EXECUTIVES ARE beginning to appreciate the importance of a more deliberate approach to the management of people and talent, according to a recent Economist Intelligence Unit paper
EXECUTIVES ARE beginning to appreciate the importance of a more deliberate approach to the management of people and talent, according to a recent Economist Intelligence Unit paper.
This more deliberate approach is underscored by a number of recurring strategies, according to the paper, which appear to be the cornerstones of a successful approach to talent and workforce management. These include:
Alignment with overall business objectives. HR executives are working with business heads and the C-suite to develop workforce strategies that complement and enable both short- and long-term business objectives.
Strategic workforce planning. HR executives are collaborating with business units to assess current and future workforce needs. This, in turn, enables companies to adjust training, development, retention, compensation, recruitment and all related activities.
Performance planning and evaluation. Integrated HR processes tie together employee performance, evaluation and compensation from the executive suite to the warehouse or sales floor. Ultimately, such processes and systems can link the value that employees create to the way that workers themselves are evaluated.
Talent mapping. Companies are placing greater emphasis on identifying top performers and then developing ways to nurture and retain these valuable resources. As organisations learn which employees are most valuable, they can focus on attracting, developing and retaining these people.
The paper, which was sponsored by Oracle, states that businesses are developing enterprise-wide processes to ensure that the right employees and the right performance incentives are in place to execute strategy.
Consequently, companies are asking for their HR departments to contribute more to the running of the company. “Firms can outsource those parts of HR dealing with administration and support. What remains is more strategic,” said Dan Armstrong, editor of the report.
