performers is costly, both in terms of recruitment and lost produc vity. Talent management
prac ces that priori ze employee engagement, recogni on, and career development help retain
valuable employees and reduce turnover rates.

8. Enhancing agility
Businesses that effec vely manage talent adapt to changing business circumstances and emerging
possibili es more swi ly.

9. Avoiding unnecessary costs

It can be expensive to recruit and onboard new employees. High turnover can disrupt business
opera ons and lower morale. Op mizing your talent management prac ces can lead to significant cost
savings.

PURPOSE OF TALENT MANAGEMENT:

 To compete effectively in a complex and dynamic environment to achieve sustainable
development.
 Filling in gaps
 Enhancement of performance
 To develop leaders for tomorrow from within an organization.
 To maximize employee performance as a unique source of competitive advantage.
 To empower employees: Cut down on high turnover rates, Reduce cost of constantly
hiring new people.

PROCESS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT:

 Workforce planning: Most talent strategies begin with defining the skillsets that will
be required to achieve the business’s objectives.
 Recruitment: Acquiring talent consists of representing the employer brand effectively,
determining where the right candidates can be reached, pre-screening applicants and
interviewing promising prospects.
 Onboarding: A structured onboarding program that introduces employees to the
workplace culture and helps them feel connected to and comfortable with their team
and organization is essential to retention.
 Performance management: Reviews and check-ins with team leaders help employees
build upon their strengths, thereby increasing engagement and reducing turnover and
making it possible for employers to meet key business objectives.
  Training and performance support: This is critically important function. Learning
and development program is provided to all levels of the organization. This function
itself is evolving into a continuous support function.
While it was once considered the employee’s responsibility to seek learning
opportunities, many workers today expect their employers to provide the tools,
guidance, and support they need to further their careers.
 Succession planning: as organization evolves and changes, there is a continuous need
to move people into new positions. Succession planning enables managers and
individuals to identify the right candidates for a position. This must be aligned with the
business plan to understand and meet requirements for key positions. Preparing for the
next step in the employee journey – whether it’s career advancement, retirement or
resignation – can help people transition to new roles quickly and limit disruptions.
 Compensation and benefits: Fair compensation is important, but employers who want
to attract and retain talent should take a holistic view of the perks and benefits they
offer beyond a pay check.
 Critical skills gap analysis: An important but often overlooked function in many
industries and organizations. How do you identify the roles, individuals and
competencies which are leaving? What should you do to fill these gaps? We call this
critical talent management and many organizations go through this.

RECENT TRENDS IN TALENT MANAGEMENT

TALENT WAR: Finding and retaining the best talent is the most difficult aspect of HRM. HR
survey consultancies are one in their view that organizations globally are facing a dearth of
talented employees and its often more difficult to retain them. Further research also has shown
that there is clear link between talent issues and overall productivity.
TECHNOLOGY AND TALENT MANAGEMENT: Technology is getting introduced into
people development. Online employee portals have become common place in organization to
offer easy access to employees to various benefits and schemes. They can also manage their
careers through these portals and also it helps organizations understand their employees better.
TALENT MANAGEMENT TO RESCUE HR: HR has been compelled to focus on
qualitative aspects equally and even more than quantitative aspects like head count etc. through
TM more efforts is now being laid on designing and maintaining employee scorecards and
employee surveys for ensuring talent is nurtured and grown perpetually.
INCREASE IN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE INITIATIVES: An organization’s perceived as
an employer helps improve its brand value in the eyes of its consumer. Most importantly it
helps to attract the right talent.
PROMOTING TALENT INTERNALLY: as individual is hired when there is a fit between
his abilities or skills and requirements of the organization. The next step is enabling learning
and development of the same so that he/she stays with the organization. This is employee
retention. An enabled or empowered means an empowered organization. It is also of interest to
organizations to know their skills inventories and then develop the right individual for
succession planning internally.
POPULATION WORRIES GLOBALLY: World populations are either youth or aging.
Example: by 2050 60% of Europe’s working population will be over 60. on the other hand a
country like India can boast of a young population in the coming and present times. Population
demographics are thus a disturbing factor for people managers. Still more researches have
predicted that demographics changes in US will lead to shortage of 10 million workers in the
near future.

BENEFITS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT:

PROBLEMS OR ISSUES IN TALENT MANAGEMENT:

 Some talent needs motivation
 Costs of training and monitoring in talent management strategies.
 Lack of follow up of development initiatives.
  Potential for grooming people for the positions that may not exist in the future.
 Possibility of staff being headhunted by other organization for their new skills and
knowledge.

TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY:

 Organizations today recognize the need for an evolved talent strategy – one that doesn’t
just align to business goals, but also drives outcomes. Here are some examples:
 Make workplace culture a top priority: When employees are happy and feel like they
belong, they contribute more and stay in their jobs longer.
 Provide plenty of growth opportunities: With very few exceptions, employees will
leave their jobs unless they have visibility into their career progression options and the
right support to pursue them.
 Ensure that employees are using their strengths: Understanding what each employee
brings to the table and matching individuals to the roles and assignments where they
can contribute the most helps improve engagement and efficiency.
 Compensate workers fairly: It’s critical for employers to have accurate, real-time
benchmarks on compensation data specific to their industry and geographic region if
they want to attract and retain in-demand talent.
 Hire diverse talent: By providing broader perspectives and new approaches, diversity
can improve problem solving and it shows that an organization represents the
community it serves.

CONCLUSION:
In today’s business environment of going, competition has become intense. Talent management
has become one of the most important buzzwords in Corporate HR and training today.
Organizations know that they must have the best talent in order to succeed in the
hypercompetitive and increasingly complex global economy. They must manage talent as a
critical resource to achieve the best possible results in the long run.