What Is Talent Management?

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Key Takeaways:

• It is common knowledge that quality employees are the most important resource or asset that an organization has. Hence, many organizations prioritize talent management activities. With strategic talent management activities, you are able to maximize your employees’ value to your organization.
• Every organization’s success is hinged on the quality of talent it is able to attract and retain. As such, organizations have tightened their efforts to manage human resources in their organizations.
• Talent management system software is crucial to supporting talent management initiatives.
• Talent management companies help organizations: identify, engage, develop, review, and retain employees who are of very high value to an organization.
• Attracting, and retaining top talent is a huge task and an important activity in every organization.

The importance of the quality of talent in an organization is best described in the words of Leena Nair, chief human resources officer (CHRO) of UNILEVER, when interviewed by McKinsey Publishing during the World Economic Forum in 2018.“If you look at a competitive advantage that a company truly has, it is really only the ideas, the ingenuity, and the passion of its people. Because everything else can be matched “… if there’s not enough talent and capability there—we will never see the investments being turned into reality. “Since every organization’s success hinges on the quality of talent it is able to attract and retain, organizations have tightened their efforts at managing human resources in their organizations. The processes that are employed to attract, deploy, engage, and retain their most valuable assets (human capital) are what is referred to as talent management.

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What is talent management?

Talent management is what happens to an organization’s people after the hiring process. An important component of human resource processes, it involves a combination of activities for effective management of employee’s work cycle. And encompasses many human resource activities which have to do with attracting, identifying, selecting, developing, engaging, retaining, and deploying an organization’s invaluable employees. It is common knowledge that quality employees are the most important resource or asset that an organization has. Hence, many organizations prioritize talent management activities. With strategic talent management activities, you are able to maximize your employees’ value to your organization.

Human Resources Management vs. Talent Management

Both talent management and human resource management are about managing an organization’s people. And because of that, their functions may seem similar. However, there are key differences between the two. So, while human resource management is primarily concerned with administrative aspects of people management, talent management is concerned with improving talents in order for them to perform better. In other words, talent management concerns the strategy an organization adopts to maximize human capital to meet organizational goals. It is focused on helping employees grow their careers and on helping employees get better at their performance through coaching, training, and mentoring.

Also, it is a new approach to maximizing an organization’s talent. It adopts a holistic approach to employee management. It seeks not only what to obtain from the employee, but also how to assist the employee in reaching their full potential at work and in life. In contrast, human resources management essentially has to do with managing processes like employee remuneration, conflict management, workplace policies and procedures, performance reviews etc., For talent management to be effective, there needs to be a congruence between organizational goals and its strategic objectives.

Talent Management System

A talent management system is a comprehensive software solution that aids human resource leaders in attracting valuable talents through their front door. Also, it enables the automation of human resources processes in the organization. As a result, processes become more effective and efficient. It addresses all aspects of personnel management, including recruitment and onboarding, performance management, learning and development, compensation management, and succession planning.

Key Benefits 

1. A talent management system caters to employee growth. One study found that the reason a lot of employees stick with Microsoft is because of the growth opportunities the company provides them. Another study shows that 80% of workers prefer organizations that prioritize learning and development. They want things that will challenge them to improve. This set of employees identifies career growth as of greater importance than salary.

1. Optimized recruiting processes.
2. A talent management system helps organizations pool in the right candidates from the inception of the hiring process.
3. Talent management systems reduce the chances of hiring the wrong candidates because of the embedded tools that facilitate the validation of candidates who meet the minimum qualifications or requirements for a job and fit it into an organization’s culture.
4.  The talent management system can provide information on turnover rates. With the data you are able to gather with it, you will be able to identify the causes of turnover.

Talent Management Companies

Organizations that specialize in HR and offer support and staff management services to businesses are known as talent management companies. They can identify talents and aid organizations in bringing in the suitable candidates to fill vacant roles in the organization and reduce redundancies. Redundancies are costly for organizations. More importantly, it “exposes an employer to the risk of an unfair dismissal claim being made against them, on the grounds that the redundancy was not genuine,” notes Napthens Solicitors.Other services that talent management companies provide include:

• Transformation of workplaces.
• Helping underperforming employees unlock their potential.
• Maximizing the skillset of an organization’s workforce.
• Employment branding to remain attractive to both existing and new talents.
• Developing strategies that help organizations retain existing talents.
• Conducting talent management workshops to help organizations manage their employees’ skills and performance.

Bottom Line

The world of work has changed over the years necessitating a strong need for strategic talent management activities. For example, Gen Z and Millennials who make up over 60% of the global workforce care less about job security and want jobs that afford them more autonomy. Additionally, organizations have adopted hybrid working models and employees are now opting for jobs that help them achieve purpose and work life balance. Given these big changes in the world of work in recent years, organizations are strengthening their efforts at attracting and retaining the best possible individuals that will help them stay competitive and achieve their goals in the business world and whose expectations the organization will meet.