Why is it that designing and implementing a human talent program in organizations is a costly, complex and not so satisfactory experience for some HR teams, while for others it has become a systematic, methodical practice that enhances the internal climate, the HR brand and the results?
strategic-plan-of-human-talent-how-to-design-and-implement itThe reasons, according to the author, are reduced to three variables: a holistic view of the process, an unusual courage in those responsible for carrying it out and a resilience such that it allows to continue with the Mission of that group, despite the fact that in this 'war for talent', there is no shortage of occasions in which companies themselves become their most dangerous internal adversaries. The 9 phases described below, along with the 18 actions and questions that encourage out of the comfort zone, seek to order and provoke CEOs or Human Resources people, to begin to integrate, in a single model, nature strategy of a Talent Plan.
Introduction
Have you been asked to design and implement a human talent development program and not sure where to start? Have you discovered for yourself that your company's current problems are due to the non-existence of the old 'career plan'? Did it emerge from the climate survey that training, development, communication, recognition and relationships with direct managers are the areas in which people cry out for systematic and urgent intervention from the organization? If so, here I offer you 9 phases that you will unfailingly go through during the process you are thinking of undertaking, and do it successfully. My wish is that it can have an order and a model, a kind of conversational check list of what it will have to do and what it will have to change, so that it can fulfill its purpose,That surely goes beyond responding to a climate survey.
Some years have passed since the moment we took that great first step, in a human resources development project, in that important multinational company. It all started when they asked us if we could help them "with the issue of people" since, for different reasons, they had been attending the departure of key personnel - located in critical positions - "for no apparent reason." They declared with a joint and determined intention that they wanted something "proactive, comprehensive, connected, longer-term, that prepares them for the challenges established in our Mission and Strategic Intent."
(Well, I thought, something similar to what happened to me, being on that side, when I also had to implement a process of that magnitude, as Human Resources Development Manager in another multinational company). From that, we started working.
Some differences between today and that near-past moment have to do with the fact that the term 'war of talent' was just beginning to be coined, for example, or that the tools that are available now were not available, nor were there any so much experience with how to carry out a project of this type, it was all rather trial and error. Thus, I encountered more than one obstacle, with more than one attempt to quit, with more than a double matrix message… In summary, who were supposed to know how to do it, who should have that process know-how, no We had it, we were still looking for it Fortunately, today all that learning has already been capitalized, it has taken on a body of knowledge and my idea is to share it in this document. That is why I will write this whitepaper with two hats at the same time,that I will alternate for greater identification with you: CONSULTANT or HR MANAGER. And I assume that you, reader, will be someone with high personal responsibility and commitment to design, implement, measure and improve a project for the development of your human resources. If everything goes well, the echo of that commitment will resonate so that it can be perceived by your colleagues and / or line managers as a legitimate Business Partner, who supports them in achieving their objectives, through the empowerment of their teams.The echo of that commitment will resonate so that it can be perceived by your colleagues and / or line managers as a legitimate Business Partner, who supports them in achieving their objectives, through the empowerment of their teams.The echo of that commitment will resonate so that it can be perceived by your colleagues and / or line managers as a legitimate Business Partner, who supports them in achieving their objectives, through the empowerment of their teams.
And I will also consider you with a double hat, as CEO or as head of Human Resources, and I will give each of you different suggestions, so that you can personify yourself with the role you most need.
During the course of this writing I will stand most of the time from the place of Consultant, as if to give a professional and analytical look to the process and, when it comes to preventing it and making it open my eyes, I will put myself in that place where you are today. We start?
There are 9 Phases that a Talent Management Program must inexorably go through (and order is not the least of it)
Phase 0> Understand the real reasons that drive (you) to embark on such a delicate program as this.
This phase is as simple as it is essential, and starts with a suggestion: you will not find allies everywhere, it will not be economical precisely and it will not be very easy for you to sell a priori the return of the Program. Do you still want to do it?
That determination, no less than that, is needed to keep going. If you are the owner of the project (owner, president or CEO), everything you read or someone told you about Dave Ulrich, about becoming a 'change champion' in your organization, you will have to apply it. Or if you and your team want to advance several boxes to become legitimate 'business partners', this is the moment and there is no better project that adds more value than this one.
Now, what is often not clear from the outset - and this is the best time to make it clear - is what the scope of the project is being pursued. I'll ask you, but you should have it thought out beforehand. Some clues: Do you intend the ultimate deliverable to be a succession chart, with its spaces covered in names and times? Or are you looking to have various Potential, Behavior and Conduct Reports on your current bosses and managers? Or are you only looking to meet corporate requirements? Or do you want to establish KPIs, monitor the impact on the business and generate a climate of professional fulfillment, worthy of a great place to work? Your decision, believe me, will go beyond the "scope" to start talking about other things, meaning, purpose, expected impact…, in other words, your own vision.
PHASE I> Share, communicate and ensure that your Group / Company's Strategic Intent and Objectives are understood - cascadingly
I don't know him, but if whoever is reading is the number one in the company (or someone from the next level of reporting), do not take for granted that the Human Resources team knows about the plans of each business unit, nor that they know about the They do not know specifically how the company makes money, or that they know the (real) role that each stakeholder plays - at least at the level of detail they will need for this project - and do not think that they have already communicated this to the entire organization; in any case, make sure. HR could surely have been putting the focus on other issues, critical by the way, such as union bargaining, salary overlap or reporting to headquarters, anyway and of all kinds. That is urgent, so, even if they wanted to, talent issues occupied the margin of their agendas. For this,ask them to help you convey that strategy. Now, if the person reading this is someone from HR, I encourage you to surprise the CEO with questions that relate to quality, corporate reputation, customers, Ebitda (profitability) and the value chain. Not out of curiosity, but as an essential condition to understand what comes next in the next phase, in terms of talent; in other words, to be able to define with a good degree of certainty which are the fundamental positions in the organization chart - those that bring the group closer to the fulfillment of its Mission. And be you, on the other hand, the one who reviews and reinforces, in the mind of number one, how human capital issues affect the business and the results. Insist until you achieve almost total agreement between Directors and Managers as to what is meant by “talent”,and get the CEO to combine the best of all interventions with a concept that everyone understands and shares. Do this until you can verify that your intention is clear. The CEO must align himself at this early stage with the importance, message and priority that you want to convey to the program. Again, this is a business issue, not a Human Resources issue. Of business. From the talent business, if you prefer to call it that, or from what talent can do to create (or reinvent) a sustainable organization that creates its own potential to achieve results and expands its competitive advantages. From there, grab your best pencil and start outlining your plan with your team; not before.Do this until you can verify that your intention is clear. The CEO must align himself at this early stage with the importance, message and priority that you want to convey to the program. Again, this is a business issue, not a Human Resources issue. Of business. From the talent business, if you prefer to call it that, or from what talent can do to create (or reinvent) a sustainable organization that creates its own potential to achieve results and expands its competitive advantages. From there, grab your best pencil and start outlining your plan with your team; not before.Do this until you can verify that your intention is clear. The CEO must align himself at this early stage with the importance, message and priority that you want to convey to the program. Again, this is a business issue, not a Human Resources issue. Of business. From the talent business, if you prefer to call it that, or from what talent can do to create (or reinvent) a sustainable organization that creates its own potential to achieve results and expands its competitive advantages. From there, grab your best pencil and start outlining your plan with your team; not before.From the talent business, if you prefer to call it that, or from what talent can do to create (or reinvent) a sustainable organization that creates its own potential to achieve results and expands its competitive advantages. From there, grab your best pencil and start outlining your plan with your team; not before.From the talent business, if you prefer to call it that, or from what talent can do to create (or reinvent) a sustainable organization that creates its own potential to achieve results and expands its competitive advantages. From there, grab your best pencil and start outlining your plan with your team; not before.
PHASE II> Establish which critical positions should be covered with Talent.
It means that number one (owner, president or country manager) must meet with their direct reports and Human Resources to determine two things:
1. what you need to know and be able to do TODAY to meet the demands that arise from the current strategic endeavor and…
2. what you should know and be able to do in the short term (let's consider three years from now).
You understand: determine what are, where are, the levers that move the company today. The idea is also to make a mental effort to visualize and agree on which ones will do it from here to a certain period of time. If you look carefully, you will see that each of those responsible for the different areas will be tempted to say "the vast majority of positions in MY area are key" (if not all), and they will surely defend their arguments vehemently, with justifications that logic marks and defends the ego. Don't stress out. Analyzing a position implies understanding how much it would cost, in time and money, to replace that collaborator that you have today with another of a similar quality (in terms of skills). Think that this person has a specific know-how that allows him to carry out or carry out a certain key process.A good analysis of the position can culminate in that such position needs to be covered internally, preferably. Or not. Or you can define that it will be mandatory and you will have to find someone from the market. Or you can suggest that that position consolidates the work of two other lower-level ones. The options are various. The fundamental point here is to understand helping the business areas understand the VALUE of the position, in terms of how difficult it would be to cover it (today or in the future).The fundamental point here is to understand helping the business areas understand the VALUE of the position, in terms of how difficult it would be to cover it (today or in the future).The fundamental point here is to understand helping the business areas understand the VALUE of the position, in terms of how difficult it would be to cover it (today or in the future).
CHEERING UP?...
*… To face their current leaders one by one and ask them - or rather sell them - the old WIIFM ('what's in it for me') to become the first ambassadors of a program of this type, with the responsibility that that entails?
*… Then to ask them in what type of action will this distinctive behavior manifest itself, so that there is coherence between what they will say and what they will do?
*… To request, once finalized, the report by areas that arises from this survey, in order
to understand the mental models and personal visions of their direct reports?
PHASE III> Identify 'who is who' of your current pool of collaborators
Why should you 'scan' your people, at the level of behaviors, behaviors, styles and expectations? The rationale is that you really… don't know them! And if you do not know them, you will not be able to assign them to positions of greater responsibility, greater complexity or greater strategic value, at least with logic and a reasonable expectation of success. You may know them from having worked with them, at best, or from comments from bosses, colleagues, and / or subordinates. But it's not the same. Take the quiz: ask five different people what they think "Peter" 's abilities and expectations are and you' ll see that you get different perceptions. Because what they express will be colored by the subjectivity of the person who expresses it and other filters that do little to give seriousness and fairness to the process.What is of interest here is what is below the visible surface of the iceberg and, therefore, it is necessary to go out and look for it deliberately.
Otherwise, I will see you running to look externally for a resource, a star that shows in your CV everything that you think you do not have within your organization. Remember that someone's future potential must start building now.
If you are the CEO, what you will receive in this phase is a report of who is who, but you must ask HR to prepare a map of the skills and / or knowledge that are missing to fill those positions that were defined in the previous point as keys, nothing more and nothing less than to contribute in a fundamental way to the achievement of its strategic objectives.
If you are in HR, be sure to use some of the best known and tested attitudinal tools on the market (there are very good ones) and complement it if possible with 360 ° Feedback, in order to have a report that is nurtured, for on the one hand, from the responses of the individual himself and on the other, from the perception of the people with whom that individual works day by day. The more precision in the report, the better, because if your criteria change from one tool to the other, from one year to the next, you will be left without a comparative basis; And if you do not have a comparative basis, you will not be able to measure the progress and evolution of your people, nor your own, as the promoter of the project.
CHEERING UP?...
*… to think of your people as something more than a checklist of competencies, behaviors and abilities, and dedicate time to combine, in the best possible way and depending on the available resources, the results of the report to enhance the value of each one of them?
*… To give a one-to-one feedback to your people, so that they receive valuable feedback from that unbiased source? It is not a question of courage - although sometimes it is - but of having the political decision to dedicate hours to this sub-process, valued by the way by people (more so when their direct boss never gives it to them!).
SUMMARY Phase 3
Get to know your people, both formally (with psychometric tools) and informally (conversations).
Comply with the return of any tools that you have used that could help your people to reaffirm their strengths (and plan their areas for improvement).
Take action and create a positive spiral of self-realization and motivation, which results in benefits for the organization. In other words, here you have to compare the specific skills and knowledge of your people with the value they bring to the organization, through action.
Knowing this, it should be remembered that not everyone has the same set of skills and not all of them can provide the company with the competitive advantage it seeks in the medium / long term.
If you are the CEO, ask HR to present the information in the form of a grid or matrix, where it is clearly specified how the human capital of your company is differentiated, in terms of unique capabilities versus their value for the organization. Because you shouldn't treat everyone the same, because, to remain honest, not everyone can / wants to go the extra mile that personal leadership requires.
Now, let's travel to the near future mentally: suppose that after receiving the report you listened to me and someone (HR or the consultant in charge of coordinating the analysis of the report) had that conversation with the person, and commented on the most important points. Well, that time has come. The person was promoted.
The necessary talent was matched to the individual's strengths. All happy. But please: do not make the mistake of abandoning that person in that place: that collaborator, in that new position, must obtain results and thus contribute to the organization if it intends to build its own credibility. Someone already believed in him; Now a time begins to run in which he / she must build his / her own confidence, with results, also before his / her colleagues. Sabotage to test theories, in organizations, also exist. Of course, it is not only about getting emotional quick-wins, but also about getting closer to achieving the goals set for the period. That is what ultimately counts. If you don't have your goal setting process running, stop reading this article and go fix them immediately.
CHEERING UP?...
*… To talk and discuss with each person in charge of the area where would each individual finally be located?
Someone went looking for greener pastures… Someone retired… Someone did not achieve the expected performance… Someone was tempted by the competition… Another decided to pursue their entrepreneurial dream… The question is that the organization left that person who the reports had given as talented, high potential and ready to assume positions of greater responsibility. Well, actually he did, to be ironic, but at another company.
Surprised first and congratulated later, it serves human ends, but not process, which should have had a proactive retention and replacement plan.
Let's think about it.
Now that you have qualitative information of excellence, your mission will be to first search and look inside your organization (only then to look at the market), for each vacancy that arises; And if there were no replacements ready yet - see which people you would like to risk an opportunity on. Remember that it is the business of talent and in business you also take risks. This does not contradict common sense or the saying "parent company kills replacement box", which would suggest that for certain reasons of various kinds (political for example) the 'only' option is the market or a 'someone' in particular.
But remember as a practical rule of thumb: “the more a vacant position depends on being filled by someone knowledgeable about the flows of internal relationships, or knowledge of current processes and / or the organizational management and decision system, the more likely the internal search will be. to prevail and be successful over the external ”. And you are the one who knows how important the above is to your organization.
The important thing - and what I would like you to remember - is that the natural alignment that must exist between the recruitment and selection process and the decision that has been made as to how to harness talent is often forgotten. It does not matter if you are already going for the third performance management model or if you are about to implement the first: if you go outside looking instead of using the information already collected or doing an internal job posting that provides opportunities, you will end up damaging the credibility and the trust that had been put to the test, the walk the talk, which all those interested in this process are watching.
And what's more, if you opt for the second option, bear in mind that nothing ensures that the external resource can automatically apply in their new job what they know and would work for them in another organization, or that they will quickly align themselves and be comfortable with the internal culture., or that he will be able to generate focused, collaborative and productive networks of action with speed with the current staff, or that he will display enough integrity so that other colleagues allow him to deploy his talents and continue, thus, improving.
The construction of the plan itself can be as sophisticated as you like; but in this case the content is more important than the form. The information contained in an MS Excel would not differ in any way from that which would have been loaded into a specific software, with the difference that the latter works with friendly, visually attractive screens and cross reports that are used for analysis, updating automatically. That is, unless you put someone with advanced excel management to monitor the spreadsheets, from one year to the next you would have to carry out the cumbersome task of updating data such as 'seniority in the position', 'age' or other concepts. The second option is, of course, more expensive.
What else would go against the plan? Any unexpected event - if it can be said - of M&A (mergers or acquisitions) that brings more people into the field (headcount) or that results in an overcrowding of positions. But even in these cases, having this information positions the individual well, before any process audit: you know who he is, what strengths he has and, if a decision is made, there will be options already discussed with the collaborator, which can reduce tensions and ease your transition to other positions.
CHEERING UP?...
*… To confirm and communicate your intention to use this talent, succession and recruitment strategy to the entire organization - starting with senior leaders, as a mechanism for developing organizational skills, not just individual ones?
*… To tell the person (once the plan has been put together) that they have been selected to occupy a certain position, in a certain average time? (trick question, but think about it)
*… To redefine the X / Y value proposition to current and potential employees, communicating why a person, of any generation, would want to enter, develop, grow and contribute to their organization?
*…. to generate training programs for line managers, where they are instructed on how to detect development gaps and other skills that make effective talent coaching?
*… to observe with a more critical eye the behaviors performed by the direct managers of those individuals defined as 'talented', in order to celebrate and recognize those who inspire those talents in a responsible way and / or provide corrective feedback to those others in the ones where inspiration, climate building or team learning didn't take place?
*…. to emphasize to the Heads that "human resources are not owned by any area", but remain in one because there they add value, but they will do so until there is another where that value can be enhanced (or to establish this from a maximum time of permanence)?
SUMMARY Phase 5
Look inside the organization before beginning any outside coverage.
Assemble the replacement cadre, with input from those who could be impacted, directly or indirectly, by some mobility.
Phase VI> Retain your most valuable people, looking for those who are not yet to be; and that those who add value, find reasons to stay...
With all the work done so far, surely you don't want to lose those you have been meeting and ranked high in the potential report, but you certainly don't want to lose those collaborators who have already shown leadership in a project and now could be a bit 'unmotivated', in middle command positions. If you are the CEO, ask HR to present you with a matrix that includes two criteria: the value of your people and the likelihood that they will leave the company. Assigning a criterion (high, medium, low) to both coordinates, you will be able to visualize an interesting grid for making decisions about early interventions.
It should be noted here that you will always have two types of people in your organization, those who are satisfied, and value factors such as salary, office hours, health benefits, job security and vacations (which are important, but have little impact on productivity or performance) and others that are committed, that value what they perceive that they can grow, the challenge to achieve something more, opportunities abroad, training, recognition for innovation or exposure in projects. The pride in saying that they work there may be in both of them, but that is not what I mean. Ultimately, employees who have a clear vision of what to expect with their development and progress tend to stay with organizations.
CHEERING UP?...
"Easy to say, difficult to do, but it must be done," said Alberto Levy.
Promoting people from within sends a motivating message to the organization, which continually seeks, translates and decodes signals, with the deep intention of turning them into messages of value, that say something like: “look, doing things right (respecting common values and accepted behaviors) and by pursuing (although not all the time achieving them) the results with determination (in terms of performance), you begin to build your own career map yourself. We already know him, we have agreed on what and for what he has potential and, as soon as options arise, we will work with his profile so that his professional development does not stop "
It is in this process that HR positions itself as a business partner and encourages / trains the line to act as talent leaders.
If you are from Human Resources, know that once this starts, you can't go back. It should not be heard, after the implementation of the program, such a thing as "before they told me how my performance was going and now not", or "once I had a competency profile assessment, but it has not been done for a long time. do "or" before you knew where you were, potential for what you had and you knew that, sooner or later, you would compete internally for a position; now everyone comes from abroad and, above all, they earn more ”.
For this reason, keep the spirit of the program burning with quarterly reports of changes, partial performance evaluations (every 6 months, if this is possible), goal setting, communication campaigns about income, promotions, breakfasts with the President and everything. whatever comes to mind that will seal and burn the commitment to the program. Don't forget to 'link' these interventions to this project.
Still, start small. You position the project in your mind, but unfold it in phases, don't push yourself. It is a big elephant to walk without breaking something…
Go prioritizing, go step by step, start with what adds the most value or what you need the most (or ease of implementation if you prefer) but know that everything must be interconnected;
It is not just a model change that you are proposing, but an effective talent management model that will definitely impact the results of your organization. Remember a basic principle of change management: "everyone helped to be where they are today, the status quo was put together by everyone." Understand, therefore, that whatever you plan to introduce will create some kind of chaos, to call it that. Plan systematically and assimilate knowledge as you walk: even if the plan does not go beyond the first moment of truth, you will still find yourself more prepared to handle confusion and doubt.
CHEERING UP?...
*… to carry out change management workshops for their senior leaders up to their midline, in order to actively predispose them to the project and make beliefs and various blocks emerge that are better to be discovered in the early stages of the project?
*… To train your middle managers as coaches?.
*… To ask Human Resources to tie this process to 'reward and recognition' and to 'training' and to 'induction' and to… () and prepare a proposal? Do not add processes that work autonomously, no matter how good, without empowering the rest!
SUMMARY Phase 7
Get 'quick wins', by monitoring and achieving the specified indicators; empower programs with each other and communicate progress.
Pay attention to the interconnectedness and echo that each program-related decision produces. Be flexible.
This theme and you will be helping to create them.
Above all, give them learning opportunities that you have found of high value, in the form of projects, mentoring, coaching, outside education, job rotation or occasional participation in higher-level meetings. That definitely holds back.
SUMMARY Phase 8
Learn from their process. Make this program (exchange, in short) into a best corporate practice.
Ask your collaborators (employees) to feedack to improve the process. They are your true Customers. Get them involved whenever you can.
Summary
You must be the creator of your best practices, so adopt and adapt these Phases only as an idea trigger, from the real experience of someone who has already done it (and would do it again!). You should implement the process knowing in advance how it will impact business objectives: do not measure what little value adds (number of evaluations performed, for example) but do measure the impact it would have on customer service.
Focus on the highest priority and start small. The success of this program will depend, to a large extent, on how well you are able to explain what this whole process is about and how you translate it into concrete activities and results. Reinforce that everything begins and ends with people: technology, policies, procedures and operations are carried out by people who design, understand and apply them (or not); commitment is made one person at a time.
And for the "ANIMA?" we have proposals, if you have the desire and the political will to do so. We know how it should be done, as well as what triggers to use to renew people's self-confidence, and help them to believe again in a career project, but in their company, not in another.
Putting the aforementioned into practice has worked successfully in other companies; each of them put into practice some (or all) of the concepts of the Phases. If you use them as a guide, you will most likely increase the performance level of your people, and thus achieve your goals.
One thing is for sure: NOW IS WHEN YOU NEED YOUR PEOPLE MOST, OR NOT?
ANNEX: 18 actions for 9 phases
- Understand the real Purpose of the program and find your own Motives before taking action Visualize in advance the results you want to achieve Make sure the strategy has been shared with managers and transmitted to their teams Sell the Talent Program as a topic business, not HR. Identify today's key positions and forecast future ones. Join the management team in this job; It will be time well spent. Get to know your people, both formally (with psychometric and projective tools) and informally (conversations). Comply with the return of any tools that you have used and could help your people to reaffirm their strengths (and plan their areas improvement). Compare the specific skills and knowledge of your people with the value they bring to the organization.Follow up on the people you have promoted or exhibited on special projects Assemble the replacement chart, with input from those who could be impacted, directly or indirectly, by any mobility Look inside the organization before starting any coverage keep an up-to-date matrix of the type in your mind. Make decisions, or influence whoever does, if necessary. Retain in a distinctive way those who are only satisfied from those who are committed. Get 'quick wins', by monitoring and achieving the specified indicators; empower programs and communicate progress. Pay attention to the interconnection and echo that each program-related decision produces. Be flexible. Learn from your process. Turn this program (of change, in short) into a corporate best practice.Ask your collaborators (employees) to feedack to improve the process. They are your true Customers. Get them involved whenever you can.
