Talent management and development
| January 23, 2011 | Posted by Dax under Articles |
Having just completed the first week of orientations and HR ‘brain-washing’, I’ve gained new thoughts on the less talked-about aspect of organizational matters – talent management and development. Coincidentally, as I was thinking about this topic this week, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower gave a speech at the 24th Singapore 1000, Singapore SME 1000 and International 100 awards ceremony that stressed the importance of talent management for local companies. “Our firms will grow provided they muster enough quality talents and integrate them well as they expand”.
Employees are always a key asset of a company, and for companies that compete in a space where there is little differentiation in products (hint: commerical banks), a highly motivated workforce can be a competitive advantage. It seems like Singapore, as a country, is in similar shoes to a company that sells highly commodified products. Singapore doesn’t have the minerals and resources to attract FDI, and what we have is human capital. We rely on human talent to differentiate ourselves from the other countries in the region. We also rely on the workforce to attract the MNCs to partake in the growth of Singapore.
Talent management and development (TMD) is a tricky process that does not end with the induction of the employee into the company after the interview. Besides having to train the employee for the job, there is a need to imbibe the company culture, which presumably should be easier if the candidate was already short-listed because there was some fit in personality with the company’s culture. Even then, it may take some time for the employee to determine if the organization is the right place to be for a long-term career, while the organization assesses if the employee has the potential for more. It is a continuous process that both parties are involved in without being explicit about it with each other. In an organization with a well developed TMD process, employees are better informed of their performance and career progression plans and this helps in raising employee motivation and satisfaction. Being able to communicate with one’s manager and HR dept within a good framework can make those discussions easier and more structured.
One recurring theme that I’ve heard throughout the week was how clueless HR can be with regards to the views and needs of ‘Gen-Ys’ (those born after 1980), which then makes it hard to hire and retain employees of that age group. I think this is a generic issue that applies to companies globally as well as to a country like Singapore. Today’s young workforce is highly educated, mobile, and mercenary. They are keen to go where-ever excites them, or gives them the most opportunities. For companies that had a strategy of promoting from within and retaining these individuals, it can be quite a challenge to have to adapt to the changing dynamics of the younger workforce. Some people may think that the new Gen-Y’s mindset is unreliable, for they may choose to switch to another job just because it pays $200 more per month. Yet, I think this is may be a result, or a corollary, of the changing employment landscape. Gone are the days of the iron ricebowl, where one gets employment for life, till retirement and then get a huge pension from the organization that one is loyal too all his life. Organizations are treating employees as resources too, and some will easily reduce headcount in order to improve their bottom-lines. Having the independence and not relying too much on the organization to look after one’s career is an evolutionary path for the Gen-Y.
Even though the expectations of employees are changing, companies continue to have the need to hire, nurture and promote talent. This is important because the skills and knowledge that the employee gains through service with the company becomes more valuable to the company as the experience grows. They add to the collective ‘human capital’ of an organization. A lot of resource is invested in each individual. These resources include funds for training, as well as opportunities to work on assignments through which one gains skills and experiences. Having trained a person only to lose him/her to a competitor can be a huge dent on the human capital of an organization. General Electric Co. has long been known as the ‘training academy’ because a lot of companies hire management level individuals away from GE. They have a very structured training program and their management methods have been known to be the ‘best-practice’, which makes their employees very attractive.
Talent management for local corporates and SMEs
Growth is always the main concern of our local corporates and SMEs. Besides hiring from the MNCs to complement their workforce, having a good talent management program can enhance the effectiveness of other business functions and contribute to the growth of the organization. A company that has expansionary plans will always need people to staff up key positions, be it leading a new project or setting up a new branch overseas. An experienced employee rotated to other functions of the organization can likely deliver more results and at the same time continue to promote the company values and culture. Hiring someone new from outside has the downside that there is a disconnect between the new development and the rest of the organization. The general feeling is that most small organizations in Singapore are not too big on managing and developing their employees. As a result, local SMEs face increased overhead and inefficiency in their efforts to grow because they spend more time on hiring, training, and waiting for new employees to be able to contribute.
How can an organization attract and retain the Gen-Ys who are going to be the future generation of leaders?
I believe that compensation is, and will continue to be, the main attraction for a generation that is ‘mercenaric’. Paying as well as competitors is a minimum requirement. The absolute amount may not only be important because it feeds the materialistic needs of the younger generation, but also because it has an effect on ‘self-worth’, or how a person views himself/herself with regards to peers. The older generation might be happy to be drawing a regular salary, and going home to family and children, but not so for the younger generation who have to meet up with friends, who invariably talk about work and pay.
An organization that keeps up with the times, for example, embracing social-neworking, flexible work-hours, flexible work-place, will have more allure with Gen-Ys, as well as customers who can then interact with the company in the new media channel of social networks.
At the same time, there is perhaps no hurry for HR to be too hung up on retaining the younger workforce. Like young birds flying out of the roost for the first time, they have the freedom to explore and venture, and when they have seen more of the lay-of-the-land, they will choose a place to settle and develop that longer career plan. Hence it is important to not overlook the hiring of mid-career level individuals who have a clearer idea of where they want to go.
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