I would like to introduce you to a series of Blogs we are going to be putting out about this huge topic – one that keeps our Clients up at night more than anything else (apart from if they have young children!!) This is a topic very close to our hearts and we work very hard to understand this for our Clients and provide additional assistance to help combat high staff churn rates.
To take reference from one, of many, articles relating to this; when interviewed, according to The Harvard Business Review, CEO’s and business owners main worry was Talent Management. Breaking this down further, it falls into the following categories:
Finding the right talent in the first place:
The need to find new talent usually falls into two needs – replacement of someone leaving or growth with requirement for a new person. Either way, the requirement usually has a tight timeline to it, takes up a lot of time to interview and select the right person and can be quite stressful.
If you work with a person or set of people that know the business well – your ethos, culture and Client set – this stress is alleviated greatly. Sometimes the Talent experts are internal but if you are looking for a Talent partner, this should be selected carefully – ensuring they have the exact credentials you are looking for, know your industry well and will take the time to get to know you as a company, as everyone is different.
Retention of the best performing talent:
Once the right talent is in place, the next trick is keeping them! Especially during buoyant times when competitors will try to poach them. So how to ensure their eyes won’t wander? Much like a personal relationship, it is about ensuring they are happy and feel loved, in exchange for their loyalty.
This will depend to a certain extent, on the individuals needs. For the junior members of staff it tends to be the correct Learning & Development opportunities and reviews with chances of incremental pay rises and promotions. For the more senior staff members it is the chance to stretch their responsibilities within the business to prove their worth to the company – it is usually less about money, as long as they are about market rate. And little, unexpected gifts always helps as well – a few beers after work, chocolate at Easter and pizza if working late on a pitch!
Future talent pipeline:
As an owner or manager, you need to assume that at some point in the near future, additional staff are going to be required – hopefully due to growth and new business wins. It can feel a little bit like you are wasting your time seeing candidates on a more speculative basis, but if your pipeline of suitable talent is quite healthy then this firstly will ease your concerns a little and secondly you can move quicker on offers if the need arises and they are still available.
Here at Scout we are passionate about ensuring the right fit of talent in the first place, to ensure they stay with you and become an invaluable part of the team and to ensure the future growth of your company. We also offer services to help with your Talent Management including HR services, Learning & Development and Business Growth consultancy.
