Talent Optimization

When you hear the term talent optimization there are probably a few questions running through your mind regarding what talent optimization is and what it consists of. It is primarily about structuring your talent pool so that it is most capable of operating the business and closing strategic and operating gaps, utilizing both internal and external resources. As for your questions, the good news is that you already have 95% of your answers.

Talent optimization is about creating functional and operating teams that are:

1. Led by skilled leaders.

2. Made up of individuals who have the right skill sets.

3. Properly staffed (employees, temporary workers, third party service providers, and outside subject matter experts are included here).

4. Aligned to and in agreement with all business and personal goals and objectives.

5. In full agreement with their role in the bigger picture, and how they will be measured.

At this point, I want to spend a moment on another important topic: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Studies show that businesses with a diverse culture see the following results:

? 21% higher profits

? 27% greater value creation

? 73% higher innovation revenues

These are big numbers! Hence, DEI needs to be part of the talent optimization discussion. I was working with a client on their talent optimization strategy and asked the following question: “How does a senior leadership team and Board of Directors of all white males over fifty properly understand and lead a business where females make or influence 82% of the buying decisions?” Their top level was not diverse enough to fully grasp how buying decisions were made by the demographic they served, so they made diversity a pillar of their strategic plan and spent more time on diversity in their hiring practices.

In previous sections of this book, we have defined the MIG, strategies, project charters, cascading objectives, learning maps, diversity needs, and organizational structure. If learning maps are properly developed and skill sets are professionally delivered, a company is one step closer to optimizing its talent. But it is only the first step in optimizing current and future teams. As leadership works through the skill requirements for closing gaps and running the future state of the company, they may find that training and organization design are not enough. If that is the case coming right off the organizational design discussion, it is now time to have a candid discussion with senior leadership about having the right people in the right seats, which is another charged topic, but one that is more easily addressed because of the previous work that has been done.

In this situation, we have functional and team leaders sit down with their MIG, goals and objectives, their learning maps, and list the difficulties they believe they will face in implementing them with the teams they currently have in place. We then utilize a performance assessment tool that looks at the capability of each team member and we use the same tool to assess the challenges the team will face in achieving their MIG and implementing their strategies. This is important because you can imagine that a team of visionaries will have a tough time implementing tactics that require detailed workflows and process documentation. You can also imagine how difficult it will be for a team who is detail focused to implement revolutionary change.

Know who is on a team, understand the requirements of the project(s) they are responsible for, do an assessment of their capabilities, and backstop the team with resources needed to get their tasks done successfully. The good news is that both assessments take ten minutes per person, a thirty-minute meeting with the team to review the results, and a bit more time to create a resource requirements plan and implement changes to the team makeup. This is a perfect example of leveraging technology. This approach can be applied across the organization giving leadership quantitative information on how to be successful in moving from the current state to the future sate.

The first pass is done by the leaders and their direct reports or the teams they lead, where the objective is to create a list by person and an action plan to address any perceived difficulties. I then have a session with the leadership team where each leader presents their findings and their plan(s), and they receive feedback from their peers. Without data and the reports from the assessment tool we use, this meeting gets dicey very quickly. But, once again, the data from the assessment tools, and the recommendations for the team, take the emotion out of the discussion. The action plans will always consist of making additional organizational changes, accelerating specific training, and bringing in outside bench strength if it does not exist internally.

Bringing in outside bench strength may be necessary if assessments indicate certain weaknesses with existing staff. If leadership determines a short-term plan requires more experience to achieve results, and subsequent training may not be sufficient, then leadership may need to re-evaluate deadlines and/or take necessary steps to correct any deficiencies by bringing in outside talent (consultants or employees). One of the benefits of utilizing The Business Hierarchy of Needs? is that you have all the information needed to attract, hire, and retain top talent at your fingertips. By defining the needs of a function up front, your hiring strategy will produce more qualified candidates who will also be a better fit for your organization. The result is that the desired outcomes for personal, team, and company MIGs are more readily assured in a timely manner.

After reading this section, you should be thinking about:

1. Do we have a team that understands the diversity of our customers and their needs in the marketplace?

2. Do I and others in the organization understand talent optimization?

3. Do we have anyone in the company who can help us with this?

4. Are we following a process or methodology for talent optimization?

5. What is the impact on our business if we do not do this?