Recruiting and hiring the right people has always been a major challenge for employers. Even one hiring mistake can be very costly to an organization. Talent management serves to ensure that businesses stay competitive.
Today, timing is a critical issue. Some forecasters predict that in the next 10 years, we may see three out of 10 employees retiring from the workforce.
So organizations must learn now how to recruit, engage and connect with those from the Gen Y population. These are the young professionals, generally speaking, born after the year 1980.
Therefore, talent management today also involves succession planning. This awareness is crucial, because potential leadership gaps can jeopardize a company’s competitive capabilities—and, sooner or later, the baby boomers will start retiring.
So the successful companies are the ones to recognize what those employees value from the remaining two workplace generations (Gen Y and Gen X); and, these companies will develop their talent management strategies correspondingly around these groups.
Also, I have seen a number of studies indicating that the Gen X workforce does not have the necessary numbers of people ready to assume business leadership responsibilities. Consequently, companies are beginning to look to those younger professionals from Gen Y to fill this leadership gap, and it’s a huge challenge.
Mistakes can be made. Based on my experience, and in order to stay competitive, here are a few talent management playbook tips that can help businesses ready their benches for when the baby boomers start retiring:
- Utilize professional assessments in the hiring process. One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make is not using assessments to aid in hiring and promotional decisions.
If an organization does not hire the right people in the first place, then it can also end up wasting all of its training and development dollars. Instead, I’ll see companies investing huge amounts of money in things such as an applicant tracking system, in order to streamline the resume management and client management processes.
But, at the same time, they’re not investing in things such as skills testing and behavioral assessments. Again, the goal is to hire the right people in the first place.
Every company should use skills testing, behavioral assessments and behaviorally-based interviews to ensure that the candidates are qualified, and that they are a good fit, not only for the job, but also with the company’s culture. Companies should use assessments in all phases of recruiting, hiring, training and developing their workforces.
- Understand that talent management technology is not a magic bullet. Some companies make the mistake of investing in expensive Talent Management technology prematurely and long before they’re ready to utilize it.
Before a company invests in this type of technology, they really need to take the time to develop talent management strategies. Such strategies can take between one to five years or more to implement; and, once in place, these strategies will guide a company toward selecting a system that makes sense and can grow with their business.
Another consideration is that technology improves and changes very rapidly. Whatever is today’s flashiest system may be tomorrow’s dinosaur.
So better yet: Consult with your professional and experienced HR professionals and organizational development staff to help create and manage your company’s talent management strategies before investing in expensive technology.
- Begin planning now for any potential leadership gaps within the organization. As described in the beginning of this Insight, many organizations will soon be facing the exodus of the baby boomer generation, many of whom will be retiring within in the next 10 years.
Following this exodus is a much smaller pipeline of younger professionals, and companies will be forced to do something quickly. Of course, the good news is, younger generations are much more technically savvy, so companies can utilize technology more efficiently and cost effectively.
For example, online learning is growing very rapidly as the primary method for delivering critical training to younger employees. Learning Management Systems (LMS) are a great way to manage and track online learning and development. A good LMS should include the capability to develop performance evaluations, 360s, succession planning tools and dashboard reporting and metrics. These capabilities will with analyzing, growing and developing the next generations of leaders.
- Recognize the importance of re-examining or re-adjusting the company or organizational culture. The reality is that companies must ensure that they connect with the workforces represented by Gen X and Gen Y.
For example, their communication styles can be very different.
Gen Y generally expects frequent feedback and communication about their performances. Sometimes, they’ve been identified as the pampered generation, so this trait can also mean that they expect not only frequent feedback, but they also want open, honest dialogue—in other words, no spinning.
This generation typically expects career development plans with opportunities to do new and challenging work. Even a practice of giving a Gen Y employee a raise without providing new or challenging responsibilities can backfire. This generation is also looking for flexible work environments that can include remote-working arrangements and leveraging technology.
I would recommend a great book by a colleague of mine named Sherri Elliott called Ties to Tattoos: Turning Generational Differences into a Competitive Advantage.
Again, a company’s talent management objectives should always align with the business goals and strategies.
A sound talent management strategy will not only help ensure better hiring and development, but it will also help the company develop an effective succession planning model.
When that day comes, you don’t want to come up short or with an empty leadership bench!
Chris Wright is the founder, President and CEO of Reliant (
http://www.reliantlive.com). Dr. Wright leads the development of Reliant's Strategic Talent Management products and content.