Feature insight - Performance and talent management
Performance and talent management strategies
Lisa Gillespie, Moorepay’s HR services director, discusses what it means for organisations and what might happen in the future
H igh-performing organisations have clear performance management and talent management processes embedded in their human resources (HR) strategy, regardless of the size of their talent pool. But if you only ever use the term ‘performance management’ in the context of discipline or under-performance you are not directing your energies into creating a performance-led culture. Last year the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development produced a research paper (http://goo.gl/Lq0Zg) which created some useful working definitions for talent management that are worth considering: ● “...talent means those individuals who can make a difference to organisational performance either through their immediate contribution or, in the longer- term, by demonstrating the highest levels of potential...”, and ● “...talent management is an end-to- end process of the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-
critical roles.”
We are living in times of change. Brexit has added a further layer of complexity in the ‘war for talent’ for UK-based organisations that operate in talent cycles, building knowledge and capability into their growth and people strategies. Will it be more difficult to recruit the right talent to the UK market? What impact will leaving the European Union (EU) have on the UK’s ability to retain talent in sectors relying heavily on skills more commonly sourced from the broader EU community? Retention and deployment of individuals may be easier for organisations with a footprint across the EU in the coming years but a number of sectors may extend the reach of technologies within their business processes to minimise the impact of the huge changes which lie ahead. For organisations capable of adapting in this way there are already excellent performance management tools available. It is worthwhile spending some time now looking at the advantages of adapting talent and performance management strategies in the context of a post- Brexit UK, and considering options for harnessing the power technology brings to high-performance cultures. Attracting and building talent through more sophisticated approaches is one step human resource leaders can take to insulate against the unpredictable world we’re heading towards. n
When you think about the ‘management’ aspect of this definition you will note it is built on attracting the right individuals and identifying their potential. The rest of it is about creating the right environment to enable them to achieve their potential . Why do I emphasise this? It’s important because the concepts of attracting talent and identifying potential can be very subjective activities. Recruitment relies heavily on factors such as the impact of the company brand and how a role is positioned in the first instance to get the best candidates interested. Your candidates likewise will be doing their best to portray how they meet your criteria and positioning themselves as the best fit for the role and the organisation. In that context it is not difficult to see why bringing in talent can be a constant process within larger organisations, and this has led to extensive development in recruitment and selection over the years. Steve Hankin of McKinsey & Company coined the phrase the ‘war for talent’ in 1997 as part of research identifying talent management as a critical business challenge, which is as true today as it was two decades ago.
...Brexit has added a further layer of complexity in the ‘war for talent’ for UK-based organisations...
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Issue 23 | September 2016
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
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