Why is Talent Management a Leader’s Priority?

Written by Andrew on November 15th, 2011 2 Comments

Talking recently with a CEO, he had a “light bulb moment” when he said that HR and the company’s managers were responsible for attracting and developing talented staff.  Yet, the organisation’s turnover of talented staff in the last two years and their current struggle to attract quality applicants made him reconsider who needs to drive talent management in an organisation.  And many case studies of sustainably performing organisations demonstrate this shift in thinking.

Talent management now features prominently on CEOs’ agendas, with many spending as much as half their time spotting, preparing and monitoring promising executives. In many cases, CEOs now also participate directly in development activities such as mentoring and teaching leadership skills.  Now it is a strategic necessity for these executives not only to keep abreast of the latest developments in the company’s talent program but also to plot strategy, own associated initiatives and regularly participate in events related to talent management.  Although executives engage in talent development activities and succession planning, much of their involvement can be ad hoc and does not stem from a formal plan explicitly linked to corporate goals.  Furthermore, executives write formal evaluations of the people who report directly to them – usually half a dozen senior managers.  Performance reviews are a key part of these companies’ approach to talent management, ensuring their organisations identify the best candidates and spot weaknesses in their executive pipeline.

Talent management is a set of processes to manage an organisation’s greatest asset, people.  Most define the different applications of these processes to include: recruitment, performance management, competency management, succession planning, career development and compensation.  And many organisations include workforce planning, learning management and reporting/analytics as part of talent management.  What is clear is that talent management as a strategy requires systems and organisational commitment to attract, acquire, manage, coach and measure the talent needed to achieve the organisation’s objectives.

Identifying the talents needed in each role to meet current and future objectives and then assessing internal and external candidates for their capacity in each of these is key step.  Developing managers coaching skills to develop strengths and to manage staff limitations is increasingly seen as a management responsibility.  Without leadership, such ‘soft skills’ can become desired but not the focus.

How do your leaders link talent management to strategic priorities?