A Tightly Woven Process: Retaining Talent
February 19, 2007
If your organization is focused on growth, profitability, customer loyalty, new product introductions, employee engagement and shareholder value to name a few, you must also be in the process of talent management. This is the fabric of a strategy that allows you to not only develop new leaders, but also retain the exceptional talent you hire. It is a tightly woven process and what you do to retain talent must be threaded throughout all you do.
Retaining Talent is Essential to Delivering Business Value
The fine art of retaining talent has an effect on your ability to deliver business value. A recent survey by McKinsey & Company asked senior executives of global companies to rank obstacles that prevent them from having talent management strategies. Among the most critical as defined by executives:
- 54% - Senior managers don't spend enough time on talent management.
- 52% - Line managers not sufficiently committed to people development.
- 51% - Silos discourage collaboration, resource sharing.
- 50% - Line managers unwilling to differentiate high, low performance.
- 47% - Senior leaders do not align talent management and business strategies.
Here's one more statistic for you. A recent study shows that 85% of HR executives state that the single greatest challenge they have in managing the workforce is their organization's ability to compete for talent.
So, if your organization is one of those facing obstacles with talent management and you are concerned about your ability to compete for talent, then you seriously need to consider a plan to train your organization on how to effectively retain your best talent.
Retaining Talent is Woven into Your Organization's Financial Performance
Most people can understand that turnover is costly in replacement expense, but it also impacts productivity when other team members see good people leaving the organization.
Picture this scenario: Ray was an executive for a hotel chain that had lackluster performance. Attrition of leadership was high in the organization. He decided to conduct an analysis of risk factors in retaining top talent. He identified new strategies and tactics such as creating an emerging leaders program, training future leaders and providing more on-the-job training for line supervisors. As a result, they have recruited better talent and, more importantly, have retained that talent which has resulted in the value of their stock growing by more than 50% in the last five years.
Reap What You Sow – Get Started Today
By training your managers, you will help them realize the significant leverage they have to combat turnover in the organization. You will be giving them the tools they need to create a proactive and productive environment that values key talent. Talent Management and Career Development is a new program that teaches managers the process that retains talent. Managers need to understand that they, by all means, need to be concerned with team member retention and how to identify individuals at risk. Are your managers able to:
- Describe the scope, severity and cost of attrition?
- Determine the risk of attrition for each team member?
- Identify which retention factors motivate each team member?
- Increase each team member's engagement and commitment?
- Build and implement an effective Retention Action Plan for their entire team?
We can help you implement a career development program and keep those talented individuals who represent the fabric of your organization's success.
Quote for the Week
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Sources:
Lockwood, N.R. (2006). Talent Management: Driver for Organizational Success. SHRM Research.
Reindl, R. (Feb. 2007). Growing Talent at Edwards Lifesciences. Training & Development.
Training & Development (Feb. 2007). Talent Management Barriers.
Vital Learning Corporation (2007). Retaining Winning Talent.