Talent Management and Succession planning

Talent management is the process of identifying and developing key individuals in a business that possess important knowledge, skills and abilities. The focus is to retain essential capabilities in the workforce to maintain business competitiveness.

The talent management process provides key individuals with an opportunity to develop their skills and experience by engaging in challenging duties, professional development and career growth, which in turn helps to build loyalty to the business

The process involved in talent management are:

Understanding the requirements: Every position, no matter how similar, has its own specific description, title, and needs. Understanding the requirements of each position is important in helping you identify talent traits from employees that match those job requirements. For example, if you understand that a job position requires deep foresight, it would help you identify candidates who look ahead before making decisions and not those satisfied with short-term effects.

• Attracting talents: Getting the people you want to work with you is a whole process on its own. You have to proactively but subtly attract them and build a natural pull. It is crucial to develop a career-oriented relationship with them in order to successfully develop their talent.
• Sourcing talents: This involves searching for the best talents matching a job requirement form the pool of employees in the company. Sometimes, the talent (person) you want might not be an employee yet and you have to extend your search through specific and tailored pre-hire assessment tests.
• Selecting the talent: Of course, not everyone invited will be selected. This presents a problem. What are the selection criteria? How best to go about the selection process to ensure that the most suitable candidate is not eliminated by a trivial or unrelated test exercise?
• Retention and integration: Candidates have to be integrated into the culture of the company. They also have to be induced to stay, grow, and become a part of the staff. This is generally followed by periodic performance appraisals and career sustenance.
• Training and development: This is the stage where much time and effort will be spent. The selected candidates are nurtured and developed over time to hone their skills and sharpen their talents.

Succession planning is a systematic process of identifying and developing talent for leadership positions in the future. According to SHRM survey of 2003 it was found out that 60% of the firms that they interviewed had no succession planning in place and contrastingly about 70% of the major corporations globally had a proper succession planning in place in the late 1970’s. Similarly, IPMA HR survey of 2004 found out that 63% of companies have no manpower planning at all which was commonplace in every organization till the late 1950’s.

Succession planning specifically deals with the process of replacing staff who step down with others who are taking over. It covers the time, manner, and smoothness of replacement, as well as determining who is in the best position to take over a particular role. Succession planning also covers aspects of employee exit from the job role or the company.

Marshall Goldsmith one of the world’s leading executive coaches recently wrote that many executives complained about succession planning being such a waste of time. Still many CEOs complained about lack of bench strength in their organizations lack of talent principally. Finally, the role of demographics cannot be ignored. United States, for example has an aging population. India on the other hand has a population that is young by demographic standards. The combination of all these factors we may say has made a mess of succession planning in the past few decades.

In contrast to the individual focus of talent management, succession planning ensures that the broader requirements of a business are met.

After undertaking a gap analysis to identify key jobs and competencies that are critical to the success of the business, a succession plan may be established.

The succession planning process identifies and prepares talented employees to step into key positions and leadership roles and ensures that they have the skills, experience and knowledge to meet changing work requirements.

An effective succession planning process increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume key roles as they become available.

Where there is a gap in the internal skills base of the business, succession planning can be used to guide external recruitment to fill critical roles in the future.

Importance of talent management and succession planning

Talent management and succession planning provide businesses with a deliberate strategy for the retention and continuation of critical competencies and demonstrate a genuine commitment to developing the existing workforce.

Without a planned and deliberate approach, a business may be unable to provide its services and products to the level or at the quality expected.

Businesses without talent management and succession planning processes are exposed to risks associated with untapped potential and diminished productivity, the loss of key employees, the loss of essential knowledge and skills, and the difficulties of quickly recruiting new employees with the same skill sets.

The combined processes are important to business because they:

• Protect critical operational requirements.
• Ensure maximum contribution of high potential employees.
• Support the development and growth of employees and ensure greater worker engagement.
• Offer a range of learning, development and skilling opportunities.
• Are formalised through training and career pathways and plans.
• Are a key component in formal human resource.