No silver bullet to win the talent war

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:12
Ricky Robinson

The older I get, the better my grandfather's advice those many years ago seems to become. Unbeaten in another age group the previous year, we'd just lost our fourth rugby game in a row as the school's first team. Smashed egos and devastation! "You've got ahead of yourselves, Ricky. You need to get to the basics and then stick to them. In rugby as in much of life," he gently advised.

It sounds a bit like the "Keep it Simple/Stick to the Basics" line. But it actually goes much further. It doesn't assume that we already know the basics. It suggests that really getting to understand the basics of a situation is half the trick at least. He was a wise man, Pops, as we called him. What then are the basics of the 'Talent War' we read and hear so much about these days? Put differently, what are the basics of attracting and retaining 'talent'?

For starters, what do we mean by 'talent'? I have to confess that on its own I don't like the word: it has connotations of potential unfulfilled. When we talk of someone who should have achieved but didn't, we often refer to him or her as having great talent that remained just that, usually due to a lack of follow through or discipline. I would argue that this is just the type of person that in fact we don't want to attract and retain! I prefer rather to think of 'talent' as people who are 'competent', that is, who have the right attitude, the right skill set and the right knowledge for a particular environment.

Another qualifier here ... I don't know that there is one silver bullet to finding the talent-retention holy grail. Here are just some ideas that have worked in our client base over 12 years and in our own company of 200 staff.

THE PERFECT MATCH

It starts with getting the right people in the first place. Jim Collins saw it in the Good to Great companies he studied and he was right to put it as the most important first step that the great companies got right. He advised us to get the right people onto the bus, and into the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus. Sounds simple, but it isn't!

Who are the 'right people'? For Collins it was people with the right attitude, which in his terms were people with discipline, by which he meant self-motivated. (Interestingly, he doesn't talk of 'talent'.) Having the right skill and the right knowledge for an environment are extras, sometimes a bonus, sometimes essential. Take Eskom as an example. They can't afford to simply hire people with a great attitude now. It's too late for that. They need to find people with the relevant skills and knowledge. So employ first for attitude. Then look for relevant skill and knowledge. Assess for competence and assess for culture fit. Go to the nth degree to find your perfect match. This is the first of the basics.

ONBOARDING AND ALIGNING

It would seem logical that if you've found the perfect match, you should verify this as soon as possible in order to rectify any possible mistake, and then get the person assimilated into the organisation and adding real value as quickly as possible. The consultant speak is 'onboarding' and 'aligning'. It amounts firstly to an induction programme on steroids (understanding my world, my business, my role), then clear communication of the vision and strategy of the organisation, ensuring a person's 'alignment' with that strategy through a performance management system that measures exactly what outcomes the organisation needs in order to drive the right behaviour and achieve its objectives. 'What you don't measure, you can't manage' is true; 'what you don't measure, likely won't happen' is, in my experience, sadly also true! Rewards should then be linked directly to stated outcomes required. All of this has to be put in place in a healthy culture where organisational values are clearly understood and reinforced.

Experience has taught us that there are four simple reasons that cause individuals to disengage and hence not deliver to potential or, worse, leave:

They feel that no one cares that they are there. They lack visibility;
They don't know if they are doing a good job or not, and rewards are not clearly linked to performance. They lack impact;
They feel that their work doesn't matter. They lack purpose; and
They don't respect their boss. They lack leadership.

Get these four things right and you have the second set of basics.

DEVELOPMENT

As part of the engagement process,it's important to identify gaps between desired and actual performance as well as desired and actual ability. This must be done to achieve career growth, succession planning and improved performance. Then deliver learning that is relevant and has an impact (preferably at the higher end of Kirkpatrick [1] _ knowledge that results in changed behaviour and improved business results).

Critical to the process is proper analysis and design of what employees need to learn in order to impact the organisation and deliver to job expectations[2]. Other essentials are the use of technology, coaching, performance support and contextualisation in order to ensure an optimum experience, both for the individual and the organisation. When you develop staff in a way that creates a match between organisational and individual needs, you have achieved the third of the basics.

CONCLUSION

For those who like formulas, one could suggest that: Talent Retention = Attraction + Alignment + Development. All of these should be linked to strategic objectives and supported by enabling technologies. This constitutes the basics of the War for Talent. How do you implement the basics and then stick to them? Well, that's another story for another time!