TALENT MANAGEMENT

TALENT MANAGEMENT

RETENTION OF TALENTS OCCURS WHEN THE MANAGEMENT
OF TALENTS IS EFFECTIVE.

Talent management is the process of ensuring that the organization attracts, retains, motivates and develops the talented people it needs.
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The talent management processes are:
*developing the organization as an 'employer of choice' a 'great place to work';

•using selection and recruitment procedures that ensure that good quality
people are recruited who are likely to thrive in the organization and stay with it for a reasonable length of time;

•designing jobs and developing roles which give people opportunities to apply
and grow their skills and provide them with autonomy, interest and challenge;

* providing talented staff with opportunities for career development and growth;

* creating a working environment in which work processes and facilities enable
rewarding (in the broadest sense) jobs and roles to be designed and developed;

* developing a positive psychological contract;

* developing the leadership qualities of line managers;
recognizing those with talent by rewarding excellence, enterprise and achievement;

* succession planning ensuring that the organization has suitable people to fill
vacancies arising from promotion, retirement or death;

* conducting talent audits which identify those with potential and those who might leave the organizations.

*good opportunities for development, training and career progression;

*a reasonable degree of security;

• enhanced future employability because of the reputation of the organization
as one that employs and develops high quality people,
as well as the learning opportunities it provides;

•better facilities and scope for creative employees.

• employment conditions that satisfy work life balance needs;

• a reward system that recognizes and values contribution,
and provides competitive pay and benefits.

All these reveal that the TALENT will thrive where there is
-freedom to show innovation
-facilities are made available
-creativity is appreciated
-creativity is given the opportunity, it deserves.
-creativity is given recognition
etc.
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Guidelines for Retaining TALENTED Employees

Develop a process to identify key individuals and positions needed in the
transition and in the new organization.

Focus on retaining the true "value creators" in the organization, not just top
management players.

Determine how long you need to keep various people on the basis of
business needs, and offer them stay bonuses as appropriate.

Assess employees against key competencies required for key positions. Use
these to objectively assess talents you will retain to meet important business
needs.

Remember when you dictate objectives, people show less commitment, but
when the process is collaborative, there is visibly more commitment. Involve
key talent in a "retention task force" where they can have input into
workforce planning and participate in discussions to help determine what it
will take to keep key talent in the new organization.

Determine which individuals will need to be relocated, if any, as early as
possible in the transition process.

Tell people what you know as quickly as you know it, and tell them what you
do not know.

Try to minimize the time that employees must endure a period of uncertainty
about whether they will be staying or leaving.

Consider developing a retention bonus plan for those considered absolutely
critical to the organization's success during and after the transition.

Understand up front that retention bonuses can have unintended
consequences and limited success. Those who get stay bonuses may be
seen as "the anointed ones" by those who don't receive such bonuses. Be
prepared to risk losing these people. Those who receive the bonuses will also
have a date by which they can voluntarily leave the organization and still
receive a bonus.

Approach all those you want to retain one on one and let them know they are
important to the organization's success. The simple phrase "I need your help"
has a kind of magic in it. "Re recruit" these people by letting them know what
is in it for them if they choose to stay on.

Try to retain all star performers and high performers even though their jobs
may have been eliminated in the reorganization. This is the same principle by
which professional sports teams draft "the best available athlete." However,
be mindful of the fact that if YOU cannot find a challenge that fits their talent,
you will not be able to keep them.
THE CHALLENGE OF TALENT RETENTION

The greatest challenge faced today by organisations the world over is retaining talented employees in the organisation. A debate raging since many decades has been as to whether to retain them is more important than finding a successor to the vacant position. Whilst the argument continues, let us examine the causes, consequences and control of employee turnover in an organisation. By employee turnover, we mean that employees of an organistion cease to remain in the services of that organisation and leave for reasons best known to them.

Some of the causes/consequences could be classified as:

Dissatisfaction parameter:
Employees are dissatisfied with the salaries, perks and benefits offered by the organisation they are currently in. They may also be dissatisfied with their bosses or find their jobs meaningless and unimportant as a result of which their job satisfaction levels are very low. Further they may be dissatisfied with career opportunities in the organisation or even its personnel policies in general. As a consequence of the above, Employees leave to join other organisations which satisfy their needs. As the wheel of time moves along, they find a third organisation which offers to satisfy them even more. Thus they change again i.e. they are perennially job-hopping from one organisation to another.

Alternatives parameter: Here the employee leaves the organisation in search of "greener pastures" such as starting his own business, joining the family business, joining an organisation in a foreign country or even availing of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme of the organisation and relaxing at home, living off the interest generated from fixed deposits and investment. An interesting trend in recent years in has been that many managers leave industry to become consultants or even faculty in management institutes or go abroad to complete their PhD or further studies. It is important to note here that the separation here was not because of dissatisfaction with respect to the present organisation but because of other available alternatives and inclinations in that direction by the employees. The consequence here is that the organisation loses some talented employees for no fault of theirs. In some organisations some of these employees are even used as consultants on a retainership basis from time to time. This is possible if and only if the separated employees are not always in a competitive area of work.

Personal parameter: In this case, the employee chooses to separate himself from the organisation because of personal reasons such as ill-health, desire to return to the native place for family reasons, the spouse is transferred and the current organisation has no branch in the new location and so on. In the Indian context, women may have to give up their jobs post-marriage to resettle elsewhere in the country or even post-pregnancy. As some of the above problems are more common with the women employees, many organisations have an unwritten policy, which is widely practised i.e. to minimise employment of women. This is a very unfair and biased policy and unfortunately many competent and well-qualified women have had to suffer. But companies argue that many women executives, even in today's Indian context have to quit jobs after marriage or pregnancy. It is best therefore not to generalise and treat such cases on their respective merits.

Organisation initiated parameter: Sometimes employees have to separate from an organisation as they have not completed their probation period successfully or they are being laid off for want of work or their appointment was only on a temporary basis. In fact it is this aspect of separation that is most unpleasant since the earlier ones discussed were cases of separation which were employee initiated. Care must be taken by the organisations to ensure that the above be carried out as smoothly as possible else, this could create a lot of negative impressions about the company which could be detrimental for the organisation's image in the long run. One major consequence of this type of separation is that it affects the morale of the employees at large and creates a feeling of insecurity in general.

Let us realize that today recruitment has become both a highly specialised area and a costly exercise too. Once an individual joins an organisation, costs incurred on him include Acquisition costs i.e. cost of recruitment, selection and placement &Training Costs i.e. induction, specialised training and on the job training. Besides when he separates from the organisation, the company faces the cost of his position lying vacant besides having to pay his separation pay and such dues.

Hence organisations today are focusing on minimising employee turnover with great gusto.

Some of the control measures taken are:
Having a well-designed and dynamic Compensation and Benefits system which is highly competitive.
Providing opportunities for further growth in the organisation via career planning/ succession planning.
Develop a highly conducive and pro-active work culture in the organisation where openness, creativity and commitment are valued.

In many organisations today, Exit interviews are conducted to obtain feedback from separated employees about their stint in the organisation. This Exit interview is conducted in two phases.

Phase I is conducted as soon as the employee's boss receives his resignation letter. The objective of his meeting is to ascertain reasons as to why the employee wishes to leave the organistion. If the employee is really worth retaining, attempts are made to eliminate dissatisfiers if any and retain his services for the organisation. This decision has to be taken very judiciously else the employee will use this as a tool to push his demands via a resignation letter. If an employee withdraws his resignation letter; the exit interview has achieved its objective of retaining a good employee. Despite all the attempts made, if the employee still decides to separate then we move on Phase II.

Usually the second phase of the exit interview should be conducted after the employee who has separated has been paid all his dues and his accounts with the company have been settled. This ensures that the separated employee provides candid and unbiased feedback about the organisation's procedures, policies and problem areas. All such feedback should be recorded on paper and circulated to the top management. In order to ensure that a good discussion is possible, the exit interview should be held in privacy and conducted by a senior employee of the organisation who is not the boss or departmental head of the separated employee. If the feedback duly obtained by this method is looked into seriously, this serves as a good raw data base through which various irritants and lacunae in the organisation could be eliminated.

In fact, the exit interview also has one more spin-off. If the employee parts with a good feeling, he has a tendency to keep in touch with the separated organisation. Perhaps over a period of time, he would even like to come back to his old organisation. Some management's are conservative and brand the separated employee as a traitor but many other organisations welcome him back.

Whilst critics argue that a continuous inflow and outflow of people into any organisation keeps it healthy, care should be taken to ensure that the outflow does not exceed the inflow. Further good employees should be retained and developed to assume higher levels of responsibility in the organisation. One needs to remember that employee turnover is not a malady which exists in the organistion. Hence necessary steps should be taken by an organisation to identify the causes and keep this turnover at an acceptable level. Retaining talent and creating a conducive work culture to facilitate performance would ensure the organisation's health &success.


Here is some guidelines that one can apply in the Organisation to improve the retention:-

1. Show employees that you have an interest in their success

60 to 70 per cent of workers do not feel that their companies help them to develop their career. Managers of successful companies are acutely aware that even the most brilliant business model will not work without skilled individuals motivated by a culture of management concern.

2. Allow employees the room to develop their skills

Many employees find themselves trapped in a narrow job function so mission-critical that the organisation cannot afford to move them. Frustrated employees, unable to satisfy their need for growth, resign, leaving holes that disrupt the company’s workflow in the short term. The company also loses strong performers who could have filled other, more important, roles over the long term.

3. Give employees a clear idea of the long-term goals of the company

Three quarters of unhappy employees do not believe that their company knows where it is going. Companies should endeavour to change their perceptions by communicating effectively to employees the direction it wants to take. This should be followed up with behaviour that is consistent with what they have told employees!

4. Measure soft skills

Many companies say they value people and train their management team to cope with people issues. Yet these same managers are rewarded based on their technical skills and financial results. Too often, people skills are not rewarded and no measure exists to evaluate them. Employees get the message that, “people skills don’t matter” and so neither do people.

5. Fight turnover with smart training

Two principles can help companies score big retention wins through training. Firstly, keep it relevant. Some firms act as though any training is better than none. From the employees’ perspective, that is not true. If training is not relevant to their jobs they feel it is a waste of time. Secondly, use training to broaden experience. Companies too often provide training that merely reinforces old skills instead of building new ones.

6. Develop your management team

People see good bosses as the wind beneath their wings, and employees who lack confidence in their bosses will leave the organisation sooner rather than later. A key retention strategy is to weed out marginal managers. Replace them with managers who can craft a compelling game plan, communicate it effectively to their teams and deploy initiatives that are consistent with company strategy.

7. Weed out poor performers in non-management ranks

Managers often under-estimate how strongly employees resent the presence of underperformers within their work group. The productive employee often has to take on more work to compensate for the poor performance of others, and they can feel that management is either turning a blind eye to unjust practices, or does not have sufficient interest in what goes on “below decks” to notice any disparity in working practices amongst employees. When the slackers are weeded out, both morale and retention improve.
Before you start the excercise, I think you should look at "whom to retain". You need to have a process wherein you can identify the talent and retain them. We call it talent management. How to retain talent is again a big issue because talent will always look for space to groom. I believe following options can be looked into for retaining talent:

1. Good Career Path
2. Increased Roles & Responsibilities, respect
3. Timely Training for skill development
4. Increase participation in business development & decision making
5. Time bound gifts (higher value) or paid vacation with family
6. Appreciation in public
7. Value to family concerns

Apart from that there are many options which are being used by many companies e.g. flexi timings, in house games, recreational facilities, counselling services etc..

You may work upon it based upon the kind of business you are into.

To start with, you need to have skill matrix in place. It may be made in excel file wherein you coordinate with respective heads to give you the input on present competence level of employees. Figure out who are experts, intermediate and beginners in that matrix. Certainly experts are critical resources, hence you must retain them. You may plan to move them to higher band, increase their span of work (as explained earlier). Plan training for Intermediate and beginners so that they can move in next competence level.

It is not an easy practice because we have seen that people by virtue of work does not get chance to improve upon their skills and hence they start looking for change. Hence you need to put extra efforts to prepare correct skill matrix and keep updating it.

You may work upon present levels of your employees, put them in categories or bands, finalise the timelines e.g. by what time an employee can move in next category/band. Once decided, plan for training & development requirements and act accordingly. You must have a system to check the training effectiveness e.g. timely performance checks, quiz contests, customer feedback etc..

For your help, I am attaching a ppt on finalising career path across the organisation. You may also share the same during the induction session.

Just think what would you have expected from your management to retain you and in what way. Once you get the answer, you would be able to make any process.

First of all let me tell you the various causes for high attrition rate:

No growth opportunity/lack of promotion
For higher Salary
For Higher education
Misguidance by the company
Policies and procedures are not conducive
No personal life
Physical strains
Uneasy relationship with peers or managers

For couple of these reasons employees are moving.

The below mentioned Benefits have to be followed to retain the employees Apart from PF,gratuity

Benefits like:
Group Medi-claim Insurance Scheme
Personal Accident Insurance Scheme
Company Leased Accommodation
Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups
Loans
Subsidized food and transportation
Company Leased Accommodation
corporate credit cards
Recreation facilities
Educational benefits
performance based inventives
Flexi timings
Wedding/Birth day gifts
Employee referral schemes

Every individual is different, his needs are different, and his emotions, his problems are different. So…sit down and concentrate on how to tackle

Communicate clearly regarding all aspects
Set Clear Expectations
Plan out Proper Rewarding schemes
Build a high degree of recognition value into every reward you offer
Reduce entitlements and link as many rewards as possible to performance

Always remember
The Law of Rewards - "What you reward is what you get" - Is extremely powerful.it is the rewards your organization gives that communicate the real expectations
Reward promptly(monitory or non monitory).
To attract best talent :

1. Build a Great Place to Work together with strong engagement and ambition

2. Give Huge Package

3.Develop your career, learn and grow in an company focusing on individual talents and strengths

4. Increase your international exposure by working in a multicultural environment, across different businesses and countries.

5. learning and development opportunities and career advancement are also critical reasons why people are being attracted.

6. Recognize & Rewards

7. Mentoring provides the employee and the company a win-win relationship. Companies can become employers of choice -- destinations instead of stepping stones -- and employees will gain valuable guidance, development and meaning in their careers.