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Baht/$ 34.24/29 (Bid/Ask)
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14050
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Lading THE WAY
PRICE WATER HOUSE COOPERS
In our first article about talent management on Sept 30, "talent management" was defined as the strategic management of the supply of talent through an organisation. The article explored links to recruitment, training and development and reward and recognition. Today we explore links to talent identification, business strategy, performance management and career and succession planning.
While the scope of this article does not provide for a detailed discussion of high potential talent (HiPots) and high performing talent (HiPerfs), it is important to acknowledge that "talent" comes in many shapes and sizes.
Fresh graduates may join the work force with fresh ideas and approaches and at the same time conceal unrealised potential that needs to be unlocked and developed while seasoned veterans approaching retirement may possess the secrets of past and present business success along with the key to customer relationships and loyalty. In both cases, organisations need to craft strategies to effectively recognise and manage talent, in all its shapes and forms.
CEOs recognise that their business strategy should always be the starting point for developing an effective talent management strategy. Many organisations apply psychometric tests to assess their people and identify talent, but this approach alone does not usually take into account the organisation's business strategy and culture.
Organisations should start by reviewing strategy, and then look for people, both internally and externally, who have the requisite skills and shared values to drive success. Knowing "what" the organisation needs to do (strategic objectives) and "how" it needs to achieve this (culture) tells us a lot about how to identify talent in a particular organisation.
Strategy and culture provide the inputs for designing or aligning the organisational structure and roles. This needs to cascade down via thorough analysis to create a "best fit" structure to drive success. This forms the basis of an effective talent strategy.
Once the structure and roles have been clearly defined, the organisation should consider a competency model that provides a framework to manage each position according to consistent standards.
Organisations also must have clear and transparent mechanisms for measuring, managing and rewarding performance. Today's workforce demands it and this has become a "push" factor affecting the organisation's ability to retain talent. Performance planning, management and appraisal allow people to know exactly how their performance is viewed. An effective performance management system may be viewed as a person's "internal passport", influencing the way they are managed, developed, promoted and rewarded.
Effective performance management systems are also critical because they provide the starting point to assess talent. Consider that an effective performance management system incorporates key performance indicators (KPIs) that are cascaded down from the organisation's strategy and culture, so it stands to reason that people who receive positive ratings are aligned and contributing to organisational success.
This provides us with valuable inputs for identifying talent. Of course, there is an assumption that the performance management system is robust and that managers provide accurate performance ratings. This is not always the case and we find that this is a focal point for many of our talent management engagements with clients.
Career and succession planning is another important mechanism for talent retention. This process ensures continuity of talent, including leadership, by developing the next generation of people in a talent pipeline. Most organisations provide basic planning such as career paths for some positions/levels, and succession planning development. However, high-performance organisations take this a step further by developing specific programmes such as stretch assignments, leadership development programmes, secondments and job rotation programmes.
While it is unlikely that the current talent shortage will be reversed in the near future, there are many things that can be done to identify, retain and develop talent more effectively. CEOs of successful companies are continuously seeking ways to gain competitive advantage and more time and effort is being spent on managing talent. Perhaps the upside of the talent shortage is that we are getting better at identifying and managing our most precious resource.
Stephen J. Camilleri is an Associate Director in advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Southeast Asia Peninsula region, which comprises Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We welcome your comments at leadingtheway@th.pwc.com
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