What is Talent Management?

Key talent management processes include:

Branding – Companies need to present themselves as a recognized leader in their respective industries and a great place to develop talents professionally and making a difference and / or positive impact to the community.

Workforce planning – The intentional and strategic projection and planning of access to talent (either internal or external) with the skills, knowledge, and behaviors essential for the achievement of the university’s strategic objectives and/or demands.

Recruiting – The ability to successfully attract and hire key talent for current and future organizational needs through competency-based advertising and interviewing efforts.

Onboarding – The process of acclimating new hires and ensuring that they quickly feel welcomed, and valued by the organization. This process enables new employees to become productive members of the organization, who understand expectations for their job roles. Onboarding goes beyond traditional “orientation” programs which focus mainly on managing policies, forms, and procedures.

Strategic plan/goal alignment – The process of developing and implementing plans to reach an organization’s long-term goals and objectives. It is the roadmap to lead an organization from where it is now to where it would like to be in 3-5 years.

Performance management – An ongoing, continuous process of communicating and clarifying job responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations, and development planning that optimize an individual’s performance and aligns with organizational strategic goals.

360° assessments – 360-degree feedback is an assessment tool that provides leaders with feedback about their performance. Supervisors, peers, and direct reports answer questions based on their perceptions and observations of the leader’s skills and attributes.

Executive coaching – A helping relationship between an external coach or leader and talent, who uses a wide variety of behavioral techniques and methods, to assist the talent to achieve mutually identified goals to improve professional performance and personal satisfaction in an effort to improve the effectiveness of the organization.

Leadership development – Intentional goal-driven activities that enhance the quality of leadership abilities or attitudes within an individual or organization.

Professional development – Process of establishing training goals and plans that link to individual goal attainment, career planning, and possible succession planning.

Career development – How an organization structures the career progress of their talents, and the individual’s process for identifying job opportunities within an organization’s structure, and the sequential steps in education, skills, and experience-building needed to attain specific career goals.

Recognition programs – A method of acknowledging, honoring, encouraging, and supporting individuals and teams who contribute, through behaviors and actions, to the success of the organization.

Compensation – A way to reward individuals for important work accomplishments, contributions to the goals of the organization, and increased skills and competencies in their jobs.

Succession planning – A process for identifying and developing internal talents with the potential to fill key or critical organizational positions. Succession planning ensures the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available.

Diversity/Inclusion – Diversity represents a group comprised of individuals with similar and different experiences and backgrounds. Some of these differences include race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, and ethnicity, but there are many other dimensions of diversity. “Diversity” does not address how people with different backgrounds and experiences function or work together. “Inclusion” is a sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who they are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that they can do their best work.

Engagement – The extent to which employees are committed to their organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.

Competencies – Those measurable behaviors, characteristics, abilities and personality traits that identify successful employees against defined roles within an organization.

Retention – A systematic effort focused not only on retaining an organization’s talented performers but also to create and foster a welcoming work environment and high-retention culture. The end result is an organization that operates more effectively and efficiently, while becoming a great place to work.

I hope I have successfully established a common language and understanding on talent management. Over the next few articles, I will look deeper into the model’s successes and near-misses with you, and conclude with some of the best recommendations and advices from best-in-class organizations who have translated talent management practices into measurable and observable outcomes over the years, subsequently separating them from rest of the corporate world.

– Graval