Finding employees to fill a production line or to expertly lead a team is always a concern. Talent is currently in short supply and growth cannot happen without it. Surprisingly, attracting and finding employees is not the biggest problem facing organizations. Rather, it is only a small component of a more complex issue.
Defining Your Organization’s Biggest Problem
Once you hire the right people, you need to keep them. And if the time comes for the employee to move on, it’s beneficial to coordinate a graceful exit that leaves a classy last impression of your organization. This common cycle of “attract > retain > exit” leads to a holistic talent challenge that can be overwhelming if not tackled intentionally.
Talent management can seem overwhelming, but is so important to your success.
Working towards a solution is simpler than you might think, especially with a systematic, incremental approach. It does require some planning, but since your talent is the key to your success, it is absolutely worth the effort.
To break it down into manageable bites, zero in on 6 components to address the issue as a whole. Fortunately, once these areas are identified, you can implement solutions that will lead to change sooner than you might think.
6 Components of Tackling Your Organization’s Biggest Problem
- Attracting Talent
- Recruiting Talent
- Onboarding Talent
- Developing Talent
- Retaining Talent
- Creating Ambassadors
Attracting Talent
This is a given. If you want to fill your talent needs, you need to be attractive to potential candidates. This involves proactively developing and maintaining a positive reputation and employment brand. You must know your core values and communicate them internally and externally so that there is consistency across the organization.
Recruiting Talent
This is more than putting an ad on an online job board. You need to consider what you need beyond the obvious. Yes, you may need a sales manager, but what strengths should that person possess to help balance the team you already have in place? Your ideal talent pool may require some creativity to tap into.
Onboarding Talent
This topic is sorely underdeveloped in most organizations. Onboarding should involve more than paperwork and procedures. This crucial step should adequately prepare your new hires to be successful in your organization. A lack of preparation and on-going follow-up will leave your new hires discouraged and limited.
Developing Talent
This should not be overlooked. Employees get bored if they are not challenged and invested in. Lack of intentional development could have your people looking for new opportunities outside your organization. Developing your team increases employee satisfaction and gives your organization a huge advantage of promoting from within.
Retaining Talent
This topic is woven throughout all the others. Keeping turnover low involves everything from creating meaningful work, to open communication, to a healthy corporate culture, to employee engagement. These factors hit on the day-to-day operations of the organization. It’s more than a component, it’s an organizational mindset.
Creating Ambassadors
This is crucial to ongoing success. Once someone leaves your organization, you may take on the philosophy “out of sight, out of mind.” However, that person is a voice for — or against–you in the community. No matter what the circumstances of an employee’s exit, you should strive to make it as positive as possible. Open communication is a key part of that reality.
Recap of Your Problem and Solutions
These six components, outlining your organization’s biggest problem, break down the issue into manageable bites. Your organization may be doing well in a few of the areas so you can ramp up the efforts in others.
Recognizing the importance of your talent strategy needs will help you address it holistically. Having outside expertise to map out your plan and equip you with resources will alleviate the stress of bearing it on your own. Not sure where to start? Enlist our help to save time and avoid the frustration of making a good effort that doesn’t yield your desired outcome.
Don’t let your employment issues overwhelm you and stall the success of your organization. Employees need proactive leadership to excel. It is a winning relationship for the organization and the workforce when leaders put effort into talent management.