Talent management

Author: Wendy Hirsh

Summary

• Talent management aligns and integrates a range of people management activities to meet changing business needs and reduce resourcing risks. (See What is talent management?)
• Examples of where talent management can be used include to: support management succession and the development of people with "high potential" for senior leadership; develop specialists and wider professional skills; increase diversity and inclusion; and enhance career progression. (See Why is talent management of high interest?)
• Developing a best-fit approach to talent management can be supported by a framework of activities and questions covering strategy, processes and implementation. (See A framework for designing a best-fit approach)
• Talent management strategy is an agreed articulation by senior leaders of areas of focus, desired outcomes and measures of success. It builds on workforce planning, usually focusing on selected critical groups of jobs and employees, central to business performance and hard to recruit for. (See Talent management strategy)
• Talent management for the whole workforce requires a future-oriented and integrated approach to recruitment, development and deployment. If your organisation wants to harness the potential of the whole workforce, it needs to provide employees with forward-looking skill development, and access to career development support and developmental work experiences. (See Talent management processes for the whole workforce)
• Talent management for critical workforce groups or individuals requires close integration between skill development, career development and deployment for individuals in critical roles or talent pools. (See Talent management for critical workforce groups or individuals)
• Diversity and inclusion should be designed into talent management strategy and processes. Real-time monitoring of recruitment, development and deployment decisions will drive faster change in actions. (See Building diversity and inclusion into talent management)
• Accountability, capability and implementation largely sit with senior leaders and line managers, who need a talent management mindset and the skills to support individuals in taking responsibility for their own development, while HR should provide facilitative support. (See Accountability and capability)