Strategic Thinking For A Successful Employee Retention Strategy

Look around you in today's business world. It is no secret that it is becoming more difficult to recruit and retain skilled employees. In fact, one could say that select businesses and industries are desperate or becoming desperate to find people with the needed skills and attitudes.

An often ignored or neglected source of talent is the 45 to 65 year old age group. This group happens to be the largest demographic group in the US census. Estimates indicate that one of every two people in the United States will be 50 years old or older by the year 2020. Although these older workers are willing to stay in the workforce longer or even re-enter the workforce after they retire, most businesses still continue to cater to younger workers. Proof of this comes from a survey conducted by the Society of Human Resources Managers that shows 65% of companies surveyed exerted no effort to recruit older workers for open positions. The survey also showed that 81% of the companies did not have benefit plans designed with older workers in mind.

Okay - what about your business? Have you anticipated and responded to the challenge of employee retention? Or are you like too many businesses that do not focus on employee retention until turnover increases. The successful businesses today have a formalized employee retention program as part of their business strategy. They take a proactive approach to prevent unnecessary employee turnover.

Your strategic thinking business coach suggests that you use some strategic thinking to develop a successful employee retention strategy. Here are some steps to use in developing such a strategy from your business.

+ Commit to taking a proactive approach and not waiting until employee retention is a problem.

+ Demonstrate a commitment for employee retention from the top of your organization.

+ Select someone to be in charge of employee retention.

+ Commit to properly training your managers on employee retention.

+ Develop and implement a system to measure the cost of turnover in your business.

+ Develop and implement a system of accountability for retention for your management team and other leaders in your business.

+ Develop and implement a system to measure job satisfaction of your employees.

Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to use strategic thinking in the development of an employee retention program. If you would like to learn more about how to develop a strategic employee retention plan and how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Facing talent attrition challenges? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Role of the Supervisor - Retain Your Best Talent

As a supervisor a basic and most important retention tactic to employ, especially in a tight labor market, is to take good care of the talent you have. This is not just a matter of wages and benefits, (which is a given) but also encompasses you the supervisor providing your staff with work that is meaningful, interesting and challenging. You also need to truly demonstrate in a genuine manner your appreciation for what they continue to accomplish on a daily basis. Most good supervisors do this to some degree, but it is a point worth discussion because it is a critical strategy in the war for talent. Good solid employees rarely leave good solid supervisors who appreciate the employees' effort.

Employees' confidence in the ability of their supervisor is one of the most important predictors of retention. Employees want to feel proud of being part of a successful organization and therefore worth an investment of their time. Supervisors must accept the fact that to a large degree employee turnover is their responsibility. To the greatest extent possible supervisors should:

o Provide a workplace where people feel respected and valued.
o Provide a workplace where employee ideas and efforts are noticed and considered important.
o Provide a workplace where talent is recognized, promoted and celebrated.
o Provide less bureaucracy, less red tape for their talented employees so they can make decisions quickly when needed.
o Adopt a supervisory style that is inclusive and recognizes the value that each individual brings to the shared success of the organization.

The supervisors role is to identify and release the unique talents and skills within each employee and help channel these talents and skills to the benefit of both the company and individuals. Only by recruiting, identifying the employee's talents and retaining that talent, can the manager achieve the organizations goals and satisfy clients' needs. Supervisors need to understand that talent is the sum of a person's abilities - his or her intrinsic gifts, knowledge, skills, experience, attitude, judgment, character and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn, change and grow.

The key to successfully retaining a talented staff lies in initially hiring the most talented individuals for management positions and then training them in the skills required to effectively lead their subordinates. A great manager listens to their employees and preemptively acts to prevent problems, seeks information and ideas from their employees and acts to continually improve conditions on all levels. There is a direct link between turnover and level of supervisor/employee face-to-face engagement.

Supervisors are not necessarily proficient at retention-oriented leadership unless someone helps them along that path and makes it part of their performance metric. Training should include scenarios of how things might be different with more or less turnover - especially the retention of their top talent - so they can appreciate the benefits of workforce stability and the role they play in maintaining that stability. The organization should provide coaching to help supervisors improve the way they work to hire and retain their people.

Supervisors must understand the numbers, the "cost of turnover" in their organization and what these costs mean to the company and to themselves personally. The organization should set up a reward system for managers based upon turnover in their area of responsibility. Reward achievement of agreed-upon retention goals using cash, trophies, certificates and plaques, or simply public recognition. These awards should be bestowed by senior managers as part of their role in inspiring, guiding and coaching supervisors to higher levels of "retention performance and accountability."

Today's supervisors must manage the scarce commodity called talent to sustain their competitive edge. Talent management remains one of the supervisors' highest priorities. Employee turnover is the silent killer of organizational productivity. Like every business solution, answers come from reliable data and analysis and the desire to develop a strategy and tactics to address the problem. Hopefully you will take the necessary steps to protect your organization in the very real war for scarce talent and future success. The ROI on talent recruitment and retention is real!

Having staff attrition problems? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Visit here

Performance Management or Performance Punishment

A primary managerial responsibility that managers have is to plan, direct and monitor the work of others to achieve the results that they have been tasked to achieve. This involves informing staff about work responsibilities, setting and interpreting work performance standards and giving appropriate feedback by providing examples of work performance and behaviour.

One of the biggest causes of workplace unrest and low job satisfaction is poor performance management, especially with staff who are not performing to the required standards.

Research shows that poor performance management is one of the main contributing factors to staff absenteeism and turnover. A manager's inability to provide timely and appropriate performance feedback often results in the staff member becoming distressed, behavioural changes become apparent, affecting the staff member's performance.

Managing performance involves managing the effective work performance of staff as well as managing those challenging behaviours that affect individuals, teams and the overall performance of task achievement in the workplace.

The introduction of performance appraisals to organisations some years ago appeared to be the answer to addressing and meeting benchmarks for continuous improvement. Performance appraisals help to identify skill gaps and training needs; provide areas for praise, promotion and in some instances, a pay increase. However they are sometimes viewed as huge 'time wasters' and cause anxiety for the manager and staff member. A performance appraisal is a tool that can identify what knowledge is needed, available, missing, applied or contained.

Poor performance managers 'performance punish' their staff and create situations such as overlooking achievements; focus is on what staff are doing wrong; take credit for another's work and instil 'fear' in staff members. At times it can be simply the 'language of the message' that a manager uses, rather than 'the message' that is delivered that causes a staff member to act out poorly.

To performance manage effectively a manager needs to be in tune with the team, its members and the tasks. A manager needs a good understanding of themselves as well as others, with an awareness of their shortcomings as well as their strengths.

Most employees want to do a good job; however when they don't know what is expected of them they can't perform at a satisfactory level. Therefore an agreement between a manager and each of their staff on what is to be done, what results are to be achieved and the priorities on the use of time is essential to successfully performance manage.

Performance management is an ongoing, continuous process where praise for work well done is given as well as feedback on work performed incorrectly or not to standard. A manager who has the skills required to consistently performance manage is gifted in the understanding of human behaviour. A manager who practices performance punishment can learn new skills to make the necessary changes to their management style and in turn reap the rewards of a high performing team.

It is true that we operate at the 'speed of life' today; we are constantly under pressure to meet deadlines, produce more in less time and with fewer staff. A manager can easily feel pressured rather than well paced. A skilled manager with excellent performance management skills is aware of the talents, strengths and weaknesses of their staff and is able to allocate tasks and activities accordingly. A smoothly running team is a well performance managed team.

Performance management includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. It focuses on the performance of the organisation, a department, processes to build a product or service, how teams function or individuals employees operate.

Performance management focuses on tasks rather than behaviour. Although behaviour impacts upon tasks, the focus should be on the task, the impact upon the team or the overall affect of goal objectives.

The easiest way to bring about change in behaviour is to focus on the positive rather than trying to change a negative.

Provide employees with opportunities to receive and give feedback regarding their performance in a positive safe environment, such as team meetings, and support those behaviours you do want. This leads to less error and waste, increased productivity, improved quality and service for customers, as well as enhanced employee motivation, commitment and a sense of ownership.

Generating a performance management system for your company? Approach Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy in Singapore, click here.

Retaining Top Talent: 7 Tips

Losing your top performers costs time and money. You and your organization cannot afford to let them walk. Especially now in these highly volatile economic times. How can you keep them? Take a look at these seven tips:

1. Make sure your top talent is well matched to their jobs.

A great match includes strong consideration of their professional interests, education and skills, experience, motivation, and commitment to growth. It's not enough to focus on skill sets. Someone may excel at bringing in new business, but if he doesn't really like that type of work, then you are doing both him and your company a huge disservice by placing him in such a position. He probably won't stay.

2. Show top talent how they fit into the larger organizational picture.

It's difficult for folks to function at their optimal level in a vacuum. People need to know that what they do matters. Connect the dots between their work and departmental goals as well as the company's overall strategic plan. Talk with them about the role they play in the whole scheme of things.

3. Keep the experience fresh.

Take the initiative to challenge your employees in appropriate ways. Allowing them to stay comfortable in a familiar box leads to boredom. When people feel stale, they lose their creativity, zest, and drive. Once these negatives set in, they are more inclined to forfeit any loyalty they have had toward you. Consciously or unconsciously, they may begin to shop around to see what else is out there.

4. Recognize and reward excellence.

While paychecks count to some extent, verbal and written recognition for a job well done go a long way toward retaining the people you want to keep. Find out what means the most to folks. Remember that individual preferences are important. Invest in your staff enough to learn what actually makes them smile after they deliver the top notch results your organization needs. It's worth the effort.

5. Build and nurture positive relationships with your staff.

High functioning, quality relationships with your employees is like owning blocks of gold. In fact, you can't put a price tag on these relationships. When people feel valued, respected, and trusted, they generally want to stay in such an environment. You can bet they'll think twice about searching available jobs online. Chances are good that they'll want to stick close to you. Fat compensation elsewhere doesn't guarantee a great relationship with the boss.

6. Be conscious of work-life balance issues.

Don't lose sight of the reality that everybody has a life outside of the office. Most people care about their marriages, kids, extended family, friends, and community involvement. Caring translates into spending time with these folks. One of the best things you can do is demonstrate your interest in and concern for employees' time when they aren't with you. Support their choice to go home by 6:00 PM.

7. Connect work contributions to a higher purpose.

This strategy asks you as the CEO, Vice President, or Department Head to find out what makes your top talent tick. What gets their juices flowing? What inspires them to be the best they can be? Once you know the answers to these questions, you can link the work they do to their higher purpose or calling. While this may sound strange, it's critical to consider. People are driven by what is most important to them. Engage in these sorts of meaningful conversations.

Retaining Top Talent: 7 Tips
By Sylvia D. Hepler

Having talent attrition challenges? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Talent Management Boosts Employee Retention

Talent management strategies are designed to stimulate employee retention in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). The rationale is that employees who are provided the opportunity for professional development and career growth are much more likely to build long-term loyalty to the firm. Employee retention is particularly important to ensure that your company retains those workers who possess important knowledge, skills, and abilities (also referred to KSAs or simply as human capital). Those companies that fail to develop an effective talent management strategy will likely experience significant employee recidivism, many times to competitor firms. This can then lead to operational inefficiencies resulting in loss of competitive advantage.

Methods of Talent Management for SMEs

In order for SMEs to remain competitive and continue building revenue, they must learn to leverage their top talent. The performance of talented employees directly affects company operations in several ways from innovation and new product development, to marketing and branding strategy, as well as client service. Today's business economy is very competitive with human capital a driving force behind revenue growth. For this reason, top talent should be consistently sourced, developed and rewarded. Talent management requires that managers shift their focus from recruitment as a static process to one that becomes e embedded in the entire culture of the organization and performed by all employees rather than delegated solely to the human resource department.

Methods of Talent management:

Pre-employment testing. Due to high recruitment, on-boarding and training costs, it is wise for SMEs to implement pre-employment testing that assess not only candidate KSAs, but also personality and work style. Testing both skill set and behavioral traits yields a 360 degree perspective of each applicant and examines their fit in terms of technical prowess, as well as corporate culture.

Post-employment testing. Post-employment testing is a highly valuable tool for SMEs to evaluate which employees have the potential to become leaders in the firm. Once these employees have been identified, they may then be groomed to assume supervisory and management roles through professional development opportunities, as well as hands-on training.

Provide on-going feedback. While all employees are provided with yearly performance evaluations, SMEs can increase employee productivity by scheduling more frequent meetings to discuss work performance. These discussions may be held on a one-on-one basis or be included within weekly team meetings. During the team meeting, managers should not only highlight areas for improvement but also take the time assist employees develop strategies for enhancing their performance. SMEs have a significant advantage over larger firms as they tend to foster a more democratic leadership style and value employee input regarding their own work effort.

Implement employee recognition programs. Employee recognition programs are one of the most effective methods to build employee morale which, in turn, will increase productivity. The end result will be that the company has a whole will benefit with enhanced revenue. A recent study conducted by the International Society of Performance Improvement has concluded that employee recognition program can increase overall employee productivity by as much as 44 percent.

Provide opportunities for career growth. Most employees consider the opportunity to engage in challenging duties, along with professional development and career advancement to be just as important as salary in terms of their willingness to remain with the firm. This leads to a second major advantage of working for SMEs over larger firms: in smaller-size companies employees are exposed to diverse areas of operations so that there is room for growth across several verticals.

Ensure employee satisfaction. By establishing on-going communication, managers will be able to note any signs of employee discontent before they become problematic. When such incidences are discovered, a one-on-one meeting with the employee and manager can be arranged to discuss specific concerns and review strategies that will motivate the employee to remain with the firm. Discontent within a smaller firm has a larger ripple effect than within a larger firm so should be addressed quickly.

Having talent attrition challenges? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

Talent Management, Acquisition and the Importance of Role Consultancy

Introduction

In all businesses today, aligning human resource management with business strategy has become an important element to succeed. Organisational restructuring, managing key resource requirements, performance management systems, career and succession planning have all been re-aligned to form synergy with the company's overall business strategy.

With increased competition, changing workforce demographics, talent shortages and increased globalization, many organizations are now proactively studying leadership, demographic and economic trends, to prepare for their future workforce needs. HR departments are developing comprehensive workforce plans and talent management strategies centered on attracting, assessing, selecting, engaging, and retaining talent

The practice of Talent Management is more important in today's economy than it has ever been. Now in the new millennium, we find ourselves in the talent age. In the new millennium the only unique asset that many companies have to maintain a competitive edge is their people. In the global market place and every industry around the world, it is the talent and its management that differentiates and sets the tone for success or failure
To achieve organizational goals, one must synchronize their business strategy and human capital strategy. Successful organisations have the right talent in place at all levels - people who look beyond the obvious and take the business into the future. The basis for ensuring this is an integrated approach to talent management.

Finding and keeping the right people has an enormous effect on one's organization's financial performance. Identifying these talents and hiring people whose talents are similar to those of top performers are crucial steps toward achieving individual and organizational success Talent management and leadership development remain the biggest Human Resources challenges. The two issues are rated "highly critical for success" Talent management means aligning talent strategies with organisational needs; attracting and selecting the right people, identifying and shaping their potential and fuelling their enthusiasm and commitment

Effective talent management is a critical business goal for all leading organisations in today's economy. Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of Human Resource manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a planner and change agent. The knowledge age moved the basis of economic value to information assets through integrated communications and computer technology. Now the competitive battlefront is for the best people because they are the true creators of value. PEOPLE provide unique knowledge, an inherent component of the value-proposition that PEOPLE bring to an organization; knowledge gained through education, training, and experience. Investment in PEOPLE will position organizations for continual innovation in an increasingly diverse, competitive and ever-changing climate

Human capital is the most vital resource in any organization and also the most difficult to manage. Today the success of Human Resources professionals is directly linked to the quality of talent and its productivity and they are being held accountable to deliver on stringent and measurable performance metrices. Building a competitive talent pool is a function of attracting, engaging and retaining the right mix of competencies. Companies are also increasingly hiring employees whose personalities and values reflect those of the organization

Talent Management is more and more business critical to organizations, bringing with it, new visibility and challenges. For Human resources people, employees are the face of company's brand and the most vital asset of one's business. They drive organisation's productivity and profitability. Aligning Talent Acquisition to the organization's strategic objectives is imperative to the success of the organization and Human Resources tend to concentrate in recruiting those key people and focus their attention and resources on developing them. Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, management cultures and philosophy due to the global alignment of Indian organizations. There is a need for multi skill development.

It would be apt at this juncture to recapitulate on the nuances on Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

Recruitment and Talent Acquisition are used synonymously but there is quite a lot of difference between the two. Recruitment involves the process of filling up of the vacancies where as talent acquisition shows the strategic hiring of talent not only for the current requirement but also planning for future. McKinsey & Company (1997) that coined the term 'the war of talent', predicted that there is high demand for managerial talent in future. The survey report insisted on five elements for tapping the successful talent such as talent mindset, growing great leaders, employee value proposition, continuous top talent recruitment and differentiation. Hence the companies need to be forearmed to anticipate and determine the talents.

Recruiting- been viewed as a transactional, commodity based business function to fill job openings with qualified people. In contrast, Talent Acquisition is distinct elements of the Talent Management continuum, a proactive, strategic function, procuring talent for the organization's value add. Talent Acquisition is no longer a silo in the human resource function, but collaboration with specialists from other functional areas within Talent Management to posture a company for talent who will evolve and become strategic partners within the organization. Talent Management/Acquisition asks: do we have a strategy in place to attract and retain qualified employees; do we know what business is in the pipeline, what the staffing needs are for the next six-twelve months, bill rates that determine potential candidate salaries, etc

On moving to a Talent Acquisition model there is a significant difference between those organizations that practice recruiting and those that have a talent acquisition practices

Recruiting- To identify & select a person for a position.
Talent - A special often creative, artistic or mental gift.
Acquisition - To gain possession of something as a result of effort or experience.

Strategic Talent Acquisition takes a long-term view of not only filling positions today, but also using the candidates that come out of a recruiting campaign as a means to fill similar positions in the future In the most enlightened cases of Strategic Talent Acquisition, clients will recruit today for positions that do not even exist today but are expected to become available in the future. Recruiting is involved on the front end of the process; Talent Acquisition would be as a collaborative business partner. Aligning Talent Acquisition to the organization's strategic objectives is imperative to the success of the organization

Role of Consultancy in Talent Acquisition and Talent Management.

The Talent Acquisition needs of companies are becoming more and more intricate - which means more focus and effort for proper functioning. Cross location, multiple skills, blend of technologies and personal attributes makes the hiring process a very involved effort

By outsourcing Talent Acquisition function, the organisation can focus on core business issues, while they have a reliable framework of Talent supply. This is a new emerging paradigm which is making a lot of companies tread this path. Nurturing Human Capital via Talent Management, would be the focus of Talent acquisition and recruitment. Recruitment Support includes activities from pre- and final- screening, interview management, Offer Management and Data Management. Recruitment is integral to talent management and requires considerable executive management mindshare. Recruiting is changing fast, with myriad challenges facing those responsible for attracting, hiring and retaining top talent.

The role of human resources has shifted within most leading organizations and Human Resource practitioners are now required to demonstrate value to the business. Talent acquisition platform can be configured to fit the size and structure of any recruiting organization Working closely with the business, Talent Acquisition Consultant- would manage all Experienced Hire Recruitment

Talent Acquisition Consultancy would work in cohesion and coordinate with the respective & assigned business function(s) to source, recruit and select the best Talent for the organiation

Talent Acquisition Consultancy - would work in the role of a partner to align strategies that would support business objectives and create processes, tools and cultures that attract, motivate, engage and retain strong, high-potential Talent.

Talent Acquisition Consultancy- with the background and exposure of global competence in executive recruiting, and also country specific knowledge; will be in position to play a critically important role in identifying high profile executives and recruiting top global talent. Talent Search Service would range from single assignment to regional or global and could include multiple positions in various locations

Talent Acquisition Consultancy Would Play A Significant Role In

Identifying Top/Senior level Talent for all business groups and be responsible for identification, recruitment and on-boarding of senior level leaders throughout the organization utilizing direct sourcing techniques including personal networking, online search, and leveraging internal tools and resources

Responsible for providing creative sourcing solutions to customers in a consultative role. Recruiting through a variety of sources, including Internet, professional associations, networking, advertisements, job fairs, university relations, etc. Function as a full business partner to develop staffing processes, identify business issues and recommend innovative solutions.

Find, assess, engage, hire, and on-board the highest quality candidates, especially in the critical skill areas. Assess candidate skills, background and fit so as to predict performance levels and styles with a high degree of accuracy.

Manage the full life-cycle of the recruiting process - Recruit / Source, contact, screen candidates.

Assess candidate's competency to include job fit, motivational fit and culture fit.

Source, identify, and screen candidates to determine if their technical ability, attitude and personality make them a fit for the Client's culture

Develop candidate talent pipelines through sourcing channels, recruitment campaigns, internet searches, networking groups, social media, database search

Talent Management

Once the Talent Acquisition process is completed the human resource professionals have to concentrate on the next level of Talent Management- Talent Development. It is necessary to develop the skills of the employees through Training and Development Talent Management in organizations is not just limited to attracting the best people from the industry but it is a continuous process that involves sourcing, hiring, developing, retaining and promoting them while meeting the organization's requirements simultaneously

Talent Management, as the name itself suggests is managing the ability, competency and power of employees within an organization. The concept is not restricted to recruiting the right candidate at the right time but it extends to exploring the hidden and unusual qualities of one's employees and developing and nurturing them to get the desired results. Hiring the best talent from the industry may be a big concern for the organizations today but retaining them and most importantly, transitioning them according to the culture of the organization and getting the best out of them is a much bigger concern

To achieve success in business, the most important thing is to recognize the talent that can accompany one in achieving one's goal. Attracting them to work for you and strategically fitting them at a right place in your organization is the next step. It is to be remembered that placing a candidate at a wrong place can multiply one's problems regardless of the qualifications, skills, abilities and competency of that person

Talent Acquisition and Talent retention are like the two sides of a coin that are critical in the human capital management. Innovative technologies are to be adopted to enhance the process of Talent Management. With the dynamic situation prevailing in the global employability status, the role of human resource managers is very imperative in maintaining the talent balance. Holistic cum participatory approach is to be followed for harnessing the real benefits of Talent Management system. The Talent Management system that acts as a driver to performance excellence has to be integrated with the rest of the areas in the company and through effective Talent Management strategy.

The practice of talent management would involve no of strategies used in the management of human capital resources and their application. We shall dwell on few critical issues that are imperative in the management of talent and their significance:- i. e for Talent Management Best Practices:-

Key points & factors

Talent Acquisition

• Assessing organizational talent readiness and execution capability
• Identifying talent gaps
• Identifying mission critical positions
• selection- identification- & recruitment- of right people
• assessment- assessing competencies of apt profile

Retaining Talent

In the current climate of change, it's critical to hold onto the key people. These are the people who will lead the organisation to future success, and the organisation can't afford to lose them
Employees are more likely to join stay within an organization if they believe the prospects are good for longer-term career and leadership development

To realise this and to attract and retain Talent -Organisation need to have a

Workforce planning ·building a road map for implementation

Diversity programmes designed to develop, retain and promote diverse Talent

Career Planning- - scope of advancement in career for employees- their effort being valued and recognized-

Selecting Talent:- Management should implement proven Talent selection systems and tools to create profiles of the right people based on the competencies of high performers. It's not simply a matter of finding the "best and the brightest," it's about creating the right fit - both for today and tomorrow.

• Coaching and Mentoring- development of-new competencies.
• Using development to drive business objectives
• Building an effective development plan
• Development of employees - for a elevated and key position

Developing processes for Succession Planning and Talent pipelines

Managing Succession: Effective organisations anticipate the leadership and Talent requirement to succeed in the future. Leaders understand that it's critical to strengthen their Talent pool through succession planning, professional development, job rotation and workforce planning. They need to identify potential Talent and groom it.

The cost of replacing a valued employee is enormous. Organisations need to promote diversity and design strategies to retain people, reward high performance and provide opportunities for development.
It's imperative to assess existing talent within the organization. Talented and ambitious people are more likely to stay with their current employer if they receive positive development, motivation and encouragement to reach their potential

Organisation need to focus on managing the needs of individual employees, in alignment with organizational objectives, while identifying and deploying top performers accordingly.

a) For the individual: Coaching and mentoring based on discovered needs.
b) For the work team: Identifying top performers, or "stars," and capitalizing on their talent.
c) For the organization: Maximizing return on investment by putting the right person with the right skills in the right job at the right time

Identification & selection of - high performers- represent the requisite competencies of the organisation and also inspiration to others to follow suit.

Focusing on Core Talent

Companies are increasingly looking at bringing exceptional talent on board for those roles that are core to their business and·building a business case for inclusion in the organizations strategic policy
In an increasingly global business world, where teams work across borders, understanding different work cultures is the key to success.

In India, there is a high demand for good talent and hence a lot of attention is being given to retaining and engaging that talent. Retaining talent for Indian companies has become a key factor in their growth strategies.

We shall just give a brief sketeh of talent management systems adopted in an Indian organisation.

Mahindra and Mahindra -- A US $12. 5 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, with more than 137,000 people in over 100 countries, in the business of utility vehicles, information technology, tractors, and vacation ownership- - created a robust Talent Management system to attract, nurture and promote employees.

Anand Mahindra, the group's 57-year-old vice-chairman and managing director has been grooming some key leaders to replace the ageing stars. A Talent Management programme conceptualised in 2004 to chart out the succession plan for top executives, has already produced eight key leaders.

For the group, organisational restructuring posed the greatest challenge keeping in mind the changing dynamics in the business especially the tractor and automotive division. the re-alignment was necessitated by changing dynamics in the business environment. the objective was to grow leadership positions in the UV and tractor market and developing successful businesses in relatively new business areas like IT, financial services, realty and infrastructure development and also service industries like Time share (Club Mahindra). "Keeping in mind the new business objectives the challenge was to re-orient the human resource management towards these objectives. "

To achieve these objectives the company began a full reassessment of organisation and management structure with the help of consultants like Mckinsey's, Arthur Anderson and Korn Ferry. The outcome was, clear roles and responsibilities were identified and the competency required for each role was mapped. The officers went through individual assessments of competencies against the requirement of each role. External consultants as well as internal assessors ran assessment centres and each individual was then placed based on competency and role fitment

THE RETIREMENT OF ARUN NANDA (Executive Director - 2 Years ago) marked the beginning of the end of a long reign of stalwarts. New leaders are already rising and showing every sign that the group's succession planning initiatives will help fill the void. Most are in their forties, rising rapidly and are being thrown into different roles in the group - clues that they are being groomed for greater responsibilities.

Many emerging leaders were inducted onto the group's apex-decision making body Group Executive Board in 2010 in preparation for the retirement of six members on the board.

Anita Arjundas, the 44-year-old head of the real estate business and the lone woman member of the group executive board, mirrors the emergence of a quiet transition that is taking place inside the automobile-to-aviation group.

Conclusion.

Today, companies have become fiercely competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining Talent. The present scenario with abundant opportunities has triggered a wave of employees, perpetually "on the move", forever seeking better opportunities whenever, wherever and however they can

Talented people want to be a part of something they believe in and not just a fat pay package. A culture of commitment is the key to employee retention- a culture that concentrates on vision, mission, values and ambitious goals to attract and hold on to talented people. This culture of commitment can only set in if there are guiding principles or core values that are of intrinsic importance to those in the organisation.

Cultural dimensions as a tool to retain talent zeroes in on functional, technical and control aspects, while simultaneously dealing with inspiration, emotion, energy, enthusiasm, collaboration and camaraderie, openness and a sense of belonging

At the end of the day, creating and delivering a great employee value proposition is clearly the best way to retain good people. Research shows that companies which have recognised the need to give priority to its people management-driven strategies are the winners

Having talent attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Click here.

Human Resources Retention Mission

How often do we hear that Human Resources is in charge of the organization's retention mission? More often than not, the job of thinking about retention and its impact is a key role of the company's human resources professional and unfortunately, unless there is a crisis, that role falls to the bottom of a very lengthy list. As we continue to brace ourselves against the labor shortage, HR is finding that it needs to move its thinking about retention to the top of the list. How should Human Resources go about beginning the conversation around retention? Most HR professionals will agree that HR can't do it alone. It requires the entire organization to (1) admit there is a problem and (2) want to do something about it. In the examination of an organizations retention problem, the first task must be an analysis of current retention statistics. The HR leader must examine why people are leaving in the first place. Good questions to ask include:

1. Do we have department specific attrition that might be caused by a poor manager?
2. Is the work load unreasonable?
3. Is our salary structure competitive?
4. Could our current interview process be improved?
5. Do we have room for professional growth within our organization?

Getting a handle on "the current state" is always the first step in creating the "desired state". In examining the five questions above, a recommend approach includes:

1. Get a baseline in terms of your current attrition rate
2. Interview key managers about attrition within their department and other departments within the company
3. Survey people who have left the organization in order to find out why they left (and where they landed!)
4. Do some research on key competitors or others in your industry. Are your retention numbers in line with theirs?
5. Finally, ask yourself this key question "why would I want to stay here?" The answer to that question should help you formulate your Human Resources Retention Mission!

Once you have your baseline information, it is time to start working within your organization to figure out what to do next. Having the support of the top leadership will be imperative and getting them involved in the conversation up-front is critical. Your new found insight is meaningless if you don't have the support and involvement from the top right from get-go. If you determine that a key manager is responsible for the majority of the turnover, there are going to be some difficult conversations and you'll need support in order to have them. In addition, you'll need the support of senior leadership if major changes in structure, job roles, compensation, or benefits are necessary.

One way to head off problems before they have a chance to fester is to implement a 360 feedback system. That should help indicate problems early on in a manager's tenure. In addition, ongoing dialog with current employees and managers is critical in determining your Human Resources Retention Mission.

They key to the retention mission is information. Without it, you are going to be stuck. Information is the key to making the case for any type of organizational change. Armed with information, Human Resources can now make their case for a retention mission. HR becomes the catalyst for change. That change goes a long way in making HR a strategic business partner.

Learn more at Talent Insight Group

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