Article: How are you managing the HiPos in your organisation?

Learning & Development

How are you managing the HiPos in your organisation?

At a time when high potential talent is so crucial, here are four strategies that organizations today are adopting as they hire, manage and retain top talent
How are you managing the HiPos in your organisation?
 

Two of the most crucial parts of talent management are talent development and managing people potential

 

At a time when high potential talent is so crucial, here are four strategies that organizations today are adopting as they hire, manage and retain top talent

With dynamic changes in the global economy, talent management is on top of the agenda for CEO’s and HR heads across the globe. In the Indian context, despite the slightly slower GDP growth and high rate of inflation, it is forecasted that the economy will grow at a pace much faster than the US, Europe and other developed nations. Two of the most crucial parts of talent management are talent development and managing people potential. With the current economic scenario, the overall of focus of HR is centered heavily on development of people for increased productivity. Organisations are investing heavily in the development of high-potentials, with the aim of building leaders of tomorrow.

So what are some of the prevalent practices that companies are implementing as a part of their talent management agenda?

Working Backwards

The strategy of working backwards entails starting with the end results and reversing the steps one needs to get those results. This is one of the practices that is being followed by a few in the industry today and has been noted as a game-changer by the adopters. “The concept sounds intense, but very simply put – our team brainstormed on the structures and the skillsets that the business would require in three to four years from now. Integrating the future needs with the talent that is available today has proved to be a very beneficial way for our company,” explains Dhanashree Kulkarni, DGM – People Resources at McDonald’s India. This strategy is useful in all aspects of talent management, from acquisition to development to retention.

Balancing with the process of natural selection

On further examining the state of talent development today, Anand Pillai of Reliance Industries also notes that to a major extent, the process of natural selection is implemented by companies to identify HiPos. Speaking from years of experience in the field, he deliberates, “In business, decisions are made emotionally but they are justified rationally. Hence, today the role of a mentor in managing the career in the company is critical.” This is also the reason why more and more business leaders are now actively involved in managing talent and CEO is also the Chief Talent Officer.

Managing the talent supply chain

An upcoming practice that Adil Malia, President – Human Resources at the Essar Group endorses, is that of matching the lifecycle of talent within the organization with the inventory of talent available in the market. “The talent supply chain management is critical to businesses in a growing open economy like ours. Also, defining the organizations’ wants is very important – this helps in sourcing as well as retaining top talent in the company,” he says. Chaitali Mukherjee of Right Management further supplements this best practice by advising clients that talent development can be streamlined in the most efficient manner by getting clarity of purpose. This requires the organization’s leaders to have a clear definition of talent and the parameters that will determine its development.

Diversifying the workforce

Interestingly, Jayesh Sampat, Country Head – Human Resources at Liberty Videocon Insurance raises the question of diversity in the attributes of HiPos. “Taking a long-term view on talent management, we look at diversity in the talent pool. It is possible that at a certain point in time, an individual is not involved in the activity he or she has the potential for – but from a think-tank perspective, we need to have diverse thought and diverse backgrounds in the workforce to harness different kinds of competencies in the employee-base. These attributes further result in nurturing the growth potential of the workforce,” he says.

Of the plethora of best practices that are discussed today, the key takeaway is that the shortest path connecting the core science of talent management and the business objective is based on three basic principles. These are: one, making the talent development process simple; two, bringing in accountability in the activity, and three, bringing in transparency in the results.

(As captured from a People Matters – Right Management roundtable discussion on managing high potentials in the human age) 

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Topics: Learning & Development, Employee Engagement

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