Two Critical Best Practices in Talent Management
Two Critical Best Practices in Talent Management
http://info.profilesinternational.com/profiles-employee-assessment-blog/bid/59899/Two-Critical-Best-Practices-in-Talent-Management
Unless you’re a lone wolf entrepreneur or a small business, one significant aspect of any sizable company is hiring and managing talent. While there are fundamental aspects of those processes that all companies follow, there are certainly differences in approach. And, as Profiles International discovered in a recent research study, there are also differences of opinion on hiring between C-level executives and non-executives.
Even before you get to the recruitment and selection process, two critical best practices in talent management are knowing how each job supports your company’s key objectives, and involving key stakeholders throughout the selection process.
Know how each job supports your company's key objectives
The best companies are lean, mean, efficient machines that produce the maximum output from their employees. Conversely, many organizations that lag are either bloated with redundant positions or have critical talent gaps in the process.
One of the top best practices in talent management is to ensure that you have the right roles for your organization. A basic tenet of sound job design is “line of sight,” the ability for every employee to know how his work contributes to the bottom line. If this is unclear for those designing the job, imagine the impact on the person doing the job.
In the Profiles study, 82% of C-level executives believe their company knows how each job supports their objectives. While that seems like a high number, nearly one-in-five disagree. And that number drops to 75% among non-execs.
Why the gap in perception between C-level executives and front-line managers? Organizations may be behind the curve if job designs have not changed with a revamped plan of action. It is quite common for executives to make changes in strategy, but the message gets diluted as it gets passed down.
And it takes more than just communication to truly affect strategic change. Managers and employees need to know what they need to do differently and receive the training to perform their new duties. Even better, new goals should be set to align behaviors and priorities with the new direction and objectives. All of this needs to be considered when filling open positions. You need to ask: Why does the position exist, and have the requirements changed in light of any strategic or organizational change?
Include key stakeholders in your employee selection process
The survey revealed another difference between C-level executives and non-execs and an overall low score considering the impact of this practice on the organization. Only 68% of C-level execs (and 64% of non-c-level execs) agreed that their company includes key stakeholders in the recruitment and selection process.
Key stakeholders are those affected (for better or worse) by our operations, those who have an interest in what we do, and those who influence what we do. That includes almost everyone, but a big-tent approach is profitable: Inc. Magazine reports that "organizations with more effective hiring systems rank higher in financial performance, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and retention."
It might seem obvious to include key stakeholders in the recruitment and selection process, but many don’t. And I wouldn’t necessarily blame HR here, either. Too often managers, department heads, and other pertinent roles with whom a new employee will work are “too busy” to avail themselves to their HR colleagues and partake in the selection process. People involved feel more ownership of the process as well as responsible for helping that role (and the person in it) to succeed. But no matter the reason, neglecting input from key stakeholders can reduce the effectiveness of the job or lead to outright failure if unsupported.
Want to learn more about best practices in talent management and the recruitment and selection process? Learn More.
Edited by: Jeff Meyers
