Talent Management: Bridging a Growing Skills Gap

More than half of employers in the U.S. say they have job openings they can’t fill.

8 in 10 employers have trouble filling positions in general, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey.

A LinkedIn study found 60 percent of people currently employed could be persuaded to leave their current position and company.

On average, for every open position that stays vacant for three months or more, a company loses $14,000 according to CareerBuilder.

These startling statistics are just a few of the many floating around that show there is what many people dub a skills gap in this country, but is it truly a skills gap, or does it come down to a lack of a defined talent management strategy?

What is Talent Management?

Talent management isn’t one of those broad terms thrown around by HR departments around the country.

Instead, top companies are increasingly realizing talent management is something that should be part of their long-term strategy, and it should be comprehensively undertaken by leaders and management, rather than HR departments.

Talent management focuses on a dedication to recruiting, hiring, developing and retaining the very best employees. As a leader, your focus becomes maximizing the potential of your workforce, which in turn allows you to maximize the potential of your entire organization.

Talent management is moving from an abstract concept to something that’s instead integrated across all of the employee-centric processes within an organization.

The Primary Components of Talent Management

• Creating defined job descriptions that allow you to understand the gaps your organization needs to fill.
• Putting in place an adequate and appropriate hiring process to ensure the best talent is being selected to fill open positions.
• Implementing metrics and standards for measurement that allow you to track and analyze the performance of employees.
• Determining effective onboarding strategies and talent development opportunities for existing employees.
• Laying out reward systems, as well as career path trajectories that allow employees to work toward promotions.
• The implementation of succession planning strategies.
• Using methods to determine why top employees decide to leave the company for other opportunities.

Implementing a Talent Management Strategy

Ultimately, when creating and implementing a valuable talent management strategy, there should be a natural flow and progression from the overarching principles guiding a company that easily transitions to the methodology surrounding talent management.

The most successful talent management strategies will be those that are comprehensive and fit into the company’s overall goals and long-term strategy.