Introduction to Talent Management Program - A Holistic Approach.

06 Jun 2021, Singapore: The original request was to for me to write a short article about Talent Management or Individual Development Plan (IDP) and edit a video on it. I think this article will be one of the longest I have written, here it goes .... I am going to sharing my version of Talent Management Program from "A Holistic Approach".

If you don't like to read and prefer to view it thru video format - please click the hyperlink: Introduction to Talent Management Program - a Holistic Approach R1

A holistic Talent Management consist of the following: - 

• Part 1: Workforce Planning
• Part 2: Positive Employee Experience Program (separated into targeting new hirer and existing employees)
• Part 3: Learning & Development Program (Targeting new and existing Employees)
• Part 4 (a): Talent Development Program (Targeting Potential Talent)
• Part 4 (b): Job Rotation Program (Targeted at Potential Talent)
• Part 5 (a): Internal Career Opportunity Program (Targeted at existing employees)
• Part 5 (b): Succession Planning (Targeting critical position and manage the crisis of a sudden vacated key position)
• Part 6: Workforce Transformation (It is more of a project base rather than a functioning department) 

Part 1: Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning by itself, is a process of … 

• Analyze the current workforce
• Determine future workforce needs
• Identify gaps
• Implement solutions 

(Source: CIPD 2019 Workforce Planning) 

I will not spend time explaining Workforce Planning as I have 3 parts article on workforce planning - please click the hyperlink to visit the workforce planning pages in my HR Blog.

• Part #1 – Introduction to Workforce Planning 2.0: Part 1 - Workforce Planning 2.0
• Part #2 – Introduction to Workforce Planning 2.0: Part 2 - Workforce Planning 2.0
• Part #3 – Introduction to Workforce Planning 2.0: Part 3 - Workforce Planning 2.0

Part 2: Positive Employee Experience (EX) Program

What is Positive Employee EX Model / Framework? 

• An employee experience framework is essentially a structure or strategy to improve EX.
• Employee experience borrows heavily from the field of customer experience (CX) management. 
• Because of that basis, EX framework creation generally uses design thinking strategies to optimize the company's work environment, culture, HR services and events. Just as marketers have worked to understand the total customer experience at touchpoints across the entire customer journey, business and HR leaders can create employee journey maps, which are graphical representations of an employee's organizational path, possibly aligned with the employee lifecycle.
• Employee journey maps typically focus on "moments that matter," the junctures that most profoundly affect the experience. They can also focus on a specific type of employee persona or a particular part of the journey. These maps are key to building a successful framework.

For details on Positive Employees Experience, please visit the following website: -

• Three elements of a positive employee experience:  https://www.hcamag.com/asia/specialisation/employee-engagement/three-elements-of-a-positive-employee-experience/238093
• Employee Experience: https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/definition/employee-experience

Part 3: Learning & Development (L&D) Program

The L&D program is open to all levels of employees in the organization – minimally an organization will support employees development on compliance and regulations knowledge of various government agencies rules and standards.

Some organization has embedded their Education Assistance Program (EAP) as part of their L&D program. What is EAP? Why is it important for an employee long term development program? 

• EAP focus on providing an employee to undergo future academic qualification e.g., an employee with a diploma will be partially or fully sponsored to further his / her study into an engineering degree or master.
• EAP allow an employee to have career progression e.g., upon obtaining his engineering degree – as a senior technician, he will be able to pursuit an engineer position within his current organization. 

Part 4 (a): Talent Development Program

My definition for “Part 3: Talent Development Program” is an in-house experiential learning that provide a group of identified “talent” to undergo modules that were designed to expose them on the various knowledge and skills that is essential to an organizational.

For more detail on various organizations Leadership & Rotation Program, please visit the following Columbia University website: https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/leadership-development-rotational-programs

Part 4 (b): Job Rotation Program 

It is a structured program for an organization to have a periodical (e.g., every 3 year) to deploy their talent to another location or rotate the talent to another department.

This is done in a structured manner and the objective is to develop and expose the talent to all functional areas that is identified as part of their individual development program (IDP).

Job rotation program participants are usually the graduates of “Part 3 (a): Talent Development Program”. These programs compliments each other.

Part 5 (a): Internal Career Opportunity Program 

This internal career opportunity program by itself is no an actual program but a policy and process  to govern how existing employee can have career opportunity within the organization.

Usually, an employee must have completed a continuous 12 - 18 months on the current job before they are eligible to submit their internal job application for a vacant or newly created position.  

Part 5 (b): Succession Planning

The title itself already implement is no an actual program but a mapping of the organization leadership talent inventory.

Usually, most succession planning only cover 5% to 10% of the organization populations. It normally cover key leadership positions, and personnel. Sometimes the plan include critical functions of the organization e.g., finance, quality assurance, engineering, and etc.

Part 6: Workforce Transformation (WT)

Workforce Transformation (WT) is gaining popularity for organization that need to transform their current business process or going to diversity the organization.

Most WT in nature are set-up as a long term project / taskforce that study the various “future” options and make recommendations to the organization leadership on what programs to set-up to enable the transformation to happen.

Usually taskforce members are multi functions represented, has a balance of strategic and operational expertise, and an external expert might be engaged.

Conclusion: The Model

Enclosed is my Talent Management - a Holistic Approach model. It is just my own thoughts and some of talent management gurus may disagreed. I am coming from a HR practitioner perspective. People will ask me why in my model the Rotation Program is not part of the Talent Development Program - I have seen the pitfall of having rotation being part of the talent development program. It will be a separate article on-demand.

  

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Part 2: Introduction to Workforce Planning 2.0

 23 May 2021, Singapore: Welcome back again to my Workforce Planning 2.0. Part 2 look into the next step actions after the introduction. I will keep it simple and short.

Click the hyperlink to view the video or you can visit my YouTube channel Eleutherius Liew and select playlist "e-HRM" :  Workforce Planning 2.0 - Part 2 

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Part 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning 2.0

 23 May 2021, Singapore: I developed and edited a short video (3mins 9s) to introduce a simple workforce planning framework that I have learned from CIPD back in 2019. 

Click the hyperlink or visit my YouTube channel Eleutherius Liew and select the playlist "e-HRM" to view the video Introduction to Workforce Planning Framework

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Introduction to HR Partner Concept

15 May 2021, Singapore: I have been trying to write this short "HRBP" article since Apr 2017... why it is so clear in my mind? It was the date, I proposed to upper management about the concept of HR "Business" Partner (HRBP)

After 3.5 years, I finally got an ideal to use my YouTube channel to help me explain the concept of HR Partner and I hope it will help you do a better job in influencing your upper management. I decided to delete the word  "Business" and use HRP only.

Click the hyperlink to watch the video (Duration: 2 mins 57s)

 e-HRM: Introduction to HR Partner Concept

This article is my first "hybrid" of merging journaling and my YouTube video. 

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It's Time to Redesign HR by Josh Bersin

06 May 2014, Singapore: This article caught my attention - click the hyperlink

It'sTime to Redesign HR

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Survey on Gen Y ... and Workforce Generations

29 September 2013, Singapore: Received an email from Hays Group Insight Forum ... if prompted me to share the following resources about Workforce Generations ... 

According to Hays Group, research shows that Gen Y desire flexibility. Money isn't everything for Gen Y. In fact, 49% rated flexible working hours as one of the most attractive of all rewards and benefits available.

(source: http://social.hays.com/hr/talent-acquisition/gen-y-desire-flexibility/#%21)

Other Online Resources:

• Website: Singapore Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP)
• TAFEP Publication Related to Gen Y
• http://www.weknownext.com
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah
• http://rtc.umn.edu
• http://cmsreport.com
• http://www.psychologyfoundation.org
• http://www.kenblanchard.com

Best Practice: Assessment Center (AC)

20 September 2013, Singapore: Came across this article by Linda Brenner, MD of Designs on Talent, LLC. Listed below were extracted from her white paper entitled "Don't Train Them - Assess Them". 

For details of the whitepaper - Click Here

AN OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT CENTERS

For years, data has shown that companies which report effective and accurate succession management processes were significantly module in turn assesses a number of key skills or behaviors that are deemed critical to the business strategy, and success, of the organization.

Assessment centers are single or multi-day programs which companies typically use for selection and development. Such programs help streamline the identification and rapid training and development of high potentials by immersing participants in a series of simulated activities that surprise, challenge and test. Just like real work does to us every day. Assessment centers have traditionally been used for senior leaders, high potential managers and leaders of critical functional areas — such as Sales or IT.

The most effective assessment centers for developing leaders are grounded in a company’s or a position’s leadership competencies. Each module in turn assesses a number of key skills or behaviours that are deemed critical to the business strategy, and success, of the organization. Participants have multiple opportunities throughout the program to demonstrates their skills in areas such as

• Innovation
• Ability to leverage technology
• Influencing
• Strategic problem solving
• Business acumen
• Customer service

There is no one “standard” or “right” assessment center. The programs are made up of a compendium of different modules or elements, which often include all or some of the following:

• Virtual In-Box
• Role Play
• Case Study
• Interview
• Psychometrics
• 360° Feedback

When individual performance in each module is measured and analyzed as a data set, these exercises provide organizations with objective information outlining trends in these business- critical behaviors: who’s got them, who’s lacking them, and where training resources should be focused in order to drive targeted development for individuals or groups.

Assessment  centers  provide  intense,  pivotal experiences from which emerging leaders can learn and grow. After all, isn’t that what we’re hoping for when we pair someone up with a “buddy”  or  mentor?  We  hope  that during the time with their partner they’ll experience something momentous  from  which they  can develop. But it doesn’t always happen that way; a training buddy might just have the partner help out in random areas and observe unimportant happenings.

An assessment center, however, ensures that a targeted employee will not only experience one significant business challenge but many in a short amount of time. Coupled with post-pro- gram personalized feedback and development, those learning are magnified and the impact they can have on one’s personal effectiveness can be considerable. Further, when the feed- back and development is immediate or next-day, we believe that it can be even more powerful. The nuances and challenges of the experiences are fresh in the mind of the participant, enabling them to recall the situation and think about the specific application of the feedback.

Assessment centers have many strengths: (a) They can measure complex attributes, (b) they are seen as fair and “face valid” by those who participate in them, (c) they show little adverse impact, (d) they predict a variety of criteria (e.g., performance, potential, training success, career advancement).

– Gaugler, Rosenthal, Thornton, & Bentson, 1987

Mergers & Acquisitions 101

17 September 2013, Singapore: Today, I was reminded about Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). It prompted me to write a short article.

Over my 19 years of HR career, I notice that not every HR professional had the opportunity to be involved in a pre-M&A projects. In my early days, when my company was in the process of begin disposed (sold off) ... in one of the due diligent session the "controlling" company Group HR Manager came over to me and asked for our corporate HR handbook and cited she need to have it as part of the due diligent process. I seek the approval of my corporate HR and the request was turn-down. I hope if you are involved in a due diligent process ... you don't make such mistake as there are other ways to go about it. In most M&A project, they will use the 100 days time frame as their target to complete a successful integration.

Listed below are some of my personal note ...

The Merger & Acquisition phases can best be described using the “marriage” analogy. The M&A phase comprised of 3 stages: 

Phase 1: The Dating

Usually happen 100 days before the official Merger & Acquisition. At this phase, you need to ask the following questions:

1. What is the reason (s) for the Acquisition?

• Customer
• Technology
• Market
• Enter new Country
• Others

2. What are you getting into? Check the following …

• Balance sheet
• Existing business contract
• Employees
• Customer 

3. Define what is the success factors for the acquisition to be successful? 

In addition, you need to know "What is the objective of Due Diligent?" It’s main objective is to find risk (s) or exposure (s). It is not about negotiating the price of the acquisition or gaining access into their HR employment benefits.

“At this phase, it will determine whether you make or break … [the acquisition]” ... by Ram Gupta, Executive Vice President of Peoplesoft Products and Technology

Phase 2: The Mating

This phase usually start on the 1st day of the official M&A announcement and duration is usually for 100 days.

At this phase, the 3 success factors are …

1. Execution
2. Execution
3. Execution

The “Controlling Party” need to create “Road Map” for the newly created organization for the next 3 years …

1. Products
2. Partner / Supplier
3. Business

Once you have finalized the “Road Map” – you to …

1. Communicate
2. Communicate
3. Communicate

According to researcher … the sequence of  communication should be to the …..

1. Employees
2. Customers
3. Investors

“…happy employees will lead to happy customer and happy customer will lead to happy investors…”  Ram Gupta

During the ‘Road Map” communication session, be prepared for …..

1. Misunderstanding;
2. Miscommunication.

Ensure that there are proper follow-up on the announced “Road Map”. Weekly up-date on the progress is recommended.

At this phase, you also need to focus on retaining employees. By … 

1. compensating and rewarding people.
2. ensure job satisfactions.
3. improve communication.

Phase 3: Creating Value

At this phase, usually happen after the first 100 days of acquisition …..

• Identify the strengths of both organization and it’s people (before and after the M&A).
• What is the new opportunity (employees, customer & shareholder)?

Best Practice: Employee Engagement Survey

16 September 2013, Singapore: When working for a large organziation with employee engagement survey begin 'internalized' in the organization work culture / processes, we don't face any problem in designing or developing the survey questionnaires as it is usually outsourced to a consulting firm. In smaller organization, I used to work for ... we had to develop and design the survey from ground "zero" ... and the hardest was to tabulate the results manually ... 

I would like to share this very short article from Gallup ... which I came across few years back ... happy reading. Some of the questions maybe helpful to some HR professionals who are desperately ... need support.

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The Gallup Q12

(From the Gallup Management Journal, “Feedback for Real” Author: John Thackray)

The Gallup Q12 is a survey designed to measure employee engagement. The instrument was the result of hundreds of focus groups and interviews. Researchers found that there were 12 key expectations, that when satisfied, form the foundation of strong feelings of engagement. So far 87,000 work units and 1.5 million employees have participated in the Q12 instrument.

Comparisons of engagement scores reveal that those with high Q12 scores exhibit lower turnover, higher sales growth, better productivity, better customer loyalty and other manifestations of superior performance.

The Gallup organization also uses the Q12 as a semi-annual employee engagement Index – a random sampling of employee across the country.

The engagement index slots people into one of three categories.

• Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.
• Not-Engaged employees are essentially “checked out.” They are sleepwalking through their workday. They are putting in time, but not enough energy or passion into their work.
• Actively Disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged co-workers accomplish.

The results of the latest engagement index:

• Engaged employees – 28 %
• Not-engaged employees – 54%
• Actively Disengaged – 17%

In other words, 71% of the workforce is either under performing or actively undermining their work.

Exhibit 1: The Gallup Q12

Exhibit 2

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Best Practice: Performance Management Training for Managers

16 September 2013, Singapore: Enclosed is another good "best practice" article from Halogen Resources Center. The article is short and sweet. You don't need to have a PhD to understand it. Happy reading ...

The role of the manager

• To accomplish or facilitate work through others.
• To effectively direct and develop their employees. 

Managing performance — a year round activity

Performance management isn't about annual performance appraisals.

It's an ongoing, 2-way dialog with your employees about expectations, priorities and performance. It aims to develop your employees, ensure their success and maximize their contributions to the organization. 

The vital importance of performance management skills

The Corporate Leadership Council found that more than half of the most important drivers of employee engagement and performance are related to effective performance management skills:
• setting clear goals and expectations
• providing regular feedback
• supporting employee development and success 

Reaping the benefits

Research proves it! Managers who are effective at employee performance management produce better business results, including:
• 50 percent less staff turnover
• 10 to 30 percent higher customer satisfaction ratings
• 40 percent higher employee commitment ratings
• 200 percent higher net profits.*

The Ken Blanchard Companies, The high cost of doing nothing: Quantifying the impact of leadership on the bottom line (2009). 

What can you do to be a better manager?

• Build a trusting relationship with each of your employees
• Regularly dialogue about expectations and priorities
• Give your employees formal and informal feedback on an ongoing basis
• Help your employees to continually develop 

Continually sharpen your skill

Work to continually improve how you:
• Communicate
• Set goals
• Give feedback
• Develop your employees
• Recognize and reward performance
• Build trust 

Best Practice: The 70:20:10 Model of Learning And Development

15 September 2013, Singapore: In one of the article entitled "Best Practice: Employees Development", it mentioned the '70:20:10' model.

I just want to share the resources for 70:20:10 model available in the Internet and mentioned that Charles Jennings is the Guru of 70:20:10 model. You can download Charles' Bio at 

https://www.702010forum.com/about-charles-jennings

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70/20/10_Model
• http://www.slideshare.net/charlesjennings/the-702010-framework
• http://charles-jennings.blogspot.sg/2013/06/702010-framework-for-high-performance.html
• https://www.702010forum.com/

Video

• Introduction to 70:20:10 Learning & Development Model

Best Practice: Employee Engagement

14 September 2013, Singapore: Another close HR friend asked me about employee engagement (EE) topics ... so I decided to share this short article on EE best practice  from Halogen Resources ... simple, short article and powerful article that is stimulating and structuring my thoughts.  

Are you frustrating or engaging your employees?

Having an engaged workforce is critical to organizational success. Employee engagement researchers, including Towers Perrin, have shown that companies with high levels of employee engagement have better financial results, including higher: operating income, net income growth and earnings per share. 

What do employees need to be engaged?

The employee engagement research says that to be engaged, among other things, employees need:

• Direction and a larger context for their goals / work
• The opportunity to do their best
• Feedback / praise on their performance / progress
• Opportunities for development and career progression 

How are engaged employees better?

Gallup and others have found that engaged employees are more:

• productive and profitable
• customer-focused
• loyal to their employers
• safe 

So what can you do to boost employee engagement?

Implementing talent management best-practices is one great way to address employee needs and create a culture that fosters employee engagement. 

Talent management best-practices that foster employee engagement

• Maintaining a regular, ongoing, two-way dialogue about performance and learning needs
• Ensuring employees have clear, achievable SMART goals that are directly linked to organizational goals, and regularly revisiting those goals
• Fostering employee development and career progression through coaching, training, succession planning/talent pools, etc. 

Think you're already doing a good job?

• Nearly one third of employees think their managers fail to effectively communicate goals
• One third say they lack the authority to carry out their jobs effectively
• 40% say they don't receive regular, clear feedback on their performance from their manager 

Best Practice: Stay Interview ... Retention and Engaging Employee

14 September 2013, Singapore: A good friend of mine asked me to provide some samples of stay interview questions ... this is for her ... 

Below are 15 possible stay interview questions to get you started:

• Why have you stayed working for this company as long as you have? Reason(s)?
• What do you like best about your job? Least?
• What are specific reasons that could cause you to leave us?
• Do you think your current position fully utilizes your talents?
• What have you learned since working here?
• Do you have anything new you would like to learn this year?
• Is there anything you’d like to change about your job? Team? Department?
• Have you ever considered leaving? What caused it? Has it been resolved?
• What is your dream job? How can our company support your progress toward it?
• Do you feel supported in your career goals?
• Do you feel we recognize you? If not, what kind of recognition would be meaningful for you?
• What is one thing that would make your job more satisfying and rewarding?
• What part of your role is most challenging? What is least challenging?
• Do you feel you are best suited for your position or do you feel better suited for a different one?
• What can I do to help you stay longer?

(source: http://www.recruiter.com/i/retaining-talent-through-stay-interviews/)

Other resources for ‘stay interview’: -

• http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/how-to-measure-engagement-with-a-stay-interview
• http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/interviewing-candidates/stay-interview-questions.aspx
• http://klaybor.blogspot.sg/2011/08/stay-interview-questions-how-to-keep.html
• http://pgdhrm2011.blogspot.sg/2011/09/stay-interview-contemporary-approach.html

Best Practice: Employee Retention

14 September 2013, Singapore: 

Striking the right balance for employee retention and turnover

We all know that employee turnover costs our organizations money. But…

• Too little and too much turnover are both bad for business
• Though turnover rates vary widely by industry, most organizations aim to keep turnover below 15%
• What's the optimal rate for your organization?

Why do employees leave?

Most managers think employees leave to earn more money. But the top 3 reasons employees leave are:

• Poor relationship with their direct manager
• Lack of opportunity for growth and development
• Lack of challenging, meaningful work 

When/why is employee turnover good?

Employee turnover is one way to bring fresh ideas and perspective into the organization. It can help challenge and rejuvenate processes, products, services, etc.

Turnover of employees who aren't performing or aren't the "right fit" is also beneficial for the organization. 

The importance of conducting “Stay Interviews”

Exit interviews help you gain insight into why employees are leaving. But employees are often reluctant to tell you the real reasons why.

"Stay interviews" help you identify employee motivators and dissatisfactions so you can retain employees. They're really an engagement discussion between a manager and their employee. 

Tracking your employee retention and turnover metrics

Tracking your employee retention and turnover metrics over time is important for spotting trends and addressing them before they threaten your business. But general metrics aren't really helpful. Segment your data by location, department, manager, and by employee performance levels. 

How do you keep your top performers

• Ensure employees get the feedback and direction they need to succeed
• Foster employee development and career progression
• Know who your high performers are, and what motivates them
• Train managers in performance and talent management best-practices 

Best Practice: Employees Development

14 September 2013, Singapore: This will be my quick reference when I need to do some presentation or briefing on employee development.

Employee Development (ED)

If you spend the same amount of time and energy developing people as you do on budgeting, strategic planning and financial monitoring, the payoff will come in sustainable competitive advantage.

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, 2002

Employee development as an important business tool - can help your organization:

• build alignment
• increase employee morale, engagement, productivity and retention
• preserve organizational memory / knowledge / domain expertise
• establish and maintain a competitive advantage

The new employee agreement – employability

Employees now view their relationship with their employer as a partnership. They expect the organization to commit to developing and enriching their skills and experiences — making them more employable. The return on this investment? Loyalty.

  

The 70/20/10 model

The Center for Creative Leadership says we learn:

•       70% of what we need to know on the job

•       20% of what we need to know through feedback, coaching, role models, mentors

•       10% of what we need to know through formal training