The Four “R’s” Within a Talent Management Strategy
The Four “R’s” Within a Talent Management Strategy
Guest writer Ron Wilson writes about one of the critical focus points of a business plan: the employees. Here he shares “The Four ‘Rs’ Within a Talent Management Strategy.”
Many years ago, we were developing business plans for the year and one of the critical areas of focus was Employee Retention and Recruitment. Retention and recruitment have been a challenge throughout our leadership roles, regardless of the department we lead, or the industry we are a participant in.
Within Employee Retention and Recruitment there are four areas of focus:
- Recruitment
- Retention
- Relationships
- Respect
Focusing on the four areas above will improve employee retention and attract the new talent needed for the future.
Recruitment– This “R” focuses on recruitment of talent from outside the organization. Recruiting to fill the immediate and long term needs for skilled talent in our industry will continue to be an obstacle to business growth potential. Therefore, out of the box creative approaches are necessary to recruit talent.
- Recruitment of talent from outside the organization should include a variety of approaches. There is no one successful approach in finding skilled talent and it’s important to continually evaluate what is working and seeking innovative approaches. Look at what other companies are doing (inside and outside the industry).
- Advertisements will take a focus on what the organization has to offer as a career and a long-term employer with very competitive wages and benefits, seeking employees that will take the company into the future.
- Special events utilized to identify skilled talent. Some examples are rodeos, racecar and motor cross events, trade shows, and vocational schools. The intent is to reach communities where potential employees live their daily lives outside of work.
- Apprenticeship programs will be utilized to “grow” the needed talent from within and outside the organization. Participating in community college and high school technical skills education provides a wonderful opportunity to expose the company to individuals that are seeking a company that is not only a place to work, but also build a career.
- Shorten the time between posting a position and providing a job offer. Individuals applying for a position are ready to move forward with a new opportunity, and most likely are applying for several positions at other companies. Let’s not delay in reviewing the applications, scheduling interviews, and providing job offers. Develop a metric to measure the amount of time it takes to hire a new employee. It may be surprising the amount of time it takes to recruit, interview, and hire someone,
- If the applicant does not match the needs of the position being applied for, is there a role that may be a better fit within your organization?
Retention– This “R” places a great deal of emphasis on developing the talent within the organization to meet the immediate and long-term skill set needed to take the organization into the future.
- Development of internal talent will include the skill sets for technicians and non-technicians.
- The priority will include developing the skills in the basic skills needed to accomplish the individual’s current job responsibility.
- Skills needed to prepare the employee for the next level in their career path.
- There should be a “building block” approach with career path options. For example, technical level 1-4 starts with the basic skill set needs of a technician to advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics. Additional advanced levels for a technician can include Technical Communicators, Service Department Supervisors/Managers, Product Support Sales Representatives, and Training Instructors.
Respect for dealing with each other leads us through the challenges that will occur. There will not always be an agreement in everything we do, but everything we do can be managed in a manner of respect. The issues should be addressed based on the issue, and not on the person.
Relationships that are positive between employees encourage an environment that allows growth and development as individuals and as teams.
- Through positive relationships the organization will recognize the needs of the marketplace and introduce competitive products and services that add value to our customers.
- Strong internal relationships encourage strong relationships with our customers.
- Recognition is important to all of us. It is important we seek the opportunities to recognize individuals and teams of employees on their successes and contributions to the organization. Each supervisor should develop their own way of providing employee recognition for their areas of responsibilities. The types of recognition will vary based on the event, the location, and the employees.
The Four “R’s” play a significant role within our talent management strategy of taking care of the current employees and seeking the employees needed for the future.