What's the best way to get your stakeholders on board with your talent management vision?

The current headline-making battles about remote vs office are really about talent management. I've talked with a lot of executives who have genuine concerns rooted in data about organizational performance. Many of them also realize the challenges come down to quality of their managers. This is the opportunity. Pointing to the direct connection between reskilling frontline managers to be effective leaders of distributed teams is now essential. It's becoming more clear that top-down mandates aren't working, so make the case that investment of time and energy in talent management is now essential!

It is critical to show how the talent management plans will deliver on the business strategy, not just that it is aligned to mission, vision, values etc. It helps to get stakeholders not only to buy into the plans, but become change agents in support of it.

Share case studies or success stories that showcase how talent management initiatives have positively influenced other organizations. Real-world examples provide tangible evidence of the benefits and can inspire confidence in your vision.

Let us understand that talent management is a business imperative and hence it is important that you do not try and hard sell it as a HR / People agenda. Here are a few things one must do: 1) Get your stakeholders to co-create your talent management vision 2) Explain them 'why' is talent management an important agenda to discuss and execute 3) Make your stakeholders the champions to drive the talent management vision 4) Align your talent management vision with the company's vision and business goals 5) Measure the impact of your talent management strategy on business - feed data regularly to your business leaders

Some of the Best ways to on board stakeholder with the talent management are 1) Understanding the Goals of your stake holder: This gives you a clear picture of the expectation and goals of the stake holder and helps you define your strategy. 2) Communication: Needs to have very clear/ transparent communication on what is expected and what can be delivered. This will definitely lead to building trust and help in building long term relationship. 3) Setting expectation: Needs to set up the very clear expectation with the stake holder on the timelines and talent to be on boarded. Team also needs to be agile in nature so that according the dynamics needful can be done. constant feedback and on times deliverable is must to meet the above.

It’s vital that we engage all stakeholders in the process so that it is co-developed. When we co-develop, we share and own the process.

Recognize that different stakeholders may have varying levels of interest and concerns. Some stakeholders may benefit from in-depth discussions, while others prefer concise, data-driven reports.

Schedule regular alignment check-in meetings with stakeholders to discuss progress, challenges, and evolving goals. These meetings serve as a platform for open dialogue and adjustments.

Relationships, like trust, take time and effort; it can't be rushed. It’s in the small moments where the work really occurs, like utilizing the time before a meeting starts for small talk or taking time to check in on your stakeholder if they have not been feeling well. These actions show that you are paying attention and go a long way in building relationships. The ultimate outcome is one of partnership and collaboration. As you are building your relationship with your stakeholder, create guidelines, rules of engagement, and an expectations charter for how you and your stakeholder will work together. Having a solid and healthy relationship sets you, your stakeholders, and your organization up for success.

The sixth step encapsulates the art of transformational leadership. By aligning your talent management vision with stakeholders' aspirations and weaving a narrative that resonates with emotions and values, you pave the way for meaningful engagement. Sharing real stories of success and highlighting best practices solidify the vision's viability, while challenging and empowering stakeholders fuels their commitment to enact change. This step is the bridge from idea to impactful action, built on the foundation of inspiration and resonance.

I feel Talent Management Vision of any organisation is based on "Transparent communication from Leadership/Stakeholders/HR & TA. All these four parties need to be much better SYNC if you want the vision to be a great success. So any communication everyone needs to be equally involved. You can not have meeting with one party and other been not involved.

Getting alignment with your stakeholder starts with trust. Being a trustworthy person takes discipline. Building trust can be challenging and you may potentially find yourself wanting to compromise along the way to take, what may seem at the time, the “easier position.” Hold your integrity. The short-term discomfort you might feel with a difficult conversation is minimal compared to the laborious, and sometimes impossible, task of repairing a relationship where the trust has been broken. The higher the level of trust in the room, the more innovative, dynamic, creative, agile, and effective the relationship will be. Make trust a priority. Your future as a Talent Management Practitioner depends on it.

Demonstrate business and cost impact. Communicate it through data both numeric and subjective. To be able to do that effectively one should understand the business and deeply relate to business metrics. e.g. Promotions (Internal talent development) - estimated time/cost to hire and train talent minus internal talent development cost.