Talent management is the way a company hires and retains the best employees possible. The talent emphasis has led to innovations in how organizations bring people in and move them through the organization. Talent is not just applying a best practice, but how that practice delivers values to others. Hiring or training someone who fails to deliver value to key stakeholders is like preparing a meal in a restaurant without knowing what the patron wants to eat or playing a sport without keeping score.
Stakeholders for talent outcomes have traditionally focused inside the organization, with investments in talent resulting in greater employee productivity, well-being, and organization strategic success. Going forward, talent value must also come from how talent choices affect those outside the organization, not just inside.
Quality of talent clearly impacts employee and organizational outcomes; however, looking ahead, talent also impacts stakeholders outside the organization, including directors, costumer, and investors. When talent ideas and tools connect to these stakeholders, more value is created. Certainly, having individual talent is critically important in terms of an agenda for an organization.
Employee engagement (training, education, reskilling)
Employee engagement has been a critical topic since the 90s. A number of correlational studies have confirmed the importance of engagement as a leading indicator of productivity and turnover. The employee experience is an important force that will shape an organization’s approach to talent management.
The environment created when an organization focuses on making itself a place where people want to show up instead of a place where people need to show up is the basis for the positive employee experience. At the core of the employee experience is a long-term organizational approach that puts people at the center. Workplace practices are broken down and rebuilt to create greater commitment between employees and their organization.
Training and reskilling are crucial for employee engagement, as well as your business. Studies have found that companies with better training had a 53% lower attrition rate, which reduces hiring costs and improves productivity. Due to automation and AI, one-third of the world’s workforce is estimated to be transformed by 2030. That is approximately 1 billion jobs. Employees need to learn new skills and businesses need to stay on top of the latest technology, which is why training and reskilling are vital.
Create a multigenerational workforce
Unfortunately, many organizations get so stuck focusing on engagement that they forget to take a step back to understand what causes engagement to begin with, let alone understand the impact that engaged employees have on an organization.
Organizations have always had to adapt to new generations entering the workforce, but the overall sense is that previous adaptations were gradual and now have become accelerated. Millennials are already the largest demographic in the workplace and Gen Z is also creeping in. This changing mix of demographics results in the opportunity of having a multigenerational workforce.
Most talent professionals say that a multigenerational workforce makes a company more successful. Carefully and intentionally hiring a workforce with a range of experience is a powerful business tool that can strengthen teams by bringing new values, attitudes, expectations, and ways of working into the company.
Employee health and well-being
Working conditions and the demands of the work environment are significant sources of stress for employees across the world. There are feasible ways to cater to employee well-being that yield long-term benefits to the organization. For instance, research suggests that strategically changing workplace conditions to foster employee well-being not only improves employees’ health but can also bring about beneficial business outcomes such as improved job performance (including increased productivity) and lower levels of employee burnout.
Simple, yet highly effective ways to accomplish a focus on employee health and well-being are:
- Giving employees more control over how they do their work
- Allowing employees more flexibility in relation to their work
- Promoting mental health awareness and offering counseling
- Making recognition and praise part of the company’s culture
- Launching an employee wellbeing survey
- Increasing the stability of employees’ schedules
- Providing employees with opportunities to identify and solve workplace problems
- Encouraging managers in your organization to support employees’ personal needs
- Helping employees work towards long-term goals
Adjustability (COVID-19)
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we are able to be more flexible than we ever realized. From adjustable schedules to accommodate helping children with online schools, to shifting to remote work nearly overnight, employers are finding ways to be more flexible, and employees are learning to be more efficient.
Due to the proliferation of mobile devices and global connectivity, we are able to work anywhere at any time. Videoconferencing and internal social networks allow us to communicate and collaborate without any boundaries. It is important to note that during times of economic downturn, making changes in compensation may not be possible for many organizations.
Instead, companies should look for other creative ways to address employee satisfaction concerns, such as focusing on ways to improve employee autonomy and flexibility and being able to manage a remote workforce.
Your privacy is secured and your information will not be shared
