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Adopting Talent Mindset
Robert Morgan, President and General Manager of SHL
Organizations need to embrace a talent mindset for 2013. The emphasis is on adapting to changing priorities, synchronizing HR processes, achieving more with fewer resources and proving ROI in every part of the business. So whether your organization is focused on achieving growth, operational excellence, fostering innovation, or transforming sales behaviors, in order to succeed there is one thing to be sure of… you need the right talent in place – and you need them to be ready to perform.
Know your talent
People intelligence is the critical factor in understanding exactly what makes employees tick. While insight can be captured from interviews, manager-led evaluations and performance metrics, these methods can lack objectivity, accuracy and fail to identify potential adequately. In contrast, objective assessment can provide a profile that highlights the underlying personality characteristics, capabilities, motivators, skills and potential to predict an individual’s on-the-job performance – providing valuable insight to gain the best from them.
Auditing talent in this way equips the organisation with a more holistic picture of an individual, and a more rounded view of the existing workforce. In doing so, it supports the diagnosis of where you are versus where you need to be in terms of achieving organisation goals and dynamically adapting to changing priorities.
Metrics matter
Virtually every department has been wired to ‘business intelligence’ software and dashboards that show performance and efficiency measures. So why is there a blind spot when it comes to measuring and reporting on talent – an organisation’s most critical asset? Accessing the right HR data and looking at the right metrics is essential for helping to drive business results. Too often HR is only looking at efficiency data – time to hire, appraisals done on time, cost per hire – and the very important data on effectiveness is overlooked. This data helps drive business performance by answering the most pressing talent questions: how does the talent in my organisation stack up against the competition? Do we have the talent to execute on our business plan and grow the business at the expected rate? The critical success factor lies in translating this people intelligence into meaningful metrics, using these to help inform decisions and improve business performance. Ultimately the HR challenge is to harness this talent insight and convert talent it into an organisation’s competitive advantage.
Only by combining workforce data with business output data will you be able to identify skill shortages, development opportunities and demonstrate ROI, which will ultimately deliver the insight to effectively manage the major assets of the business
Train to gain
Understanding what talent you have within the organisation is just half the battle – retaining and rewarding the best employees will be another major challenge faced by organisations in 2013.
Training and development is vital to ensure high performing talent remains loyal and engaged, and individuals that demonstrate talent potential are accelerated to translate their capability into clear business results. It is important to keep these employees switched on by finding opportunities for development and targeting these experiences to their individual needs.
Talent champions
A talent mindset is achieved through the creation and support of talent champions across the business. CEB’s research on ‘Becoming a Talent Champion’ (2011) advises executives and leaders on the need to step up to the plate by focusing on managing critical talent as they would a corporate asset. Line managers need to take more responsibility for ensuring talent is developed and ready to support business objectives. Talent champions need to embrace their role in shaping and contributing to an organisation’s talent strategy.
In conclusion, 2013 is the year of opportunity. As a combined force, SHL and CEB provide access to the world's foremost source of insight on talent. By drawing on such insight, employers can ensure that their talent management is integrated, efficient and effective. In doing so, the HR department will make a valuable contribution to the achievement of strategic goals, succeed in meeting the ever changing organisational priorities and most importantly – add real value to the bottom line.
Global Assessment Trends Report 2013
According to SHL’s Global Assessment Trends Report 2013, less than a quarter of HR leaders say their organizations have a clear understanding of workforce potential and less than half use objective data to make workforce decisions. Engaging the workforce (55%) and developing leaders (52%) remain top priorities.
Maximizing the Business Value of Information
Throughout the past five years, the volume of information and data that businesses generate has increased more than tenfold.
Information is ubiquitous in business today; it is essential to strategy, critical in decision making, and core to effective operations and work processes. Clearly the value of information to business success is increasing rapidly, but a complex regulatory environment, outdated and ineffective risk management practices, and rising threats from sophisticated attackers have tremendously magnified the information risks businesses face.
CEB’s Executive Guidance for 2013 provides a roadmap to managing risk to maximize the business value of information and redefining roles and responsibilities in information risk management.
Download a complimentary copy of Executive Guidance for 2013Case Study: IHG Identifies its Brand Stars for High-quality Growth
SHL helped streamline IHG’s recruitment process for new Hotel General Managers to accommodate the Group’s future growth. SHL custom reports tailored Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) results to IHG’s competencies and brand. As a consequence, 156 person days have been saved through improved productivity.
Media coverage
Americas: HR is overwhelmed by the volume of employee data HR.BLR.com's view on the recently released SHL 2013 Global Assessment Trends Report.
Americas: SHL's Eugene Burke talks about identifying who poses danger to your business in Personnel Today.
Americas: Talent Management: A Marriage of Equals Talent Management: A Marriage of EqualsTalent Management's view on the recently released SHL 2013 Global Assessment Trends Report.
