How to build an effective Talent Management Strategy?

Talent management is more than a human resource buzzword. Talent management is the process of identifying, developing, and retaining the best employees in the job market. When implemented strategically, this process can significantly improve the overall performance of your business and ensure it remains competitive.

Here is everything you need to do to build a proper talent management strategy.

What is talent management, and why is it important?

First things first, what is talent management? Put simply, talent management means investing in your organisation's greatest resource – your people. Every organisation needs to value its employees as an asset. Your employee's skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience are intangible and invaluable assets in securing your organisation's future. To this end, you should recruit candidates with desirable skill sets, provide ongoing learning and development opportunities, reward valued team members and encourage them to advance within the organisation.

From recruitment to learning and development, creating the right processes to further develop your employees is crucial for your company's growth and overall success. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to design a talent management strategy tailored to your business's goals. Building a talent management strategy requires you to take stock of where your company is today, understand its goals for the future, and then develop a set of objectives to achieve those goals.

Challenges of talent management

According to one McKinsey study , only 5% of employees surveyed reported effective talent management processes. Of this 5%, 99% said they had outperformed all competitors. Talent management is one of the most critical tasks of any organisation. Yet, organisations today face unprecedented challenges driven by global demographic trends, geopolitics, and seismic shifts in how we work.

There are many stages to the talent lifecycle, which are often handled in siloes, with different tools and processes. A more holistic approach to talent management provides a seamless employee journey and a sustainable ‘supply chain’ of talent and is more future-proof, efficient and engaging. Organisations need to take a more systemic approach to talent management to improve employee experience, win the war for talent, and create sustainable success. But where do you even start?

Understand your business

You must first understand your business to build a successful talent management strategy. This means understanding not only the goals and strategies of your organisation but also its structure and culture.

For example, if your company is a high-growth start-up struggling with turnover due to high stress and low job satisfaction, its goal might be to reduce attrition by improving employee happiness. However, this alone won't help you unless you know what type of talent management strategy would most effectively achieve that goal: whether it be onboarding (e.g., ensuring new hires are happy during their first 90 days) or developing programs for existing employees (e.g., allowing them to work from home).

Attract the right people

The right people are essential for achieving your goals and being successful as an organisation. It is they who will help you get where you want to be, and they'll be able to do it because they're great at their jobs and motivated by them.

Studies have shown that superior talent is up to eight times more productive. McKinsey research of more than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes found that high performers are 400 per cent more productive than average ones. Business studies show similar results. Once more reiterating the importance of employing the right people.

Focus on onboarding and training

You need to make sure that your organisation has a strategy for onboarding and training. New hires need to get up to speed quickly to contribute their best work as soon as possible.

Onboarding involves integrating new employees into the company beyond setting them up with tools, equipment, and paperwork. Proper onboarding procedures include training for employees. Onboarding and training are two sides of the same coin; without one, you'll never have a great team member on staff. Training gives new employees the knowledge they need to excel in their new roles. They will also learn about the mission and culture of the company, which helps them align themselves with these values.

Prioritise learning & development??

Learning and development is the process of continuously improving employee capabilities in the workplace to ensure long-term success. Create a system that allows for constant improvement, where employees can learn from each other and develop themselves as people and professionals. This will encourage your team members to take ownership of their careers rather than simply accepting the status quo.

A lack of career development is the leading reason people leave their jobs. Investing in talent development can help with employee retention. 94% of workers said they’d stay at a company longer if their employer invested in their careers. 64% of L&D professionals agree that employee development shifted from a “nice to have” to a “need to have” since the onset of the pandemic.

?Effective employer branding

All organisations have an employer brand. It's how organisations differentiate themselves in the labour market, allowing them to attract, retain and engage the right people. There are various ways in which organisations can strengthen their employer brand, such as through their social media channels or with the help of likeable videos and amusing campaigns. A strong employer brand helps businesses compete for the best talent.

Organisations are beginning to recognise the value of branding to improving the entire employee lifecycle as they seek to build an engaged workforce and ensure a positive work experience. A recent study by Hosseini et al. found that sustainable human resource management practices lead to improved employer brand perceptions. The same study also found that positive employer branding also results in a better performance against competitors by retaining top talent and increasing employee engagement.

Final thoughts

So, there you have it. Talent management is key to engaging your employees, recognising their contributions, and recognising their skill sets. Talent management is not just about hiring the right people; it’s also about developing those people to meet their full potential and helping them to reach the professional goals they set for themselves.

Talent management involves developing strategies that support employee growth, development, and retention. The process involves a coordinated effort among various stakeholders across different organisational functions—including HR professionals, line managers and executives—to successfully align talent practices with business strategy.

These are some of the features you need to consider when building a talent management strategy, and if you need any help in doing so, we at Animate can help.

Our dedicated team of talent management experts work closely with software and technology companies to increase their market share and improve business performance through the power of people. When you partner with Animate Search, you can be confident that we'll engage the best talent, ensuring they have the right mix of skills, experience, vision, and character to fit your culture and ambitions – all the while delivering an excellent employee experience.

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