Modern Talent Management: Unlocking Talent Benefits in an Agile World
Talent management is simply defined as a strategic approach to attracting, developing, and retaining talent. Some of the traditional ways and means of talent management are being challenged by changing business models, the rise of new technology, the needs of modern-day employees, and evolving thought processes.
In addition, work and workplaces have changed irreversibly due to the pandemic. However, the fundamental objective of talent management is still the same –to enable (and not manage) the talent pool of an organization to unlock engagement and productivity. Building the right culture for people to be able to perform, enabling them to deliver customer excellence, and innovate in the quest for better products and services are still the building blocks of the right talent management framework.
Some of the key tenets of modern talent management are:
1. Tech-enabled recruitment:
Strengthen your talent acquisition with technology tools that evaluate job alignment and gauge the skills and talents of candidates. Ensure that the focus on technology does not dilute the human experience of recruitment.
2. Outcome-based performance management:
In an increasingly remote/hybrid world, allow people to work flexibly and integrate their personal and professional priorities. Measure them on the outcomes they deliver instead of the number of hours they spend at work.
3. Prioritize talent, not location:
All talent management processes and associated programs need to accommodate remote workers and gig workers. Focus on getting the right talent to staff each role, irrespective of where they are based.
4. Train responsible ‘nomads’:
Ensure that ‘digital nomads’ are trained to be responsible for data privacy and client security needs. Also, focus on training them to behave as responsible brand ambassadors for your organization in a remote location.
5. Pay for performance:
Provide a total rewards package that is comprehensive and geographically relevant to the location that your people work from. Help people to understand the nuances of global pay differentials and location-based pay.
6. Enable well-being:
Right from providing the right kind of infrastructure to work safely and ergonomically, to ensuring mental well-being and engagement, make sure that you engage in dialogue with people on what they need and help them in accessing the right resources.
7. Respect DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion):
Consciously work towards eliminating biases and be fair to different geographies, cultures, regions, and religions.
The core processes of talent management – the ‘what’ aspects have not really shifted. The change has been to the ‘how’. Any talent management strategy must keep people at the center and help them bring their whole and best selves to work. Organizations need to empower and enable their people to deliver to the new business imperatives and create talent management strategies that differentiate and strengthen them.
To discuss the global shifts in talent management and apply them to your organization, visit us at www.compteam.net
About the Author
(Collaborators: Sam Reeve, Howard Nizewitz, Sumit Singla, Acknowledgement: Annissa Deshpande)
Sam is the CEO and founder of CompTeam.
His core focus is leading companies through transformational change by optimizing talent initiatives with reward programs to achieve long-term strategic objectives.
Sam’s diverse experience includes the design and optimization of performance-driven variable compensation plans for executive, sales, and core employee populations of growing companies.
Prior to founding CompTeam, Sam has worked in compensation functions of notable firms such as BlackRock, McKesson, and Automatic Data Processing (ADP).
Sam is a global certified compensation consultant (CCP, GRP) with over 20 years of experience in Total Reward Strategies.
