Leadership development, employee engagement core elements of talent management strategy
Less than one-half (43 per cent) of major Canadian organizations regard talent management as a top priority, according to a recent survey.
For another 45 per cent of organizations, talent management is a secondary priority, and for the remaining 12 per cent, not a priority at all, found the survey of 91 employers by Right Management.
“It may be that ‘talent management’ is still an emerging concept for non-HR professionals,” said Owen Sullivan, Right Management CEO. “Nevertheless, our research finds that HR executives are fully on board with the process, despite implementation posing a continuing challenge. (But) much of senior management hasn’t yet focused on talent management as an integrated strategic concept, even if they actually support many key elements.”
A talent management strategy includes, among other facets, recruitment, assessment, training and development, retention and leadership programs with each being closely aligned with the organization's business objectives.
“Senior management surely accepts all of these as worthy objectives, but may not see how they ought to fit together as an integrated strategy,” said Sullivan.
Respondents were asked to cite the core elements of their organization’s talent management strategy:
• Leadership development: Coaching, high-potential programs, succession management, onboarding, performance management, cross cultural competency.
• Employee engagement: Engagement and retention strategies, wellness, productivity optimization.
• Talent acquisition: Sourcing, hiring, selecting and onboarding talent.
• Individual and team development: Competency modelling, organizational, team and individual assessments.
• Organization effectiveness: Implementing strategy, workforce alignment, change management.
• Outplacement and workforce transition: Career transition assistance, career management and development.
“Leadership development seems to be central to everyone’s idea of a talent management strategy,” said Sullivan. “Clearly this is the key pressure point for most organizations.
“The political, social, economic and workplace changes under way are unprecedented, and mean that top leaders and HR professionals need to rethink work models, people practices and sources for the right talent. They mean investing in building a talent strategy as the most strategic way to create competitive advantage.”
