Talent management: concept, basic principles, personnel policy and development programs

Every manager and personnel manager should understand that the main resource of any organization is people. Even if work at the enterprise is more automated, it is simply impossible without human service. Therefore, personnel are the foundation of the company.

There are many concepts of personnel management, on the basis of which a certain course of personnel policy is built. The organization’s activities also determine how it will be implemented. As a rule, if the enterprise does not develop, the working conditions for the staff will be worse than in the organization that is aimed at the successful conduct of business. This is due to the fact that the heads of firms in the first case do not consider it necessary to invest a lot of money in personnel, but in the second case it is extremely necessary for people, developing themselves, to develop the company.

In recent years, the concept of talent management, which is based on the effective use of talents of personnel to increase labor productivity, is gaining popularity. This article will be devoted to considering just such an approach to human resource management. A detailed description of the talent management strategy at the enterprise and its basic principles will be presented below.

Background

Personnel talent management is a concept that recently appeared in management. The reason for this was a sharp jump in the economic sphere and the transition from the industrial age to the information age. It was at this point that enterprises were faced with fierce competition in the market.

The leaders of many companies realized that their main weapon that will help them win the race for profit is talented specialists with original ideas who can do their job efficiently. At this moment, the struggle began for those professionals who would not just adapt to the changes, but those who would be able to bring positive changes, give new impetus to the development and improvement of the company. This moment served as the concept of talent management appeared in management theory.

Definition of concepts

Before continuing to understand the intricacies of the concept, it is important to define the basic concepts. So, the talent management system is a certain set of human resource management tools that make it possible to most effectively use the potential of employees for the benefit of the organization in which they work.

Thus, we can conclude that this system is designed to increase labor productivity through the use of talents of workers.

The value of talent management in an organization

Such a phenomenon as human talent has always been in the field of vision of managers. Many scientists tried to analyze how effective the approach in personnel management is from the point of view of developing the employee’s potential. Many studies boiled down to the fact that management, based on the development and use of personal abilities of workers, leads to an improvement in their activities and interest in a common cause. Thus, it becomes clear that the talent management program is not only interesting, but also extremely effective.

Many managers are aware of the fact that material incentives alone are not enough for workers to work selflessly for the benefit of the organization. We also need spiritual incentives that would encourage specialists to devote themselves to the work process.

The talent management system can solve two problems at once:

1. To interest workers and stimulate them. When a person is evaluated and found in him, those talents that he can realize in the workplace, he begins to enjoy the process of work. In other words, the employee feels that the company needs it, and it is his talents that other people need.
2. Increase labor productivity. It's no secret that a motivated and stimulated employee works much more efficiently. It is the efficiency of personnel that affects the economic well-being of the company.

The work of scientists who influenced the development of talent management

George Coleman argued that social capital is a public good created by an individual to achieve personal gain. The followers of the sociologist developed his idea and came to the conclusion that human capital is an attribute that helps a person achieve certain life goals and advance through the career ladder. Thus, considering social capital from the point of view of management, we can conclude that the knowledge, skills and talents of a person are necessary for the enterprise as well as the enterprise for self-realization.

F. Taylor was a supporter of material incentives. He argued that the salary of an employee should increase in proportion to his contribution to the development of the organization. In general, good wages create favorable working conditions for staff.

At the same time, Taylor noted that managers should double-stimulate talented employees and constantly search for them in the ranks, and after that work on their further professional development and retention in the organization. Having understood what talent management is and where it came from, you should consider how the tools of this process are applied in enterprises.

Levels

There are 3 levels of talent management. The table below provides a comparative description of these levels, which will help to understand what their differences are in terms of the tasks being solved (object of assessment, impact, career, etc.).

The table shows that there is much in common between talent management, talent pool and succession planning. However, all these levels are based on different approaches to staff development.

Succession planning is aimed at finding among employees high-potential employees, as well as their development for placement in important positions. Replacement planning involves the selection of individual employees in order to enroll them in the talent pool to replace senior staff. But talent management involves the full integration of capacity development throughout the organization.

All these levels have the same goal - to select and develop the potential of employees. However, it is clear that there is a big difference in approaches to this issue between succession planning, talent pool and talent management.

Who should be engaged in the search for talent and their management in the enterprise?

If the company decided to use talent management technologies in its activities, then for a start it is necessary to understand who to entrust this function. So, a prerequisite is that the director (or board of directors) must take responsibility for the establishment of this process, as well as monitor and take direct part in the search and development of staff.

All the main work in this area is performed by employees of the personnel management service. It is worth noting that at the stage of establishing the process, it is advisable to hire a talent manager.

In addition to the management and personnel management services, line managers also bear responsibility for activities in this direction.

Work stages

Talent management includes the following stages of work with the organization’s personnel:

1. Attraction. This stage begins with the fact that managers must form the attractiveness of the brand of the enterprise. This moment is extremely important, since every person wants to work in an organization that has a good image and reputation. Next, you need to find and select employees for specific posts. As you know, the search for personnel can take place both within the organization (internal) and can be aimed at attracting talented specialists from the outside (external).
2. Talent development. This stage includes not just training personnel in their professional frameworks, but also the adaptation process (if the employee was accepted into the organization for the first time or transferred to another position), the development of personal competencies, and so on.
3. Retention. This is the last and most difficult stage of working with staff within the talent management system, as the important task lies on the shoulders of the management - to create all necessary conditions in the organization that would meet the staff's expectations, and also to develop an effective system of motivation and stimulation of labor activity. The latter plays an important role, since it is motivation that will allow staff to express themselves effectively, fulfill personal needs and help develop the organization.

It is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the principles that talent management pursues when passing through all the above stages of working with employees.

Basic principles

The first and most important principle of talent management in an organization is the coordination of all actions with the overall strategy of the company. Depending on what the organization’s strategy is aimed at, a personnel policy is also developed. Therefore, it is important to compare all actions precisely with strategies so that they do not go against her.

The second principle states that all implemented measures and actions taken within the framework of talent management methods should not contradict each other. In addition, it is important to observe their sequence. Otherwise, there is a possibility of chaos in personnel matters.

The next, third principle is aimed at embedding the talent management system in the corporate culture of the organization. Another important principle is the support of the built-in system from the side of management. Without the participation of senior management, the implementation of tasks in the field of such management is absolutely impossible. Therefore, it is important that top managers interact with the personnel management service.

The fifth principle is based on the fact that in order to attract and retain talented specialists in your organization, it is necessary to maintain the employer's brand. Each employee should present their management only in the best light, otherwise you should not count on dedicated and disciplined personnel.

The sixth principle states that the requirements for personnel, as well as the criteria for the selection and selection of personnel, their assessment and development should be very transparent and open. Each employee must understand that his success depends only on him alone, and he can increase his rating at any time.

The last basic principle is based on the fact that in the process of talent management, staff training should be aimed at optimizing their professional activities. In other words, all knowledge and experience should be applied by the employee in his professional activity and increase the efficiency of the labor process.

Talent Programs

After the specialists who were awarded the talents were selected and trained at the enterprise, the management should determine the program of work with them. In general, all programs are aimed at:

• motivation;
• competency development;
• career planning.

It is worth considering an example of the most effective talent management program, which is aimed at developing specialists. So, initially the company needs to conduct a selection and determine the most effective employees of the company. For this, you can use various tools (360 degree assessment, testing, individual goals assessment, etc.).

Further, the selected participants in the talent development program go through the development process for specific tasks, based on the assessment results. Personnel development may be:

1. Vertical (promotion by one notch).
2. Horizontal (for example, moving a retail manager to a wholesale position).
3. Extension by the employee of the expertise within the position (possibly in case of large-scale tasks or conducting scientific activity).

The next stage of the development program is to build employee development plans taking into account their individual strengths and weaknesses. The minimum development time for one employee is 1 working year.

After each year of development, workers are evaluated. If necessary, adjustments are made to the individual program. If the employee does not show any results and does not seek to develop independent, he is excluded from the program.

The final stage of work with talents can be considered the appointment of an employee to an important position (or assignment to serious projects or tasks). Thus, it is possible to form a “star cast” of employees who, in the course of development, will achieve that they can fulfill the most difficult tasks for the benefit of the development of the organization.

The possibility of applying the system within the framework of Russian enterprises

As you know, many enterprises in Russia operate according to a bureaucratic system that pursues a clear hierarchy, separation of employees according to their functionalities and strict adherence to all procedures and rules.

Today, there are those companies that try to be more flexible in relation to work in joint projects and specialization of labor. However, bureaucratic schemes remain privileged. It is this approach that does not allow enterprises to revise their personnel policy and implement the concept of development and talent management in their activities.

Conclusion

Having become acquainted with such a concept as talent management, we can conclude that this concept is a great opportunity for owners of large companies and departments to select the best personnel. Not all employees are ready to work selflessly in order to be useful and constantly improve themselves, but there are those who, under favorable conditions, can be incredibly useful to the organization and society as a whole. The task of managers is to find them and give them the opportunity to grow professionally.

Managing talent development plays a key role in staffing. Therefore, the construction of the correct employee training system plays a large role in this approach to working with personnel.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that a motivated and self-interested employee is the most important resource of any company. Therefore, it is important to consider talented specialists among subordinates in time and give them the opportunity to improve their lives through work.