Talent Management - Effective Measures to Hire and Retain Talent - Functions of Talent Management in HRM

All firms will be more particular about recruiting the right talent and employees who can make meaningful contributions to the firm. Talent management or human capital management is a set of business practices that manage the planning, acquisition, development, retention and growth of talent in order to achieve business goals with optimized overall performance.

There are a few companies which have incorporated the 3G of talent management, like Infosys, which was one of the first to step out and provide some best-in-class benchmark for other companies to follow.


Talent management refers to the skills of attracting highly skilled workers, of integrating new workers, and developing and retaining current workers to meet current and future business objectives. Talent management in this context doesn't refer to the management of entertainers. Companies engaging in a talent management strategy shift the responsibility of employees from the human resources department to all managers throughout the organization . The process of attracting and retaining profitable employees, as it is increasingly more competitive between firms and of strategic importance, has come to be known as "the war for talent."

Talent management is also known as HCM (Human Capital Management). In the ancient times Kings like Akbar used to keep Nine Genius with him. They were Super Stars of that time. The most famous among them were Birbal the Genius and Tansen the Music Maestro. Similar cases are there in all the pre-historic ages. In the Ramayan era King Dasharath had Top Talent with him in the form of Vasistha and Vishwamitra. In the Mahabharata era King Dhrutarashtra had Bhishmacharya, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Karna, and other such stalwarts.

In the Puranas you will observe that King of Gods Lord Indra had assigned the tasks to his 330 million god army. Everyone was talented rather expert in his field of excellence. There are many such cases found in ancient China, Greece, Roman Empire, Egypt, Hebrews, Phoenicians, Hittites, Norman, Celts, Vikings, Anglo-Saxon, Mongols, Japanese, Celts, Kush, and in many such known or unknown ancient civilizations like Vedic, Lothal, Maya, Mesopotamia, and Aztec. So, Talent Management is not new but it has taken a new dimension in the Global Village Era.

Meaning of Talent

    • Ability, aptitude, bent, capacity, endowment, faculty, flair, forte, genius, gift, knack.

    • Unusual natural ability to do something well that can be developed by training.

    • Person or people with an exceptional ability.

Talent management is concerned with coordinating and managing the different talents people have to offer within an organisation. This is done by studying and evaluating each individual on their skills, talent, personality and character, in relation to filling a particular vacancy within the company. Everyone has different skills to offer and the hard part for a company is identifying those that fit in with the existing company culture - effective HR procedures will be able to identify these individuals and appoint them appropriately.

Talent in an employee can involve all kinds of elements, from their educational qualifications and skills, previous experience, known strengths and additional training they have undertaken, to their abilities, potential and motive, qualities and personality. Most companies practice TM in some way, this could be anything from the recruitment and selection of individuals, to their placement within the company, training and development courses, to performance management and various schemes that reward high-fliers and achievers. How involved a company is in talent management generally depends on the size of the business and their commitment to employees and their future.

Talent Management will not be successful if there isn't a system in place clearly identifying performance results. If a member of staff is deemed average then they should be rewarded to reflect this, whilst the high achievers in the company should receive higher rewards otherwise they will become demotivated.

Ten million manufacturing jobs vacant due to skill shortage: Study

April, 2012.INDIA: An estimated ten million manufacturing jobs worldwide cannot be filled due to shortage of talent, says a recent study conducted by the World Economic Forum and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The study notes that the future of manufacturing is turning into a competition for talent.

It says the shortage is pervasive despite the high unemployment rate in many economies where companies are struggling to fill manufacturing jobs, such as highly trained workers and engineers.

A global survey results reveals that the talent shortage is endemic across the world - but most acute in Japan (85 per cent of employers), Brazil (68 per cent), India (61 per cent), Turkey (58 per cent) and Hong Kong (58 per cent).

Meanwhile, employers in Ireland (three per cent), Spain (three per cent), South Africa (six per cent), the Netherlands (nine per cent) and Czech Republic (nine per cent) are the least likely to face shortages.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/ten-million-manufacturing-jobs-vacant-due-to-skill-shortage-study/articleshow/12880409.cms


48% of employers struggle to find the right candidates: Manpower Survey

Nearly half of India's employers are struggling to fill critical positions because of a severe talent crunch, according to a study on talent shortage by staffing firm Manpower Group.

Although the situation has improved over last year, 48% of employers in the country are facing hiring challenges current year as against the global average of 34%, the study said. Talent is particularly scarce in information technology, marketing, public relations and communications, and engineering, it said. While it was difficult to hunt for R&D, sales manager and IT staff last year, this year the positions are for IT staff, marketing/public relations/communication staff and engineers. Personal assistants, call centre operators, researchers are also hard to find this year.

Lack of available candidates, technical competencies amongst those present,refusal to move to another location, poor image of the occupation, weak soft skills and demand for a higher salary have been key reasons in Asia Pacific for the posts to remain vacant.

The study covered 1,500 employers in India, who were part of the 8,786 employers polled in the Asia Pacific region and 40,000 globally. Employers in Asia Pacific cited shortage of candidates, lack of technical skill, candidates' refusal to relocate, poor image of the occupation, weak soft skills and demand for higher remuneration as reasons for trouble in filling jobs.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/48-of-employers-struggle-to-find-the-right-candidates-manpower-survey/articleshow/13652176.cms

Effective Measures to Hire and Retain Talent

Besides the usual duties of an HR department, one more has been added to the list - Talent Management. Talent Management is about identifying a person's natural skills, talent, personality and traits, while offering him or her job. Each person has a certain tale nt suited to a specific job profile. For example, in my case, the talent of being able to write well has got me into the field of content writing. It is the HR who hires and identifies the talent of new hires and places them in the right job in their organization.

It is not as simple as it sounds. An employee stuck in the wrong job would result in new hires, re-training and other activities. Talent management is important for an organization as globalization and competition have increased the need to retain good performers in their field of operation.

Despite its importance, talent management has two challenges to face. The first is about finding new talent to fit in to the required job description. The second lies in retaining existing employees. People change jobs for reasons such as unhealthy working atmosphere, better opportunities, good compensation package, gap between the organizational goals, personal goals and bad management.

It is vital for the HR department to hire the right employee for a proper role in the organization or else increased attrition will contribute to the loss of business. Some effective measures for HR to hire and retain talent are:

    • Hire right people: Hiring the right people for the right job is beneficial to the organization as well as new hires.

    • Keep up the promises: When a company commits to one candidate, it has to live up to their promise and vice versa.

    • Good working environment: A healthy work environment is the key to the growth of any business.

    • Recognition of Merit: Timely motivation, rewards and appreciation will keep the employees' spirit alive and encourage them to perform better.

    • Provide Learning Opportunities: Regular learning opportunities, on and off the job training sessions, management development programs and distance learning programs should be conducted for employees.

    • Time to de-stress: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Similarly, an increase in work responsibilities and pressure can lower one's productivity. Regular entertainment programs, fun activities, etc, will leave employees refreshed and increased energy.

Today's competitive world demands that organizations retain existing talent in every form, making it imperative for the Human Resource department to nurture talent management effectively. It is beneficial to the organization as well as the employees.

Functions of Talent Management

In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, various functions that an organization should institute (through HRM and other departments) are given below:

    • Talent need analysis

    • Locating the talent resources/sources

    • Attracting talents towards the organization

    • Recruiting/appointing the talents (in house or outsourced)

    • Managing competitive salaries/professional fees

    • Training and development of talent pool

    • Performance evaluation of talent

    • Career and growth planning

    • Retention management

Advantages of Effective Talent Management

    • Competency gap between required competencies by the organization and available competencies reduces significantly.

    • Organization's effectiveness and efficiency can improve continuously.

    • Helps in achieving the business goals with superior performance.

    • Improves organization's overall culture and work climate.

    • People are more satisfied.

    • Retention of talent improves. People turnover goes down.

    • Better overall growth of people associated with the organization.