NAME: ROLL NUMBER: LEARNING CENTER: SEMESTER: SUBJECT NAME: MODULE NO.

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NEELAM ASWAL 521131210 02882 4

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Talent Management

Set-1

10 Dec 2012
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FACULTY SIGNATURE:

Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 4

MU0017 Talent Management (Book ID: B1338) Assignment Set- 1

Q.1
Ans.

What is the importance of talent management?

Importance of Talent Management Like human capital, talent management is gaining increased attention. Talent Management (TM) brings together a number of important human resources (HR) and management initiatives. Organizations that officially decide to manage their own talent carry out a strategic analysis of their current HR processes. This is to make sure that a coordinated, performance oriented approach is adopted. Many organizations are adopting a TM approach which focuses on coordinating and integrating methods which are given as : Recruitment : To ensure the right people are attracted to the organization. Retention : To develop and implement practices that reward and support employees. Employee development : To ensure continuous informal and formal learning and development. Leadership and high potential employee development : Specific development programs for existing and future leaders. Performance management : Specific processes that nurture and support performance, including feedback/measurement. Workforce planning : To plan for business and general changes which include the older workforce and current/future skills shortages. Culture : To develop of a positive, progressive and high performance way of operating.

Q2- What are the top 10 talent management challenges faced by an HR?
Ans.
Talent management is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/retention and deployment of the employees. These employees are of particular value to an organization, either in view of their high potential for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles. The top 10 management challenges are : An organization needs to attract and retain talent at all levels, in accordance to the organic and inorganic growth. The organization needs to clearly identify the processes for attracting and retaining employees. This is associated with knowledge about the talent required for business now and in the future. Identify sources of such talent, recognizing this talent and in the future. Identifying sources of such talent, recognizing this talent and deploying them for the benefit of the organization. Develop a value proposition that appeals to all the generations : Organizations are struggling create an employee experience that is valued by all employees because of the presence of four generations within todays workplace. Companies need to create an employee experience that appeals to individuals with varied needs and preferences. For example, consider a company that consists of a number of retail store, having a workforce of about 1,53,000. The store has a high percentage of Gen Y employees and the corporate and leadership roles are handled by Gen Xers and Boomers. It is the responsibility of the organization to create employee value proposition. Developing a robust leadership pipeline : Corporations in general face the potential threat of not possessing a robust talent pool from which future which leaders can be selected. This problem arises due to the fact that the number of people in the Gen X are not interested to take up these roles. The critical challenge here is that individuals are not willing to move into senior client manager and leadership roles. Developing the abilities of employees to take up global leadership positions : assessing expertise in specific functional or technical arenas is relatively straightforward. Determining if individuals have people skills, leadership abilities and global diversity sensibilities is difficult. It is the responsibility of the organization to develop such skills in employees. For example corporations can set up their own academy to develop and groom its employees. Key knowledge and relationships transfer : The retirement of a significant portion of the work force challenges all companies. Organizations that depend on inferred

knowledge like those in customer relationships need to have transfer of knowledge and relationships. The exodus of Gen Xers from corporate life : One of the greatest threats faced by organizations is the exodus of mid-career talent. These are the people on whom the company has pinned hope for future leadership and invested heavily in. Therefore, it is necessary for organizations to develop talent management practices that create greater work/life balance. Redesigning talent management practices to attract and retain Gen Ys : The talent management practices should be such that it attracts both young and old talent. Opening avenues for boomers in their second careers : Organizations are biased towards hiring boomers, but smart companies look for ways to incorporate them into the workforce. In general a rethinking of roles and relationships are required. Overcome the rule of short term and frequent movement: Retail industry in general is known to have a disposable view of talent. Organizations need to change this view. Organizations need to consider external as well as internal influences. Retaining employees for long periods could contribute to the success of the organization. Recruit executives who dont appreciate the challenge : The belief of business leaders that people are lined outside the door because of the company brand power is often the cause of complain among executives. Organizations need to build a talent that places emphasis on build rather than buy strategy.

Q3. What are the retention strategies adopted by organisations?

Ans..
Retention is a method of enabling the members or volunteers to remain active with in an organisation. Retention mainly focuses on preserving a convenient environment, member morale, and organisational growth. o A pool of members who have the ability to be the future leaders. o A strong pointer for organisational success.

o o

A happy organisational environment. A group of members who come to your help when required.

Keys to strong retention: Involvement: Allow involvement of members with program planning and execution, to help with organisational features and programming. It is important to note that members usually hate attending meetings for long hours and hearing to what the leaders speak. So, offering them some encouragement will help them to be an active participant in such organisational activities. For example, encouraging employees to involve in their assigned task and perform well in the form of incentives or performance appraisals. Ownership: Allow the members to contribute in decision making or give them a chance to openly raise their voice for their needs, interests, and opinions. Also allows them to involve in taking up the ownership. For example, if an employee has any issue with the decision made by the organisation regarding some their assigned tasks, then he can raise his voice against the decision and put forward his viewpoint on that. He must also be in a position to take up the ownership of the assigned task. Benefits: Propose some benefits or incentives for members to be active in the organisation. Benefits can be physical, vague, or both. For example, if the employee is consistently performing well, then he can be rewarded for his performance in the form of performance bonus or incentives. Some of the retention strategies include: Conversations: Active conversations with members help in creating a convenient working environment and making sure that members have a secure feeling in the organisation. It is not mandatory that conversations must deal with organisational business or concerns, but instead a small-talk and chit-chat are enough. Updates: Regular updates through emails, news-sheet, websites, or meetings help in sustaining a high-level of interest as it is evident that people may lose their interest in an organisation if they do not get constant updates about what the organisation is planning for. General meetings: General meetings are the most accepted methodologies adopted by an organisation to circulate information and update members. However, the main disadvantage with general meetings is that they are inactive wherein members simply sit and listen to what the leaders speak. These meetings must also focus on getting members involved in some activity.

Q.4
Ans.

List the key elements of talent management system.

Talent management includes a range of interdependent processes and procedures that need to be properly integrated. The organization will not achieve the desired level of human capital performance if talent management processes do not operate as a unified group. The key elements of Talent Management System are explained as followed : (a) Selection Selection is the process of choosing a candidate amongst a number of probable candidates. Recruitment and retention has become a big challenge for organizations due to the continuing global talent shortage, the changing worldview of work by new generation employees entering the workforce and the ever increasing evidence that poor recruitment decisions have a direct impact on the bottom line. Recruitment process that is not merit-based and has poor reliability and validity are a burden to an organization and can ever expose the company to discrimination claims. Poor hiring choices can affect the organization in additional recruitment costs, training and orientation costs, loss of time, lost opportunity, lost revenue, loss of competitive advantage, tarnish image and reputation. It is about recruiting the right people in the right place at the right time. Organizations need to filter their attraction, recruitment and selection approaches to ensure they have the right talent on board to enable them to remain competitive. A global view that includes a diverse workforce is critical. (b) Induction and training Induction is the formal entry of the selected candidates into the organization and training is to develop their knowledge, skills and competencies by teaching with respect to the organizational requirement. Employers should not assume that new hires can cover for themselves and will only need brief introductions and a chunk of corporate information to get them started. Although lost profits due to the training of a new hire has been estimated as 1.0-2.5% of total revenue, it is clear that this induction period is vital given that 6.3% of people leave within the first 6 months of starting in a new role, which is typically due to their induction experience. A proper induction program helps to reduce employee discomfort, improve productivity and save money. After an effective, useful and timely training experience should be the progressing development chances that support the individual in the role but the also the organization in achieving its broader objectives. Such training where possible and practical, should be intime rather than in-case to provide training environments and materials that change to meet individual or small group demands precisely at the time when new skills are needed. (c) Capability development Customized improvement opportunities for key talent are seen as an essential component for motivation and retention of these people. In the present scenario, developing the current employees is a more cost effective and efficient means of maintaining internal talent pools rather than recruiting new people and wasting vital resources on their training. Career growth also has a major impact on job satisfaction and commitment, to an organization that relates directly to retention of dynamic employees. Both high potentials and core contributors should be given enough opportunities to develop by the internal talent management in order to maintain operational effectiveness and

output. Key performers and core contributors require different growth experiences that should be modified accordingly for maximum profit. Committed leaders are required to emphasize the idea on both groups given their competing business priorities. The talent development structure adopted by an organization needs to support the talent capabilities required for the future and needs to be able to support the talent capabilities required for the future and needs to be able to blend with ongoing changes. Good leadership quality in a global and increasingly diverse workplace is a highly sort after competence and this must be embedded into any comprehensive development program. Other elements will be established by the business strategy.

(d) Performance A performance management system increases the productivity and confidence in an organization, if planned and implemented effectively. An example of the problems in performance management is the 34% of surveyed Australian organizations using appraisals had no formal performance management policy in place. The increasing number of new generation employees in the workplace adds thrust to the importance of a transparent, objective performance management process as they perform best in culture that encourages feedback. Performance management system should be visibly related to training or development and recognition or compensation systems within the organization in order to increase productivity and retention. Organizations can also defend themselves against legal action resulting from discrimination or unfair claims through use of a legitimate and fair performance management system. (e) Retention and succession Retention is the measure taken to encourage the employees to remain in the organization for longer period of time. Succession helps an organization to ensure that employees are hired and trained to fill each key position within the organization. Employee retention is an important issue for top leaders in organizations all over the world. In todays world an abundance of jobs are available in the market for a job seeker and therefore employers must compete to attract and retain the talent they need to fulfill their organizational objectives. Talent retention is necessary to good quality, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Typically companies prefer induct 85% of their leaders through internal placement. For example, Hewitts Top 10 Companies in the Asia Pacific develop 76% of their leaders internally while a global survey found a 30% failure rate when placing highly sought after external talent. It is evident that organizations with quality strategic improvement programs and succession management programs have greater business results. In addition, increasingly rigid labour markets make succession management a business necessity and force organizations to identify and accelerate the development of future leaders from within. The stable organizations under such pressure need to have an effective succession management policy in place, with a particular focus on the continuity of key specialists and leaders. Other key elements of talent management

Besides the above four elements of talent management , some other elements are also available that help to characterize the relationship between talent management and conventional recruiting. They include : A focus on high impact positions : A talent management policy requires managers and HR to determine an organizations success by filling top talent in the appropriate jobs. Accountability : Talent management assigns accountability to the chief talent executive for managing the talent pool, who is responsible for results, not effort. Reward and metrics : Talent management builds support and relationship between earlier independent efforts through its common objectives, metrics and rewards. Thus, no independent effort can be considered successful unless the overall talent management effort is also successful. Balanced metrics : Talent management attracts managers attention by instituting a system of methods and rewards that ensures every executive is acknowledged and rewarded for excellence in human resource management. It simultaneously evaluates employee commitment to ensure that managers reach their productivity goals while using the appropriate organization behaviors. Business approach : The talent management approach is not taken from overhead or administration model. It is created from and replicates other successful business process models, like supply chain management, finance and lean manufacturing. Recognition of the business cycle : The talent management strategy involves identifying the different types of talent required with respect to changing business situations. Consequently, talent management requires the constant internal movement of talent in and out of jobs and business units based on current business needs and where the company is in its business cycle. Truly global : Talent management encourages attracting, retaining and developing the best talent no matter where it is. Focus on service : Flawless service is the expectation of talent management. Customer satisfaction, process speed, quality and commitment are continually measured. Anticipation : While conventional recruiting and retention tend to be reactive, talent management is forward looking. It predicts and alerts managers about upcoming problems and opportunities. It indicates managers to act before the need arises in talent management issues.

Q5. The talent selection consists of five selection processes. List them.
Ans.
There are five major steps involved in recruitment process which include: Online Application

CV/Resume Screening

Initial Interview

Technical and Competency Interviews

Job Offer

These Steps which are involved in recruitment process can be explained as follows: 1. Online application: During this phase, the desired candidate applies for a job online or on company website. 2. CV/Resume screening: This is the second stage wherein the CV (curriculum vitae) of the applicant is screened by hiring managers to ensure if the candidate is fit enough for the post. 3. Initial interview: This is the most crucial stage wherein the candidate is asked to take up a written test. 4. Technical and competency interviews: Once the candidate clears the written test, the next stage would be technical competency round. This stage involves the recruiting managers ensuring if the candidate possesses required technical skills suitable for the position which can be in the form of either face-to-face questioning or a written test. 5. Job offer: This is the last stage of the interview process wherein the candidate receives an offer letter from recruiting manager after he clears all the interview rounds.

Q6. State some of the practical steps that can be taken to improve the talent acquisition. Ans..
As customers continue to request services that offer more value than simply HR administrative relief, more time is spent on evaluating and stepping up to deliver strategic human capital management (HCM). To help us understand more of what actually matters to operating managers, we undertook a study of HCM practices in small, high-performing companies in key growth sectors such as technology, financial services, and professional services. The goal was to build some actual data sets around both HCM practices and outcomes in small high performing companies nationwide, including what worked and didnt work to maximize their corporate performance. There were 700 companies in the study population with an average wage of $102,000, and an average workforce size of 18.1 employees. The results found that several relatively easy-to-implement human capital best practices are often not being followedand theyre precisely the ones that can make a significant impact on a companys performance, even at an early stage of growth and development. These practices fall under the categories of Risk Management, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, and Compensation and Benefits. It goes without saying that each of these areas merits its own discussion. But for now, lets look closely at Talent Acquisition. It should come as no surprise that hiring practices can create or destroy value. A single bad hire can cost between $60-120,000, and 10-15% of the employee base (of the companies in our study) turned due to avoidable hiring errors. Thats two employees a year in a 20 employee company. Not exactly the kind of track record you want if youre a nimble firm intent on developing a product and getting to market in record time. On the flip side, a great hire is worth 3-7 times a mediocre one in terms of efficiency, productivity, and ROI brought back to the company. But when we looked at our research data, we realized that key executives often didnt change their tactics even when the bad numbers started rolling in. Rather than implement a consistent hiring process based on proven best practices, they appeared to be chalking up their problems to current market conditions. Conversely, the companies with successful hiring practices did, in fact, have both a hiring strategy and a process in place. They spent more time defining the job description in advance, considered a broader range of recruitment options to source candidates, and gave their hiring managers more training than average. The bottom line? Process matters. It can make a substantial impact upon your hiring costs, and have an even bigger impact by increasing the overall quality of people coming into the organization. Here, then, are the three effective hiring strategies small and medium-sized businesses can implement right now:

 Take the time to define a positions requirements carefully before recruiting Use a broad based sourcing strategy to identify candidates across multiple sources Train hiring managers and monitor completion of defined steps in a company hiring
process Establishing a process in regards to Talent Acquisition is one of the aspects of Human Capital Management