Tod Treat

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Talent Management

A recent notification that my institution will lose another employee serves as a useful reminder that we must all manage talent leakage and transitions. Talent encompasses many things including both cognitive (knowledge, skills, abilities), noncognitive (values, interests, personality, strengths), and career (organizational and cultural experiences, sector background). Managing talent begins with some thoughtful reflections about what the institution needs moving forward, both in terms of positions, which I really think of in terms of a portfolio (span of control, scope of work, desired key outcomes and responsibilities) and talent, which can be a person or team (Despite the focus of this blog, in general, team talent is far more crucial than individual talent.)

Talent and portfolio are the same thing and matching talent to portfolio is itself part of talent management. Sometimes the positions and the talents are the same. Sometimes the right talent is in the wrong position. Sometimes the wrong talent is in the right position. My philosophy has been to identify critical positions and great talent in advance of “flirting” or to “play chess” in modifying positions where anticipated vacancies occur. Who on your team is best served by some intensive coaching with an intent that they would eventually move “up or out?” Who on your team is so critical to your operation that their loss would be catastrophic to the organization at this time? How might vacancies open up opportunity to reposition the organization?   

In the case of intensive coaching, it may be best to really focus on only one or two people who are ready to move on — for both your sanity and institutional good in the case that you’re a really good coach and they leave for lack of opportunity here. In the case of “highly critical talent,” the institution has limited resources to aggressively retain so we need to be judicious. That said, it has been my practice to try to identify those individuals who are highly critical and reposition them in advance of flirting in order to try to maintain their sense of enthusiasm and engagement at this institution. It has also been my practice to be very open and intentional about encouraging professional development and other activities that will benefit a person’s portfolio for their own careers.

Internal talent will stay often stay engaged just by intention – ensure they know you appreciate them, inspire trust, and provide opportunities for project work that expand their experiences and skills. Like athletics, good business leaders are general managers and keep short lists of internal and external talent all the time for recruitment or development.  Doing so will ensure that talent losses will be anticipated and largely prevented except in cases where ‘up or out’ is clear and up is not an option. Organizations that can minimize talent leakage in this way can continue to drive great results, act aggressively to retain or anticipate vacancies that can be pivoted to better fit our needs while keeping vacancy gaps to a minimum.

It’s worth taking some time to think about.