The growing importance of talent in organizations.
The last years have seen the proliferation of articles, books and conferences that address talent management as an irreplaceable key to the future of organizations that operate in highly competitive markets. We hear people say: 'people are the most important thing in the company', 'we must hire the best at any price', 'if we motivate our people to stay well'. It is also true that we continue to hear, with the same intensity, that "what matters more than potential is results", and that "people have to do what they have to do, not that they are happy."
What is lacking in the market are talented people to think of good ideas and above all to implement them. Competitive advantages are no longer built only with money, with patents or investing in technologies, but with the commitment of people properly aligned around a powerful idea well executed. Companies that think they can “keep on pulling” with mediocre people (mediocre people are easier to manage) will be able to cheat the market for a while but will progressively lose their market share to the detriment of better-prepared companies, with mediocre employees one will no longer you need competitors!
What is talent?
Talent is much more than people, that's why we disagree with the topic that 'people are the most important thing in the company', the most important thing is talented people. But, how is talent defined? Are they only people with a good academic profile, good ideas and oriented towards the achievement of objectives?
There is no doubt that we must surround ourselves with individuals with these characteristics and others, but it is also true that these, as such, do not guarantee the sustainability of the business model in the long term.
Talent = Capacity * Commitment * Aligned Expectations
With this equation we are understanding why talent is a scarce good, people do not usually lack capacity, they lack commitment and if they do, do their life / work expectations fit with the culture of the company to maintain commitment for a long time?
From this reflection it is deduced that all the aspects related to the selection process, which we review below, are vital to reduce the level of unwanted rotation.
How do you attract and retain talent in the company?
In the “war for talent” it is not the one who pays the most who wins, but the one who knows how to attract and retain the best. From the first we can say that companies have started working in recent years. In fact, a study reveals that for 75% of HR managers this is the number one priority, the second is still green. Let's see how to carry out these two functions.
How to get the best to come work with us?
The first contacts that potential talent has with our organizations while the selection processes are carried out are made:
- Through the image that we have of ourselves (which suggests our brand, our social image and the perception that the candidate may have of us as a client). Consulting our website. Do we have it developed thinking only of customers or do we also have spaces for future employees in which they can, in addition to consulting vacancies, get to know us better? Consulting the opinion of former employees. Internet forums proliferate on these topics, so be careful with your reputation… Talking with current employees. If they are happy with us they will be good prescribers.
For our part, in addition to working as far as possible on the points described above (this is everyone's responsibility, not just HR), it is essential that we develop a Brand as an Employer, which has come to be called Employer Branding.
Developing a brand as an employer has to do with:
- Identify our "professional targets". Both the required skills and the individual profiles that the candidates must gather and also how we will be able to meet their needs. We have seen before that verifying a priori that the candidate's expectations are aligned with our culture is fundamental to their commitment and future permanence in the company. Clarify their expectations. Do we know what they really expect from our company? What are we going to offer them in exchange for their commitment and dedication? Build a clear and understandable “value proposition”. In the same way that we need a clear value proposition to “go out to sell”,We need another one to “go shopping” and it has to do with identifying those differential elements that will allow us to connect emotionally with the desired candidate (an attractive professional project, an interesting remuneration, a clear organizational structure,…).
And now that we have them, what?
It is reasonable to think that people, who are not wealthy and therefore do not have more heritage than their professionalism, have the obligation to develop in "environments that bring them", and if they do not succeed in their current organizations, change to others than if they they offer it.
Talent does not offer its commitment easily and this is not so much due to its low involvement but because of the companies that once hired tend to relax and forget loyalty.
We must act with our best employees as we do with our best clients. In the same way that it is vital to identify the most profitable clients of the company and design specific actions that achieve their loyalty, we must identify our most valuable employees and design actions that help to link them even more.
How to get hold of them?
We propose below some good practices that will help us achieve this:
- Establish Frequent, Close and Multi-source communication mechanisms (70% of employees leave their bosses) that promote top-down and bottom-up exchanges of managers with their employees Design specific compensation systems that reward good results in the short term term and others that open future perspectives (effects in the medium term). Locate talent where it can contribute the most, close to its natural fields of interests. If it is not possible, that the situation is provisional, as the saying goes "do not put a turkey to climb a tree it is better to hire a squirrel". Create spaces for the development of talent. As time passes (average 4 years) and objectives are met, the learning curve of individuals decreases. If we do not look for new incentives,talent can become uncompromised. Here we have another good reason that justifies the need that companies have today to grow, since if they do not they will not be able to create sufficient spaces of responsibility for those who come behind…
Indicators that help measure how we do it.
We must understand that it is of utmost importance to have a dashboard of the HR function that collects the people management metrics most appropriate to reality, few but good. It is true that it is not easy to relate the benefits brought by talent (the relationship with clients, patents, intellectual capital or the brand) with business results. The greatest contribution in relating intangibles to value creation in the company is found in the Balanced Scorecard model developed by Kaplan and Norton.
Our experience and some studies say that the easiest indicators for the organization to understand are:
- Employee satisfaction evaluated with a work climate survey. Experience = Years of staff experience / No. People Evolution of performance level = No. Employees with optimal performance / Total evaluated Permanence in the position = Time in the Position / No. Employees Promotions made = Promoted employees / Total internal vacancies Unwanted rotation = Departures <12 months from date of hire / Total number of departures Absenteeism = No. Employees with unplanned absences / Total Employees Skilled Adequacy = No. People with adequate profile / No. People with lower profile Number of training hours / total hours of work
These indicators, and others, must be taken at the company level and at the business unit and / or department level, which will give us information about the morale of the "troop" and the management style of the person in charge of the department. It is convenient within the analyzed area to segment by position, age, age, sex.
In conclusion, talent management in our organizations is key to competitiveness in our companies. So important that it is not an HR responsibility but must be permanently on the management's agenda, which must ensure that it always has the best resources in all the key positions in the organization.
