As per past studies, talent found to be the most important corporate resource. The experts opined that the demand for technologically savvy professionals would be higher than the supply. Companies, then, took steps to not only search for the best talent but to retain them as well.
Presently, companies are competing to match global standards, and talent has become a source of competitive edge. In the meanwhile, the availability of skillful persons remains scarce. Also, organizations are not able to retain skilled personnel who have been changing jobs frequently. Besides, leadership channels are affected with companies downsizing as a result of the recession.
Research studies exhibit that talent recruitment and acquisition remains the primary concern among HR managers. And yet only a little percentage of companies seem to have a robust recruitment strategy. The truth is that effective talent management strategies can help companies to gain a competitive advantage among their peers. Thus, having one in place is critical for the running of businesses.
A clear talent management strategy encompasses two notions. First, the leaders must convey the importance of talent management to employees for garnering their support.
Second, HR managers should have a clear understanding of the vision and mission of the company; this is important because HR strategies have to embedded with business strategies. Also, they must have an understanding of the business requirements and provide support accordingly.
Other HR innovative practices that companies must consider adopting in today’s competitive times are shared below.
- Identifying Competencies
HR managers should understand the needs of business and identity competencies accordingly. Further, the competencies have to be ingrained in all HR practices. Then, the companies should hire eligible candidates who are a ‘right’ fit for the given position while taking into account the core competencies of companies.
The subsequent step is to segment the workforce and identify critical roles. Then, conduct a talent review and give promotions as per the performance and attitude of employees. Further, to determine employee potential, recruitment managers must use objective assessment data, sans any manager evaluation biases.
- Maintain Transparency and Succession Planning
Organizations have to deal with the question of transparency, as well. Take the example of a company review where some employees are perceived to be ‘high’ potential and others, ‘low’ potential. Now, should the individuals know about the findings or not is a query that companies have to grapple with? Though, the general recommendation to deal with such a difficulty is to align with the organizational culture.
Furthermore, after the talent review, a gap analysis is to be initiated to check if any critical roles are unfilled. And if yes, what are the better ways to fill such positions. Companies have to choose between borrow, buy, or build.
- Target marketing for hiring talent
Nowadays, companies are considering employer brand image to recruit desired talent too. Also, they have started to customize their employer brand image to suit the requirements of varied demographic segments.
They are also adopting a range of recruitment strategies. These include recruiting companies, internal referrals, social media means, campus recruitments, among others.
More so, during the candidate selection process, applicants are being evaluated against the competency needs of companies. Hiring managers are using effective assessment tools and standardized behavioral interviews to achieve the stipulated objectives; also, both methods come under best-practice methodologies.
Companies are increasingly investing in new employee onboarding and orientation as well.
