A few years ago we had a great growth challenge in the organization, the company’s goal was to double its value every five years through organic growth and expansion of territories. It seemed simple, since the cash flow allowed us to acquire new businesses in markets with high potential, so we were preparing to accelerate engines to capitalize on great growth, only one of the variables was not sufficiently prepared … nothing more and nothing less than the talent inventory.
Many times, organizations see talent management areas as those responsible for the work environment or the management of working conditions, even in several cases the role of Human Resources in improving performance and developing potential. However, I believe that there is still a way to understand its strategic role in the preparation of the business plan. In the example above, Human Resources played a key role in the speed of the organization to take advantage of business growth opportunities.
Human capital is a complex element to manage. If we see it as a talent inventory, The first thing we identify is that their behavior is variable, as it is impacted by the rotation, growth, development and movements of people in the company and the labor market. Furthermore, measuring it is quite subjective and, above all, its level of contribution depends on many factors beyond hard performance indicators.
So how do you achieve sound planning for an organization’s talent needs? How to land investment in development in a concrete way so that it is really effective?
There are several methodologies of talent mapping, all with advantages and disadvantages, however the objective of the measurement is what really makes the difference and gives us a clear guide of what and how to measure talent.
In the example mentioned at the beginning of this article, we were able to specify the talent needs through three key questions:
»1. What is the focus of the business in the next three years and what challenges does it bring to the organization?
It is different to plan the talent for a company that seeks to consolidate in the market, generate greater profitability of a product or gain participation in current clients versus those that are looking for growth through expansion into new territories, foray into new product categories or development of new channels. That is why we need to first understand the profile of the company and its strategic plan and then translate it into people profile.
»2. What capabilities does the business require according to the profile identified in the previous question?
A growing company will require profiles capable of agilely analyzing the expansion opportunities, which implies a high capacity to read the market, to adapt practices and processes to new realities or to be creative and innovative in the solutions that are going to be offered to new clients, and that at the same time can keep the team motivated working in an environment of high uncertainty.
On the other hand, organic growth through increased market share in current channels and customers requires expert mastery of business variables, analysis of alternative sources of revenue generation, and the ability to inspire teams to discover ways to enhance current performance in customers. In other words, the competencies in each business scenario are very different and require a deep analysis to identify what is available versus what is required.
»3. Finally, and given that there is no way to achieve or develop perfect profiles: How to integrate the teams considering the individual profiles to achieve the impact and the expected contribution?
It is not only about developing skills and launching people to face the challenge, it is necessary to manage the integration and the maximum potential of the team as a talent mix. It is much easier to build an organizational capacity from the combination of people’s talents. For example, if you need creativity and deep analysis, you will not necessarily find them in a single person, so the magic is in knowing how to combine the strengths of people with the direction of the correct leader capable of understanding and enhancing these differences to achieve their maximum. performance.
How many times have we had to “fight” in Human Resources to defend the training budget, but this fight is no longer necessary when we manage to land the investment in the search and development of talent focused on what the business requires. The challenge is to be able to read, translate and convert the needs of the business into what people need to have. It’s like thinking about sending a sports team to the Olympics without training! You would never cut this budget if your strategy depended on it.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx