As many organisations face key strategic decisions more frequently at the moment, it has become clear that making decisions about Talent Management is just as important as making decisions about business issues. Knowing your workforce in terms of their unique qualities, how they respond to change, what drives them and how you can keep them pushing your organisation forward is not only a matter of necessity, it is the smart thing to do if you want your organisation to perform at its best
The challenges organisations face in Recruitment, Performance Management, Career Management, employee learning and development and leadership are therefore crucial for HR to understand in light of current themes in the world of work. The themes that impact Talent Management are workforce agility, job specialisation, globalisation, social collaboration, employee engagement, mobility, workforce analysis and internal career development. These are the themes Best in Class organisations are focusing on. When it comes to the nature of work, employees are getting less dependent on the steady base of an office, a fulltime 9-to-5 job with a clear predesigned career path an organisation can provide. They are becoming more in control over their own careers, working in several projects with different groups of specialists. At the same time, unemployment rates are still high in many economies and employees still need organisations to provide them with work.
From an employers’ point of view, most organisations are still struggling to grow beyond the crippling
recession and while many people are looking for a job, that particular talent the company needs is hard to find.
Organisations look for answers in new recruitment techniques to intensify the search for talent and improve
the ability to match jobs and candidates but are also looking at their current workforce, analysing the strengths and potential of their people and expanding the possibilities of internal mobility. Gathering information about potential candidates –internal and external- seems to be the key strategy. Keeping up with developments is important in this age of fast-paced technological advancement. Knowledge is power, and as an employer, analysing your workforce is crucial in determining how to engage them, who you need most, how they are going to develop and what you need to do to shape your workforce for the future.
As an employee, being an expert at something is more valuable than ever. But sharing knowledge and collaboration has become so easy that being an expert at something today does not guarantee you will be one the next year. In leadership, earlier mentioned themes impact leaders’ involvement in the organisation and their required competencies. It is expected from them to engage the workforce and be mentors and stimulate development of high potentials, including potential future leaders. It is their duty to stimulate collaboration, continuous feedback and coaching among the workforce in order to increase performance. Because in the end, it is still the bottom-line that counts.
