Talent Management

Abstract

The way an organization manages talent is their ability to recruit, retain, and develop the most extraordinary employees available in the job market. Talent management has changed in recent years. According to Bersin (2006) Talent Management comes from the traditional Personnel department of the 1970's and 80's where the roles were clearly defined as payroll and benefits to Human Resource Management of the 1980's and 90's that included recruiting, labor design, compensation, and communication. Today's Talent Management is based on business integration that encompasses Competency Management, Performance Management, and Succession Planning (Bersin, 2006).

Introduction

Talent Management is begins before an employee is hired and never ends. This process begins with planning and continues with the development of the acquired talents of the organization. Talent management encompasses recruiting and acquiring the right talent for the position, providing competitive benefits in order to retain the talents acquired, and the development of the talents in order to maintain and grow in their positions.

Talent Management Process

The Management Process begins before talent is required and long after talent is acquired. Bersin (2006) outlines the talent management process as listed below:

1. Workforce Planning: Integrated with the business plan, this process establishes workforce plans, hiring plans, compensation budgets, and hiring targets for the year.

2. Recruiting: Through an integrated process of recruiting, assessment, evaluation, and hiring the business brings people into the organization.

3. On boarding: The organization must train and enable employees to become productive and integrated into the company more quickly.

4. Performance Management: by using the business plan, the organization establishes

processes to measure and manage employees

5. Training and Performance Support: of course this is a critically important function. Here we provide learning and development programs to all levels of the organization.

6. Succession Planning: as the organization evolves and changes, there is a continuous need to

move people into new positions. Succession planning, a very important function, enables managers and individuals to identify the right candidates for a position. This function also must be aligned with the business plan to understand and meet requirements for key positions 3-5 years out. While this is often a process reserved for managers and executives, it is more commonly applied across the organization.

7. Compensation and Benefits: clearly this is an integral part of people management. Here organizations try to tie the compensation plan directly to performance management so that compensation, incentives, and benefits align with business goals and business execution.

8. Critical Skills Gap Analysis: this is a process we identify as an important, often overlooked

function in many industries and organizations. While often done on a project basis, it can be

"business-critical." For example, today industries like the Federal Government, Utilities,

Telecommunications, and Energy are facing large populations which are retiring. How do you

identify the roles, individuals, and competencies

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