Along with the understanding of the need to hire, develop and retain talented people, organisations are aware that they must manage talent as a critical resource to achieve the best possible results
Indian business leaders today are a visionary lot — companies are going global, setting scorching growth rates, innovating to reach the bulk of the pyramid, bringing in operational efficiencies. The issues that they grapple are similar across markets — permanent volatility, cost pressures, increasing competition, rapid industry shifts, skill shortages — and increasingly leaders are recognising talent is the weapon for them to fulfill their global ambitions. For them, wielding this weapon successfully means fully harvesting the talent potential that exists in and outside of their companies.
The good news is that India is set to emerge as the largest supplier of labour in future. It will account for almost 26 per cent of the increase in the global working-age population over the next 10 years, according to UN estimates. The bad news, however, is that a large proportion of this talent pool is not appropriately skilled for their current and future jobs. These issues are creating enormous pressures on CEOs and chief human resources officers (CHROs) to think more boldly about their talent strategies. The answer to their travails lies in two words — different strokes.
‘Different strokes for different talent segments’ is the cornerstone of Accenture’s talent strategy offering. An aptly defined talent strategy ensures the right people, with the right skills, in the right places, are brought to bear to drive the business forward towards strategic success. However, the edge in the talent strategy comes from actions customised to varying talent segments. This implies first segmenting talent, and then applying different strokes or levers to each of these talent segments.
Segmentation of talent allows identifying, sourcing, developing, retaining and harvesting the full potential of each employee — even those who today are overlooked in the larger scheme of an organisation’s workings. In other words, this means identifying what profile of employees achieve business goals, whether these profiles exist in the company, how such profiles can be innovatively sourced in the most cost-effective manner, developed to suit unique learning styles and retained based on what the segment values most. Workforce analytics helps segment talent in a host of ways; however, the most relevant methods typically are on the basis of the value this talent adds to the company (for example, high potential talent, senior leadership), demographic cuts (for example, generation, life stage etc) and work roles (for example, knowledge workers, specialists versus generalists).
Interestingly, different strokes or actions tailored for talent segments often break away from the traditional paths of people management, such as, employee engagement, compensation /benefits, performance management etc. Accenture’s experience shows there are four key levers that CEOs need to drive along with CHROs to revolutionise talent management .
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* Innovate on talent management processes. Customisation and execution of unique talent strategies for different talent segments reflects in differentiated HR processes across the employee lifecycle. In talent definition and discovery, identifying the right profile becomes crucial. A leading insurance player took a close analytics-based look at the profile of field agents it needed for achieving sales targets.
A dramatically different profile from the one previously used was identified for different insurance products, and customer audiences. Most surprisingly this profile was then successfully sourced from previous blind spots of talent pools — even ranging from housewives, to retirees.
Taking this one step further, talent deployment can be differentiated in a variety of manners-different work schedules, rewards and compensations based on the value that the talent segment adds and even workplace design. A leading FMCG player identified significant potential in highly skilled new mothers returning from a career break. This talent profile required flex time and workplace options, but were willing to work at a fraction of a cost of their counterparts who did not take a career break. It turned out into a win-win strategy for both the employees and the organisation.
* Align learning with business needs and to personal learning styles. Accelerating demands for new skills and capabilities combined with skill shortages have made learning and skills development a strategic necessity for all organisations. In this operating environment, it is vital for employees to be aligned with the company’s strategic priorities. Being successful in this kind of environment puts significant focus on linking learning to strategy. An emphasis on coaching and mentoring to make learning more efficient and effective is essential.
It is well acknowledged that each employee has a unique learning style, and the concept of customisation is more relevant in talent development that in any other area. Functional and behavioural skills can be built based on individual learning areas, and through modes that the learner imbibes the knowledge best-be it experiential, e-learning or instructor-led learning.
* Identify and invest in developing leaders early. Most companies traditionally identify leaders at the top management levels. However, it is useful to identify the future leaders early and invest in their development through mentoring, coaching, and structured action learning.
It is no exaggeration to say that today’s volatile environment is a leadership training and testing ground under the most stressful conditions. A project-based, experiential approach to leadership development can make young leaders practise what they learn.
For instance, a leading engineering, procurement and construction company in India launched a leadership programme to build a pipeline of leaders needed to guide the company through its ongoing growth. The approach was based on experiential learning, featuring a combination of strategic action learning projects, content-driven workshops and one-to-one mentoring. As a result, the company has experienced significant improvements in its systems, processes, technology and people capabilities. Not only this, more than 40 per cent of the programme participants have moved on to new and challenging roles within the organisation.
Similarly, one of the largest conglomerates in India has recognised the importance of embedding a culture of coaching across organisational levels to enable the creation of a robust leadership pipeline. It developed a series of programmes targeted at building the coaching skills of leaders across levels. The design of the programme moved away from the traditional conceptual framework sharing and instead focused on enabling learning through role playing, and by debriefing groups and individuals.
* Identify and consciously shape organisational culture. The traditional path of employee engagement focuses on a few key levers of how the employee is attached to the organisation. However, it is more productive and sustainable for an organisation to consciously define and chart the two-way street on how an employee ‘experiences’ the organisation and vice versa.
In essence, an understanding of the organisational culture on a wider canvas comprising both traditional dimensions such as loyalty, compensation, talent management etc, and non-traditional dimensions such as politics, strategic alignment, nimbleness, leadership support etc is essential.
A leading engineering solutions player, for instance, undertook a desired-culture analysis and organisation value assessment to gauge the current business culture. The analysis helped the company to generate insights into the gaps that exist between the current and desired employee experience and create an action plan to move toward the latter. More interestingly, it threw up insights and a call for action towards addressing core areas such as work accountability and reduction of internal politics-a clear productivity lever for its growth agenda.
To conclude, the need of the hour is to think more strategically about creating a workforce with the capabilities that can help create a competitive advantage. If organisations consider talent as a strategic investment, they will be able to make the right choices to drive value, create agile organisations, and respond quickly to market conditions.
Sanjay Dawar is managing director, management consulting, Accenture India, and Jayesh Pandey is managing director, talent and organisation practice, Accenture India