Human Resource Management By Dr. Debashish Sengupta

Talent Management 19 CHAPTER Human Resource Management

Key Terms Corporate Talent Critical Talent Functional Talent Oxymoro Six Sigma Framework Talent Management Human Resource Management

Is Talent management an ‘Oxymoron’ Deliotte 2009 year report ‘Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy’ came out with some interesting findings on how executives around the world are planning and managing their workforces in extremely challenging economic environment. The findings clearly showed that senior executives around the globe being well aware about the severity of the economic crisis, placed the need to have experienced talent and strong leadership at the top of their strategic talent list, in order to navigate through rough waters. ‘Companies around the world are focused on retaining the critical talent they have while attracting seasoned leaders. Human Resource Management

Who is a Talent? Before we even try to understand the entire gamut of Talent Management, it is pertinent to decipher that after all who is a talent in the organization. Marcus Buckingham and Curt W. Coffman in their work ‘First break All the Rules’ (Simon & Schuster 1999) argued talent to be a ‘celebrated excellence’ or a ‘recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior’ that can be productively applied. They tend to disagree with the former idea of talent that suggests it to be some sort of secret gift bestowed on selected few. Instead they opined that every role required talent and hence a ‘recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behaviour’ that is productive in nature will be required for each role and a person who exhibits the same must be called a talent. Human Resource Management

The Talent Pipeline Human Resource Management

Who owns & drives Talent Management? Strategic Management of human resources in any firm has to take the shape of managing various kinds of talents at different levels in the firm. Mere operational maintenance issues have to be clubbed with the strategy map of the firm and it will be critical for the leaders in the firm to deliberate what kind of people will be required by the firm in future to actualize this road-map. Here is where talent management takes the centre stage of this entire corporate wagon-wheel. Human Resource Management

Talent Management – Priorities or Prescription The institute for Corporate Productivity (i4CP) identified nine areas of talent management: a. Leadership Development b. Succession Planning c. Career Planning d. Performance Management e. High Potential Employee Development f. Learning and Training g. Competency Management h. Retention i. Professional Development Human Resource Management

Talent Management in a Bust Economy Managing Talent in a downturn is also a matter of priorities. The Deliotte report (Feb. 2009) had an interesting finding related to the current strategic issues as perceived by the industry. Industry expert’s around the world felt that playing defense and offence both were necessary to tide over tough economic conditions. Playing defense was essential to tide over the ‘present’ (downturn economy) which primarily included: Cutting and managing costs (61%) Acquiring, serving and retaining customers (56%) Managing human capital (27%) Human Resource Management

Talent Management: The New HRM Approach Talent Management activities are no longer stand- alone activities in any firm. They have to be integrated at all levels to make talent process efficient and effective and to build talent factories. This is why managing Talent in any firm has grown to the proportion of strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management

Talent Wheels Donglas A. Ready and Jay A Conger (2007) proposed the ‘functionality’ and ‘vitality’ wheel. Mapping talent process on these wheels shall give true picture of the state of human resource effectiveness. Functionality wheel maps a firm’s talent process in 8 areas: i. Sourcing ii. Assimilation iii. Development iv. Deployment v. Performance Management vi. Rewards vii. Engagement Human Resource Management