Talent management is the process of attracting, recruiting and retaining the right employees to achieve specific business goals. It takes work, but developing a long-term talent management strategy will give your company a competitive advantage.

Why Is Talent Management Important?

Talent management is more than hiring a workforce whose skills map to specific functions that drive immediate business results. Talent management strategy focuses on employee experience and development throughout the employee lifecycle—from candidate to hire to professional growth. Your organization’s business objectives should align with an employee’s personal career aspirations. This alignment will ultimately determine your company’s success in the long term.

Hiring the right people for the right jobs is crucial to your company’s bottom line. Research shows that highly engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and profitable. They’re more committed and work harder—and smarter. Aligning your talent management strategy with your employees’ growth is a win-win.

How to Develop a Talent Management Strategy

A results-driven talent management strategy goes beyond talent acquisition and performance management. It’s critical that you understand how your employees’ skills and personal growth can help your organization thrive. Company culture and the organization’s value proposition should also elevate the employee experience. These factors contribute to high performance.

The following steps are key when creating a talent management strategy:

  1. Identify your organization’s business goals. Start by prioritizing your company’s high-level strategic objectives. You may face challenges when trying to achieve these goals—these can be driven by market trends, new technologies or changing regulations. Consider these factors when establishing your goals.
  2. Conduct a gap analysis. What skills are needed to achieve the company’s organizational goals? Identify these skills and flesh out which job roles will be needed to fill the gaps.
  3. Find the right candidates. Craft an accurate and appealing job description to attract the right talent.  Include the basics—job title and associated skills—along with a description of the company’s mission and objectives so candidates know how they fit into the big picture. Be clear about expectations.
  4. Invest in your talent. Once they’re hired, offer learning and development opportunities that support employees’ growth. Don’t ignore this issue; according to a 2019 report, 94% of employees said they would stay at a company longer if the company committed to providing more learning opportunities.) Create a culture of learning through initiatives and programs that fulfill employees’ potential.

Communicating Your Strategy

Once you’ve created a talent management strategy, you’ll want to ensure your employees understand its value. Contact us for help creating employee communication related to all aspects of talent management, from employee experience to employee value propositions.