HR’s Role as Talent Cultivator
From our blog today — Enjoy!
If you work in HR, you wear many hats and play a LOT of key roles in the company. But sometimes the day-to-day fire fighting work HAS to get done and according to many HR experts, the critically important role of managing top talent can get left behind.
In a recent Forbes story, eight members of their HR Council weighed in on how HR teams can approach gaining more visibility into the current management process of top talent. Top takeaways were:
Align Processes And Desired Outcomes
HR leaders can gain more visibility in the talent management process by leading it. Managing and developing top talent is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader and an important part of the talent development infrastructure (tools and processes). Leadership training is crucial and the alignment of the processes and desired outcomes to the business strategy is the responsibility of HR. – Stephen Childs, Panasonic Automotive
Lead A Quarterly 9-Block Grid Exercise
Recognition that top talent is not defined the same by all is important. To gain visibility and alignment, HR can lead a quarterly nine-block grid exercise. HR can leverage the insights gained to partner with management and complete succession planning and performance development and improvement plans. The frequency of the exercise will ensure accountability and progress toward the management of top talent. – Kelsey Griffis, Loyal Health
Connect and Collaborate with Leadership
HR teams need to connect and collaborate with department leadership to ensure everyone is on the same page for talent management. Discuss ways to recruit, find diversity sites, implement interview strategies and more. We’ve held monthly training sessions with managers with forums to discuss relevant topics—diversity, mentoring, etc.—and allow an open forum for managers to discuss their ideas with each other and HR. – Erin ImHof, Circadence
Build Relationships With Top Talent
To gain insights into the management of top talent, build relationships with the individuals identified as top talent, their immediate supervisors and other stakeholders like the departmental leadership team. Foster open communication and ask for feedback with open-ended questions such as “What should we start, stop or continue doing?” and “What does the success of this program look like to you?” – Nicole Brown, LMC, A Lennar Company
Our own HR expert, Lorein Brightwell says “I can echo everything said here–but ONLY if job descriptions (JDs) are current, qualitative and reflective of the company’s mission, vision, values and strategic goals. Every effort made must point to these declared targets. Collectively, a company’s job descriptions form the intricate network of road maps to the revenue-producing goals of the organization.
With such JDs in place, the focus of HR is to partner with management—supporting them in all of their endeavors and providing learning enrichments to fill any gaps. In the case of managing top talent, HR professionals will continually monitor and dialogue with managers to determine needs and constantly strive, as a partner would, to empower that manager to achieve his/her/their critical goals—as clearly defined in the aforementioned job description. As noted above this is accomplished in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons; in this case, one size does not fit all. However, lack of focused succession planning is a definite formula for the decline in human capital assets.”
And there it is. Smart employers recognize the importance of cultivating top talent and HR’s equally important role in leading this effort. And the smartest ones KNOW PLB Resources can HELP them deal with this or any HR situation effectively and get/stay fully in compliance—while building that AMAZING workplace!
More info for Smart Employers:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2021/07/30/how-hr-can-gain-a-more-visible-role-in-top-talent-management-process/?sh=285657ad6dc3