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The idea of graduates actually being managed as talent is one that many organisations and indeed many HR Practitioners and Graduate Managers often struggle to comprehend. This article aims to address some of misconceptions about Talent Management and add value to the notion that graduates should be managed as talent.
So what is Talent Management?
Talent management is a process that emerged in the 1990s and continues to be adopted, as organisaions come to realise that their employees’ talents and skills drive their business success.
Talent Management may be defined as an integrated, strategic and proactive approach to identifying, attracting, developing, motivating and retaining key people within an organisation. It involves the development of plans and processes to track and manage an organisation’s employee talent, including the following:
- Career development, workforce planning and recruitment
- Targeted learning and development programs
- Performance management
- Succession planning
- Talent reviews
- Retention programs
- Increased ability to promote internally
*as quoted by Kevin Wheeler “What is Talent, and how do we measure it” (2006)
Talent management is a progression from succession planning, in that attention is paid to develop talented people including graduates. Graduate programs filter in the best available potential talent in preparation for the future needs of the organisation, with an expectation that roles of the future may not yet be created. Regardless of role, similar capabilities are required from effective leaders and these can be developed over time.
The challenge for Graduate Managers is to apply a strategic talent management lens to graduates, whilst fast tracking the development of essential leadership capabilities through:
- Structured development programs
- On the job training
- Rotations
- Mentoring programs
- Leadership programs
- Talent programs
Talent
Highly motivated employees with high potential whose contributions are vital to your ability to produce your product or deliver your service.
Initially all graduates selected are viewed as potential talent, the challenge is to identify those with the high potential who will have the capability to be the future leaders of your organisation.
What is the value of managing talent?
Even in times of high or rising unemployment as is currently being experienced, the need to manage talent is as important as in times of a skill shortage. The direct cost of turnover of talented staff, felt through recruitment costs, onboarding and upskilling, as well as the lost opportunity of the skilled person’s productivity, is exacerbated by the impact of a shallow talent pool. As critical positions are created or become vacant, an organisation’s ability to fill from within with engaged and skilled staff is significantly impacted.
When the economy improves and the unemployment rate falls again, the lack of attention to continuously managing talent may well lead to increased risk of turnover of key staff, as competing organisations may be viewed as valuing their talent more highly.
Are Graduates Talent?
If your organisation was simply looking to put on an entry level employee or as it is frequently referred to “bum on seat”, why would it waste all the time, money and effort attracting and selecting graduates from a candidate pool. Why would an organisation put candidates through all of this pain when ultimately the graduate will leave your organisation in the first 6 -18 months because their expectations and needs would not been met if they weren’t being treated as potential future leaders or talent?
- Why do organisations spend so much on attraction campaigns?
- Why do organisations pay the graduate starting salaries they pay?
- Why do organisations travel the country seeking the best available graduates?
- Why are graduate selection processes so rigorous and time consuming?
- Why are organisations implementing strategic development programs?
The answer is that Graduate Programs begin the process of feeding the best available future talent into an organisation’s talent pipeline. There is significant value in taking on innovative, excited and eager graduates that have the basic skill and aptitude that can be developed over time according to the needs and culture of an organisation.
The Analogy: A, B and C players
Let’s use a simple analogy and imagine a group of your recently recruited graduates as a newly selected sports team. All players have been recognised as being talented, with various skills and capabilities to bring to the team and each of them is critical to the team’s ability to take the field and achieve outcomes.
But within the team, there are those who have the capability, motivation and potential to produce an above average game wining performance. These individuals can score points, are leaders, and will influence the outcome of a game and lead the team to victory.
These are the “A players”, your top graduates, and the most valuable asset in building an organisations future talent pipeline. But whether you are recruiting 5,10, 50, or even 200 graduates a year, the real challenge lies in identifying, developing and retaining the “A players” in your graduate talent pool and keeping them engaged.
These are the players, the TALENT, that will produce the above average outcomes and give your organisation the competitive edge which should be the objective of any solid long-term graduate strategy.
So what about the “B players”, well over time no one would argue that we still need a large portion of any team to get the job done, perform to the required standard which in itself is an achievement. The reality is everyone isn't cut out to be an ”A player” and “A players” need “the “B players” to assist in delivering the required strategic outcomes.
This brings us to the”C players” or the underperformers. Whether this notion is applied to a sporting team or a Graduate Program it is only natural that with time these players will be of minimal value and will move or be moved on from the organisation.
Using the A, B, C player analogy and applying it to a hypothetical case were the graduate retention rate is 70%, 3 years after the graduates started. The key strategic priority from a HR and Graduate Manager perspective would be to build mechanisms to identify and manage talent so that all of your “A players” are still engaged and with the organisation. The 30% of graduates that left the organisation should therefore predominately be “C players” with a smattering of “B players” who over time would have become “C players” themselves.
Who is Talent?
Whilst you may have a pool of talented graduates, Talent is defined or measured by the top 15-25% of that talent pool. Whilst all graduates come in as potential talent, the realisation over time is that they aren’t all high potential talent.
How can you identify Talent?
- Performance
- Potential
- Motivation
- Ability
- Engagement
Identifying employee talent and assessing this is not easy. A model put forward by the Corporate Leadership Council (CLC), helps define this in terms of high potential, and also provides a useful framework for initial assessment.
Engagement consists of four elements:
- Emotional Commitment— The extent to which employees value, enjoy, and believe in their organisations
- Rational Commitment—The extent to which employees believe that staying with their organisations is in their self-interest
- Discretionary Effort—Employee willingness to go “above and beyond” the call of duty
- Intent to Stay—Employee desire to stay with the organisation
Aspiration consists of the extent to which an employee wants or desires:
- Prestige and recognition in the organisation
- Advancement and influence
- Financial rewards
- Work–life balance
- Overall job enjoyment
Ability is a combination of the innate characteristics and learned skills that an employee uses to carry out his/her day-to-day work.
- Innate Characteristics: Mental/cognitive agility and Emotional intelligence
- Learned Skills: Technical/functional capabilities, and Interpersonal skill
A talented employee is someone with the ability, engagement and aspiration to rise to and succeed in more senior, critical positions. Managers often intuitively focus on measurement against leadership competencies or measurement of current performance, however these on their own are not indicators or predictors of high potential. Many high performers are high potential, however may lack the ability, engagement or have insufficient aspiration to succeed in higher level leadership roles.
BACKGROUND AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH
The Talent Gap - Workforce Statistics
Ageing Workforce
Growth in workforce entrants in the 15-25 age category has become increasingly stagnant
- Between 2002-2012 85% of the workforce projected to be 45+
- Demand for growth in 35-45 age category will increase by 25% over the next 15 years but the supply will decrease by 15% in the same time frame
- U. S Department of Education estimates that 60% of all new jobs in the 21st century require skills that are possessed by only 20% of the current workforce
Why are so many organisations investing in Talent Management?
- The candidate market has become increasingly competitive due to globalisation – there are more options for job seekers
- The pace of change means that important skills and knowledge have a shortening shelf life
- Downsizing and outsourcing trends have removed layers of management, meaning that less people gained experience in leadership. There is now a shortage of experienced managers
- Individual’s are acutely aware of their marketability and as such tend to be less loyal to one organisation
- Talent management is an integral part of a talent retention strategy
- Enhanced visibility of talent management processes through opinion surveys and engagement surveys. The results of which are publicised to shareholders and potential employees.
Statistical Evidence
- Companies in the top quintile of talent management practices achieve 22% higher return to shareholders(McKinsey's War for Talent, 2000 )
- High performing individuals can generate up to 70% more productivity, profit & revenue than average performers (McKinsey’s War for Talent, 2000 )
- 71% of organisations in the top quartile of Total Shareholder Return create special development opportunities for their high potentials, compared to 33% of organisations below the top quartile (Hewitt, 2004)
- 75% of finance organisations say that managing talent is the highest or one of the highest priorities for them.
- 60% have organisation-wide talent management programs (Hay, 2004)
For more information on how to add value to your Graduate Strategies and how you can manage graduates as Talent please contact Fusion Graduate Management Solutions at info@fusiongms.com.au
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