Talent management

Citation

Nolan, S. (2013), "Talent management", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 12 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2013.37212daa.001

Talent management

Article Type: Editorial From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 12, Issue 4

The theme of this issue of Strategic HR Review is “talent management” and we have taken the widest definition of this topic. The authors focus on varying points in the talent management cycle, from recruitment through to development and retention, showing how important and far reaching talent strategy is to any organization.

In “Accelerating strategic change through action learning”, Jon Younger et al. examine an action-learning based program to develop leadership talent and accelerate strategic culture change at a global logistics company. The program – called Impact – was the result of a shift in the logistics market that saw customer service become a top priority, and a top development priority for the organization. Its creation started with comprehensive customer research to find out perceptions of the existing service and competencies and areas where improvements could be made. This helped form the basis for the action learning program, which was delivered through three workshops over a nine month period to high performers and operations managers. The aim was to move to a customer centric culture and customer involvement continued throughout the delivery of the program with key customers presenting at the workshops. Action learning was critical to the program in reinforcing the culture change and leadership development, as well as creating measurable value. The results have been positive and the program is helping the organization to meet its strategic aims.

“Returning talent at Bank of America Merrill Lynch” is a case study feature by Michelle Fullerton that discusses the bank’s dedicated program to help women return to work after having a family-related career break. Recognizing the difficulties faced by women returning to work, and the skills and experience that they have to offer, the bank set up the Returning Talent program to help overcome the challenge of women leaving the workforce. Set up by the Diversity and Inclusion team, with input from HR, it is a three-day program where delegates hear about the experiences of other women who have made the return to work, create an action plan for their own return to work and receive practical support, such as CV writing and mentoring. Initially aimed at mothers, it was expanded to also include stay at home dads and carers, and has become part of a suite of support initiatives that the bank runs to support parents. More than half of the delegates from the first program have since returned to work and feedback from delegates is used to refine the program each year and further improve its success.

In “Setting up global mobility strategies”, Sophie Maes provides a highly practical paper of best practice in international assignments. The clear message from the article is that global talent mobility is complex and danger lies in making assumptions. For example, when seconding an employee to a country that falls within a multi-country jurisdiction (such as Europe), local rules may differ from those of the wider region. To avoid falling short of legal requirements, HR professionals need to investigate each country in which employees will be assigned to establish which rules apply – local, home country, the region, or a combination. There should also be an over-riding global talent mobility policy that identifies different assignments and the practices and areas to be investigated for each. The author concludes with a case study of a multinational organization looking to second employees from three different parts of the world, demonstrating the potential complexity involved in international talent mobility.

“Talent management: a paradigm shift in Indian public sector”, by Geeta Rana, Alok Kumar Goel, and Renu Rastogi, is a case study feature examining the talent retention practices in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a Navratna PSE of Government of India. The organization has a strategic growth plan in place up to 2017. However, over the same period it plans to keep its recruitment to a level that matches planned exits through retirement. This places heavy emphasis on talent management, and development and retention in particular, to ensure its current workforce has the skills and experience to achieve the strategic plan. It invests heavily in training and development, counselling, reward and recognition and uses techniques such as a balanced scorecard, e-maps (individual development plans), online performance management and knowledge transfer to keep its employees in line with organizational goals. These elements are combined within a structured recruitment and retention cycle that is aligned to the needs of the business.

Our final paper is “Improving the candidate experience” by Leigh Carpenter. This outlines the Candidate Experience Awards that run in North America and the UK to improve the experiences of employee candidates. This is an important touch point in the talent management cycle as the numbers of candidates can be huge and their perceptions and experiences can influence greatly on employer branding and reputation. Organizations can apply for the award, which is based on research involving both the organization and candidates who have applied to work there. It is not a name and shame exercise, but rather a constructive benchmarking process in which companies get confidential reports on how their candidate experience compares to others. Only the names of those that achieve the award are released to the public. The author gives examples of organizations that achieved the 2012 award and the initiatives they have used to create an efficient and effective recruiting process.

Sara NolanE-mail: saranolanshr@emeraldinsight.com