ASSIGNMENT WORK OF TALENT

MANAGEMENT

1. Detail the steps involved in designing a high potential

talent identification program.

 Based on the survey, a White Paper produced by the school outlines steps that HR
and talent management professionals can take to establish an effective high-
potential talent identification program. Examples are also provided of firms that
have done so successfully, such as IBM where high-potential employees can
participate in the company’s Corporate Service Corps — a three-month program
where employees are sent to an IBM location to provide pro bono counsel. GE’s
high-potential program involves employee-rotation, and is designed to help
employees understand the business from different functional and geographical
perspectives. The program takes place over two years.

But should high-potential employees be informed that they are considered as

such?

Traditionally, executives have erred on the side of caution and kept high-potential
lists under wraps, in the hopes of avoiding inflated egos and increased expectations
of promotions and salary increases, as well as the fear of employee-poaching by
competitors. This may be changing as 58 per cent of respondents to the Leadership
Survey said they do tell employees they have been identified as having high
potential. The benefits of such transparency include delivering a powerful signal
that the organization values their contributions, and believes in them enough to
invest in their future.

 BUSINESS APPLICATION
 Identifying and attracting high-potential employees can give organizations an edge
on their competition, and set them up for future success. To do so, a formal and
systematic approach (as outlined below) should be used, which will not only
 improve high-potential selection but also increase the perception of fairness and
impartiality within the organization, and reduce employee turnover.

1. Plan for the future: Understand what the organization will need in the near future,
and identify anticipated leadership roles and positions.
2. Define high-potential criteria: Review relevant research, defining terminology
such as ‘potential’, ‘performance’, ‘readiness’, and ‘fit’ (to ensure a consistent
understanding at all organizational levels). Also specify high-potential criteria and
attributes for the organization as a whole, and for specific roles and positions in
particular.
3. Make the high-potential criteria measureable: Utilize different assessment
procedures when identifying high-potential employees, such as the ‘decision-
makers consensus approach’, in which decision-makers in an organization meet to
discuss an employee’s suitability for promotion. Even more sophisticated is the
‘criteria-based approach’ in which criteria has already been established that
articulates what the organization is looking for in a high-potential employee.
4. Identify high-potential candidates: Once the high-potential criteria is defined and
made measureable, candidates can be identified and nominated/selected using
structured talent reviews, and be screened and assessed based on the criteria and
their performance.

 Talent management is now looked upon as a critical HR activity; the discipline is

evolving every day. Let’s analyze some trends in the same.

1. Talent War: Finding and retaining the best talent is the most difficult aspect of HR
management. HR survey consultancies are one in their view that organizations
globally are facing a dearth of talented employees and it’s often more difficult to
retain them. Further research has also shown that there is clear link between talent
issues and overall productivity.
2. Technology and Talent Management: Technology is increasingly getting
introduced into people development. Online employee portals have become
common place in organizations to offer easy access to employees to various benefits
and schemes. In addition employees can also manage their careers through these
portals and it also helps organizations understand their employees better.
3. Promoting Talent Internally: An individual is hired, when there is a fit between
his abilities or skills and the requirements of the organization. The next step is
enabling learning and development of the same so that he/she stays with the
organization. This is employee retention. An enabled or empowered means an
empowered organization.
 It is also of interest to organizations to know their skills inventories and then
develop the right individual for succession planning internally.

1. Population Worries Globally: World populations are either young or aging. For
example, stats have it that by 2050 60% of Europe’s working population will be over
60! On the other hand a country like India can boast of a young population in the
coming and present times. Population demographics are thus a disturbing factor for
people managers. Still more researches have predicted that demographic changes in
United States will lead to shortage of 10 million workers in the near future!
2. Talent Management to rescue HR: HR has been compelled to focus on qualitative
aspects equally and even more than quantitative aspects like the head count etc.
Through talent management more effort is now being laid on designing and
maintaining employee scorecards and employee surveys for ensuring that talent is
nurtured and grown perpetually.
3. Increase in Employer of Choice Initiatives: An organization’s perceived value as
an employer as helps improve its brand value in the eyes of its consumer. Most
importantly it helps it attract the right talent.

2. Briefly explain the Pros and cons of implementing the

high potential talent identification program in an
organization.

 Organizations work towards the achievement of their mission and strategic

objectives. This requires a thorough understanding of the resources required for
achieving the same. Resources here imply financial and non financial both and they
are equally important and interdependent.

Technically these resources have been divided into two, non contingent and
differentiating capabilities. Whereas non contingent capabilities are basics that
enable an organization to compete and exist in the marketplace, differentiating
capabilities are those that differentiate an organization from that of the other and
offer competitive advantage. Effective marketing management, for example can be
one of non contingent capabilities. Similarly many HR processes aspire to develop
non contingent capabilities but they often fail to align with the strategy and offer
competitive advantage. Most of these processes end up developing people in similar
 areas and similar capacities as their rival firms but this fails to provide any
competitive advantage.

For organizations to develop competitive advantage through HR processes it

is very important to define strategic differentiating capabilities and then
develop a process for identifying and developing the same. This empowers the
HR people to create an impact on the organizational strategy and also provides a
link between talent management and strategy.

For HR to prove that talent management can be of strategic importance to

organizations, the critical relationship between the two must be proven. Talent
management specially needs to be projected as a differentiating strategic capability
that can offer real and substantial competitive advantage.

According to research conducted by various bodies it was found out that creation of
differentiating strategic capabilities signifies the relationship between business
strategy and human resources. Human resources, it was deduced are the primary
sources of strategic advantage. The research study was primarily based on Resource
based view (RBV) of an organization. This view has gained significant ground among
HR practitioners as basis of models for formation and structure of resources.

Unlike other non contingent capabilities that can be developed easily and cannot
contribute to a large extent towards the development of a sustainable competitive
advantage, differentiating strategic capability such as strategic HR through talent
management can. However for human resources to qualify as potential sources of
competitive advantage they should fulfill the following criteria:

 Strategic Value: The resource has to contribute substantially and add value in
his/her area of expertise.
 Rare: Unique in terms of skills, knowledge and abilities in order to qualify as rare.
 Appropriable: The extent to which the resource is owned by the firm.
 Inimitable: Such that the resource cannot be replaced even after the competitors
having spotted the same.
 Cannot be Substituted: This means that the resource cannot be substituted by the
rival firms and that there is no match for the talent!

There are not many things in the business environment that can fulfill all the above
criteria and offer unique competitive advantage except human resources and that is
under the jurisdiction of talent management. There is also a need to understand the
strategic intent of the organization before defining strategic capabilities.
 Causes for Talent attrition:
Talent management is one of the cursing factors threatening organization. The
causes of poor talent management are discussed as follows:

 Long working hours: Long working hours and the intensity of work have
consistently emerged as two top most concerns of workers (Duxbury and Higgins,
2003). Employees feel tired and bored because of long working hours. The duration
of work, number of working hours and timings play a significant role in retaining of
an employee.

 Unsupportive Management: Work place support i.e., the support received from
supervisors and co-workers are the key elements in talent management.
Organizations have to understand the nature and problems of the employees and
create congenial work atmosphere, because support and co-ordination from top
level management and co-workers helps an employee to motivate and engage
himself in work.

 Lack of co-ordination and communication: Co-ordination between different

levels of management is needed to set organizational objectives. Communication
helps to share the creative ideas and information among employees. But due to lack
of proper co-ordination and communication between employees quit the
organization.

 Higher personal aspirations: In the modern world, the life style of an individual is
one of the main reasons for poor talent management. Ever-increasing ambitions,
changing fashions, etc., can cause envy and a feeling of discontentment (Sarma V.S.
2009). Most of the employees have higher aspirations towards their career and
personal development. An environment with poor facilities for growth and
development may not create an opportunity for employees to achieve personal
aspirations.

 Unsatisfactory monetary and non-monetary rewards: Monetary and non-

monetary benefits play an important in retaining of an employee. An employee
whose monetary benefits are less than the cost of living may undergo may leave the
organization and try for some other source of work. Hence organizations have to
offer attractive benefits to retain employees.

 Consequences of Talent Attrition:

 The consequences of talent attrition affect the organization effectiveness. The
following are some of the consequences of talent attrition.

 Declined productivity: These days firms focus on getting more output from less
input. Productivity is very important for organizations from which they attain
profits. But due to poor working hours employees fail to produce maximum output
leading to decreased productivity.

 Increased turnover: Turnover means employees leaving the organizations.

Turnover of employees is a big qualitative and quantitative damage for employers.
Turnover affects organizational culture and productivity. Turnover leads to windup
of many entities. Work intensification has led to health problems and attrition of
professional and managerial employees (Fang Lee Cooke and Xingyao Jing, 2009).
Unsupportive management and co-workers lead to employee turnover.

 Poor industrial relations: Employees who fail to co-ordinate with one another
may conflict with each other. Organizational conflicts affect the reputation,
productivity and industrial relations. Hence healthy industrial relations enable
talent management.

 Inability to accept change: People resist change and ignore to learn the updated
things. Employees with poor monetary and non-monetary benefits may not accept
the changes in the organization structure, policies, goals and objectives. Even
employees may resist the projects and plans. Hence change management helps
employees to concentrate on their personal career and profession.

 Remedial Measures for Talent Management:

 Creating opportunities for growth: Organizations have to create an assurance for
employee’s growth. Organizations gain profits from the efforts of employees, hence
the organizations have to provide training and development programs for
employees. These programs not only contribute to organizational success but also
make individual’s successful. Hence organizations have to create opportunities for
growth and development for employees.

 Relate the recruitment policy with organizational needs: Many time

organizations invest more on recruitment without proper forecast on future needs.
While recruiting people organizations promise many monetary and non-monetary
benefits. But later on they fail to look after the basic needs of employees. Hence
there should be matching between recruitment policy and organizational needs.
 Employee counselling: The organizations have to conduct Periodical counselling
programs by experts where people can minimise their stress. Misra says,
“Transformation is all about breaking habits”. “Organizations develop holy cows
which are created and perpetuated. Somebody needs to challenge that; change is
incremental. We need to create ‘discomfort’ in people about the status quo”. Change
management’s goal is to maximize an organization’s benefits and minimize the
impact of change on workers. The employee friendly policies like change
management, stress management, adequate training and development programs,
refreshing courses, etc have to be organized by organizations to retain employees.