The Anomaly of Talent Management

Over the years I have worked with many organisation and many talented people. Most of the talented people that I have worked with have had a clear idea about what they wanted and where they were going and if they could not get their needs fulfiled by the organisation they were currently in then they would simple move to another.

Portfolio working is so much more the way of things now and people have no hesitation in jumping ship. So how do you manage this talent? How do you keep them? I think this is the wrong way to look at talent management. I think the better question to ask is how we get the best for them while they choose to stay? It starts with a simple conversation. Here’s my steps to getting the best from talented people.

Step 1 – Up skill Line Managers: Being able to listen and understand language, have effective conversations and read in between the lines is an essential management skill for spotting and supporting talent.

Step 2 – Show direction: Talented people want to be able to see that their aspirations align with the company; they need to know how they can benefit the company whilst benefitting themselves.

Step 3 – Provide the challenge: Talented people like to be stretched, like achieving and want more. Make sure your company has a diverse range of options for offering stretch, such as sabbaticals, secondments, projects etc.

Step 4 – Demonstrate Value: Talented people want to be valued, and if they for one minute feel used instead of valued, they’ll be off. Remember that different people perceive value in different ways – be clear on what each individual needs to be valued and have the means to give it. This might be financial (although the least required by the talented), recognition, public praise, promotion. For some it is simply confirming their brilliance.

Step 5 – Be Flexible: Certainly for the new generation of talented people they want to be able to do things their own way. If they feel any organisations structure or bureaucracy is too rigid, this will be stifling for them and guess what? They’ll be off. Have faith that, within the bounds of the challenge, they will do what needs to be done to the best of their ability (after all they are talented).

If you can up skill your Line Manager to be able to demonstrate their ability to relate to talent consistently then you have a chance at keeping the talented long term. If a talented person wants to stay for the long term they will, if they don’t they won’t.

So what’s the difference that makes the difference with talent management? Recognising that the talent belongs to the individual, not the company. So how do you keep it – it’s starts with an open and honest dialogue about meeting talented peoples' personal needs – after all, what’s the complication is only conversation!