Talent management: from examples to practice
In this article, we take a closer look at talent management, a real HR trend and the focus of attention for all companies. We'll look at what it is, why this talent management phenomenon is interesting for HR onboarding and how to put it into practice using HRIS.
What is talent management?
Talent management is a branch of Human Resources that aims to attract, develop and retain the high-potential profiles that will enable a company to significantly increase its competitive advantage. Talents" are employees whose know-how (skills, expertise) and interpersonal skills (aptitudes) surpass the average of all employees.
Talent management is based on an initial planning stage aimed at defining the concept of talent and the KPIs.
Why is this HR speciality so coveted?
The success of major companies in the new technologies sector has brought to light the fact that employees with exceptional skills and abilities can change the destiny of their company. By attracting, developing and retaining their high-potential employees, innovative companies are outpacing their competitors and creating barriers to entry for newcomers.
It is relatively easy to copy a technology, even if a patent has been registered, just as it is easy to invest a little more than your competitor. On the other hand, you can't copy an exceptional team that innovates, federates and executes better than anyone else.
Examples and best practice
It generally takes more than 10 years to build a talent management system that brings in a lot of revenue. There are exceptions, such as Google, Facebook and Apple, which have succeeded in making their Human Capital the main driver of their hyper-growth in less than 10 years.
- Facebook. This company went from a student project to a global social network and then to an ultra-profitable mobile platform in record time. How did it do this? By working with only the most talented people. Facebook is the first company to measure the value of each employee in dollars: an engineer is worth between 500,000 and 1 million dollars. When the value of an employee approaches its maximum, the company recruits and increases its productivity.
Whereas the integration of new arrivals lasts a day in traditional companies, Facebook's onboarding lasts 6 weeks, during which the newly recruited employee has access to all of Facebook's code and works on different projects. At the end of the 6 weeks, they are asked which project they enjoyed the most. This is an excellent idea, because it's impossible to know which project is right for you when you're a candidate. - Apple. The Californian company founded by Steve Jobs is the most valuable company in the world. It has dominated sectors in which it did not even exist before (music, telephony, media). Apple has built a strong culture so that everyone is ready for the next revolution. For example, if you've excelled at one task, you're immediately assigned to a new one that you know nothing about.
To achieve higher goals, companies invest more. The opposite is true at Apple, which has adopted the Lean philosophy of doing more with less. This method stimulates teams, encourages them to innovate and reduces costly trial and error as much as possible. Thanks to this management approach, Apple's revenue per employee is a surreal €2 million.
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Implementing a talent management strategy
If the results achieved by these successful companies impress you, you should know that it is entirely possible to follow in their footsteps. There are two conditions to this objective: consider that the most impactful effects will come several years down the line, and that this requires rigour.
Here are the four stages in implementing talent management:
1. Planning
The first step is to define what talent is for the company or a particular team. Although the term has become very widespread, it does not apply to the same types of individuals.
Human Resources must therefore define skills and assign them weights according to whether they are useful, essential or disruptive. Next, criteria need to be put in place to measure the skill level of the talent. This also enables KPIs to be drawn up for use as measurement tools after the event.
Lastly, planning leads to an audit of the existing situation, which enables the levels of individuals to be assessed, often by department. This often leads to the detection of Gaps i.e. levels in the hierarchy that suffer from a lack of skills and leadership.
💡Whether with the help of an HR consultancy or a powerful tool like Yourcegid HR, you will need to structure this essential stage of your strategy.
2. Acquisition
The second phase consists of recruiting talent. This involves communicating the company's culture as widely as possible in order to attract and inspire talent to apply for job vacancies or submit unsolicited applications. This works if the values at the heart of the company are strong, attractive and sufficiently imbued in the company's brand image.
👉This enables talented people to grasp the advantages of working for the company and therefore to switch to the recruitment process.
The selection then has to be made in several stages (test, interview, profile check). Criteo, for example (leader in targeted advertising on the Internet) selects its talent via 1 online test, 1 telephone interview, 2 interviews with direct collaborators, then 1 interview with the manager. Facebook and Google go through around ten stages.
The acquisition of talent culminates in recruitment (negotiation of the package) and the integration process, which aims to position the new arrival on the projects that are best suited to them and to pass on the fundamentals.
💡 The right HR software can help you facilitate your entire recruitment process, from acquisition through to hiring, integration and employer brand development.
🛠Softy, for example, is a comprehensive, intuitive and very easy-to-useATS software package that saves you considerable time through comprehensive and customisable talent management features : matching algorithm that analyses your applications according to your criteria, advanced search form to filter profiles, automatic CV library feed, and much more!
3. Development
No-one comes into a company with their full range of skills and know-how. That's the whole point of the development process, which begins with individual preparation to ensure that the individual welcomes training, coaching, performance reviews and mentoring.
👉 The second stage is then career development and training to improve performance and skills. Talent management software such as Yourcegid RH allows you to provide tailor-made training that makes the difference between traditional GPEC and talent management.
💡 Managers and/or HR must regularly propose performance reviews in order to adjust support actions. These reviews are accompanied by coaching and mentoring aimed at developing skills rather than expertise.
4. Retention
The longer you keep talent in your company, the better the return on investment you'll get. The key is to think "long term" with talent. For example, instead of giving an incentive bonus on 31 December, it's more a question of getting employees interested in the results or making it easier for them to become shareholders in the company. Create personalised career plans, adapting the work to the employee (hours, location, methods) rather than the other way round.
Finally, it is more than necessary to work on a positive working environment, which is increasingly sought after by talent:
- pleasant offices
- modern and respectful management,
- appreciation of the work done,
- and respect are very important factors in retaining talent.
Conclusion
Talent management makes it possible to acquire high-potential employees, develop them and retain them for as long as possible, with a view to creating competitiveness and profitability.
Real-life examples such as Facebook and Apple show that talent management is not only a vector for overall performance, but also a means of adapting rapidly to changing environments.
The major results of effective talent management come after several years and require rigour. An HR department needs talent management software, or HR software such as Yourcegid HR, to structure its planning and measure its own results.
Article translated from French