Talent Management: A Corporate’s Most Vital Employee Turnover Variable

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By Chilombo Katongo, B.Sc (CS), (ISO)Lead Risk Manager,(ICTAZ) 31000(LRM) - It was January 9th 2017, and the feeling of accomplishment could not have been more apparent! Finally, I was done with my Undergraduate program. I quickly picked up the phone to call the company I had interned with during my Industrial practice in 2015 (as a 3rd year student). “Good day sir, how are you? I just wanted to let you know that I wrote my last paper today!” I exclaimed with excitement – the rest is history.

As I approach my 8th year “workiverssary”, I ponder and retrospect on my journey thus far and on the many lessons learned. One area of focus seems to keep nudging me; high Employee turnover or lack thereof. To date, I have been privileged to work for a fair share of companies both large Multi Nationals (MNC) as well as start-ups and SME’s, all with their unique staff turnover rates. It was then when I realised that the rate at which employees leave an organisation has a lot to do with Talent / skill management and not so much on renumeration related issues.

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In my article “Why Emotional Intelligence should be an Employer’s best ally In 21st Century “, I emphasized that managing people the right way has never been more crucial now and has a direct impact on the success or failure of an institution.

You see, it is one thing to acquire the much-needed skill set but quite another to harness, mold, and develop those talents. In my view and experience, organisations (regardless of size) that prioritise the people process, culture and systems with intentional programs are seen to experience a reduced turnover rate as compared to business / revenue driven organisations.

It is imperative for Business Leaders/ Executives to not only end at acquiring the right talent through interviews but to go a step further in harnessing and growing those talents. I dare say, every employee brings to the table a special skill that only them can do with little or no effort – at ease! It is therefore the responsibility of all leaders to identify these talents. This ultimately works well for both parties involved; it helps the employer (top management) with placing an employee (staff) strategically in a role that best suits them and their talents; thus, enhancing their deliverables. On the employee’s end, it helps them operate in their full gifting and brings a sense of accomplishment. In the end, the employee begins to experience a sense of purpose and they decide to grow with the organisation.

Since we know that a Talent is any skill and (or) set of skills that one acquires naturally or doesn’t necessarily have to work hard to acquire, Management is to create intentional programs or systems that encourage the discovery of those talents. The reason is simple, during interviews, it is not possible for both you the Employer and the Employee to fully exhaust one’s potentials; abilities are noticed on the job. This may however go unnoticed especially if deliberate programs are not put in place. It therefore becomes imperative to have some kind of ad hoc processes in place in order to achieve best results from employees with little or no burnout situations.

Like mentioned earlier, an employee satisfaction (driven) centric in an organisation will most likely have a reduced turnover rate than one that is driven largely by Revenue Generation. While bringing in those numbers is the core business of many organisations, it is equally paramount to understand that People are the ones are actually responsible for that process.

It was Vusi Thembekwayo who said “???? ?? ????????????, ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????. ????’?? ?????????? ?????????????????????? ??????????????????, ???????????????????? ????????????????????????, ?????? ?????????????????? ?????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ???? ????????????. ?????????????? ???? ???????????????????? ???????????? ??????????, ?????????????????? ??????????????????????, ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????????? ??????????????. ???? ????????????????????, ???? ??????????????????????, ?????? ?????????? ???????? ???????? ????????????????.”

According to research conducted by Mosekama Mokhele of Nelson Mandela University to investigate whether talent management has the effect of reducing turnover intention, the study findings revealed that talent management, training and development, career growth and management have significant effect to reduce employee turnover intention. Furthermore, this research revealed that training and development is a dominant factor among variables.

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Most SME’s have a heavy hand on the Chief Executive (Who is normally the Founder or Co-founder of the organisation) being involved in each and every process. In this scenario, the focus is usually to grow the brand; t’s correct to say that most SME ‘s will tend to be revenue driven. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have a good financial base, however, communicating with clarity to your employees on your short- and long-term vision brings about a sense of inclusion.

Now, we need to realise that as an SME, you are in a transitory state, the end goal is to metamorphose into a large organisation, as the saying goes, “in order to be big, you must think big”. Even at the growth stage of the organisation, coming up with intentional staff retention policies, communicating with clarity to staff members of your expectations and allowing them to give feedback become a crucial process in these organisations.

I am confident that one of the leading causes of SME’s fails is as a result of their leadership not prioritizing, harnessing and cultivating the talents of its employees. However, those that have understood the power that lies in the people processes and culture, are seen to thrive!

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While we cannot have a situation where there is no employee turnover, we must however ensure to optimise it at all costs! The disadvantages are numerous for the Employer: the hiring of staff every other month could be tedious and expensive! this could also potentially erode public/ prospective employee confidence and reputation for the organisation.

The risk of having company sensitive / confidential data leaked could be heightened despite signing of NDA’s. It is also always preferable to grow with the same Team you started with as the vision is well understood and deliverables and targets are actualised in a much smoother and quicker fashion.

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I put it to you, Identifying the unique competencies of the Team you lead is one of the most crucial elements of Leadership. Taking time to know the individual members’ persona; usually, their talents or utmost strengths come to light (more) in the ad-hoc moments or the less conventional work environment. Also note, EVERY professional has unique strengths, discover them and allow them bask in them!

Lastly, regardless of the size of Organisation you own or manage, remember to be intentional about harnessing the unique abilities visa vi talents of your team, to be clear in your vision and have staff feedback systems in place. This in turn would significantly reduce your employee turnover rate.

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1) Personal Experiences

2) www.researgate.com

3) Research conducted by Mosekama Osia Mokhele of the Nelson Mandela University .