Talent Management:  Key to Economic Recovery 

During this period of economic contraction, many businesses have required employees

To “do more with less”

In some instances, businesses have moved from lean to dysfunctional just to survive.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  Recruiting and retaining top talent for your organization will be the key to your economic recovery.

Talent Management starts in the hiring and selection process. Hiring the right person for the right job is an essential but often overlooked requirement. Most hiring managers hire from their intuition, not foundational research.  We recommend using assessments first to get a clear view of the job being filled, then matching candidates before making a job offer.   A solid assessment process ensures the candidate matches the requirements of the job. Combining interviews, background checks and assessments removes subjective bias associated with most hires.

In fact a study by  John E. Hunter and Ronda F. Hunter, “Validity and Utility of Alternative Predictors of Job Performance” reflect chances of a good hire as:

0%for a Flip of a Coin

14% for an Interview Only

26% after adding Background Checks

38% after adding Personality Testing

54% after adding Abilities Testing

66% after adding Interest Testing

75% after adding Job Match Testing

So if you’re wondering why the previous hires have not worked out, now you know why.

The economy will recover, so start making plans for economic expansion.   Talent Management should not only be on your radar screen, it should be a top priority.

Why is talent management so important? According to Deloitte’s recent survey, Talent 2020, 31% of current employees say they are not satisfied with their jobs. In addition, 20% say they plan to leave their current employer within the next year. As you can see, it would be wise to give some attention to your talent management strategy. Here are a few ideas.

Employee Retention Starts With Job Satisfaction 

A key to having satisfied employees is having specific accountabilities for each job.   In their classic work Gung HO!, Dr. Ken Blanchard and Dr. Sheldon Bowles said there are three essential principles to having productive employees:

1.  Worthwhile Work – Ensuring employees know their work is worthwhile.

2.  Control of Goal Achievement – making sure employees are in control of achieving the goal.

3.  Cheering Each Other On – Ensuring we are cheering each other on, and celebrating successes.

Unfortunately, most employees work against a two page job description instead of clearly defined accountabilities.  And then the employees don’t know how they’ve done until the annual review is conducted, and those are usually late!

Find Out What’s Going On

If you want to know what people think, just ask them. Conducting an employee survey provides insight into what aspects employees feel are going well and those that are not.     Employee surveys are only as good as the trust level in the organization. In other words, if you have a high trust level in the organization, you will have good survey data with which to work.

If you want to know more, ask your customers!

We recommend using an independent firm to conduct any survey.   We believe that employees and customers respond openly and honestly to an independent firm, even in organizations that have a low trust level.

Be prepared to take action on what you discover. Diagnosing a problem is important, but ignoring it is malpractice!

Invest In People Development

In distance racing, the speed of the pack is always equal to the pace of the leader. It’s the same with organizations.  Effectively paced organizations reach their goals. Leaders are learners, and effective leaders continually hone their skills and develop leadership abilities in communication, employee engagement, coaching and mentoring, and discipline.  Yet, in hard economic times, one of the first budget cuts is training and development.  It’s time to start training people again.

Effective leaders create environments where employees are fully engaged in their work and by the work they do. When executives, managers and supervisors create a positive vision of WHY the work is important, they create a positive workplace.

• turnover goes down, productivity goes up;
• customers are loyal, profits go up;
• conflicts are resolved and organizations grow.

 

Evaluate your leaders today and validate the gaps in leadership behaviors.

Start training leaders.

Training and development dollars are almost always invested in skill and knowledge, and very seldom in attitude and behaviors.

People are almost always hired for their skills and knowledge, and almost always fired for their attitudes and habits.

Evaluate the effectiveness of your teams, and realign your teams to focus on key goal categories that can be measured.

Conclusion

Ask for help.  We’ll help you get identify the gaps, develop your staff, make better hires, reduce turnover, and help you grow your business.  Make plans now for the coming economic expansion. Take advantage new opportunities.