The next era of human resources management is Talent Intelligence, which goes far beyond talent management. It looks to the past for competency clues, to the present for results and development needs, and the future for succession planning and talent mobility.
- By Malibu Kothari
Talent Intelligence is a proactive approach to ensuring a business always has the right people on board to maximize performance now and in the future. In the traditional staffing model, companies waited until a need arose for specific talent and would fill positions based on that need. Human resources information systems were designed to track people once they were on board based on factors like education, compensation and training. However, these systems have a lot of information gaps that made them almost useless for strategic decision making. Talent Intelligence fills the gaps by linking decision making to human resources information or data and enabling managers to use those linkages to enhance business performance.
It was not that long ago when talent management was the battle cry of businesses. The focus was on ensuring people already on board were given equal opportunities to develop talents and skills, but implementing strategies like succession planning was not standard practice. In the hyper competitive environment businesses operate in today, failing to link business strategic goals to workforce planning left them unprepared to respond to rapid changes. Talent Intelligence links all of the human resources components together and to business performance; it manages data on the existing workforce to enhance sourcing and onboarding of good-fit talent, talent management, leadership succession, performance management and compensation management. In recognition of globalization, Talent Intelligence also considers talent interests and mobility.
Ready Now or Later?
Businesses must be able to develop new products and services or enter new markets quickly. They are expected to respond rapidly to changing consumer needs, provide rapid-fire customer service and embrace the newest technology. There is also a market expectation that socially responsible businesses will recognize the value of a diverse workforce and offer equal opportunities for progression. In the past, a corporation might ask: Can we hire engineers for development of a product prototype presented by a supplier? Now, the same company would ask: Which onboard engineers are ready to assume project team leadership? In the first scenario, human resources would have to go out into the marketplace to find qualified engineers, who will need familiarization with the company before they can be productive. In the second scenario, human resources uses a Talent Intelligence system to identify in-house engineers with the right competencies and experience and who are ready to help optimize business performance.
Talent Intelligence goes beyond asking who needs to be in the talent pipeline or who requires in-house training and development. It represents a sophisticated blending of past, present and future. Software used by corporations builds talent profiles that incorporate information from all sources by considering past and current performance and current talents, but goes one more giant step forward and incorporates potential in view of business needs. The profiles enable managers to identify successful people in the workforce, or people who have been successful in their positions. In-house talent is identified by considering each person’s education, past and current achievements, skills and capabilities, career progression, team performance, future interests (like transfer overseas) and so on. This gives the organization a human resources database that enables management of future workforce needs.
However, for a company to fully benefit from Talent Intelligence, there are two requirements. First, the organization must set strategic goals and then it must identify the mission critical functions likely to need top talent. What new ventures or projects will exist five or 10 years from now? Sourcing and onboarding people now, providing development opportunities and a career path, will create a talent pool from which people can be pulled quickly to take on strategic initiatives.
Dissatisfied but Still in a State of Inertia
Naturally, such a comprehensive approach requires software like that sold by Taleo Corp. or the startup Evolv, to name two. Oracle conducted a study of Western Europe talent management practices and identified a great need for Talent Intelligence. Only 24 percent of the companies surveyed were satisfied with knowledge of their workforce talent, yet 54 percent said an increased investment in Talent Intelligence would increase profitability. The survey also exposed some of the information gaps that need to be closed, if these companies are going to remain competitive. For example, only 47 percent of the managers surveyed have access to data that measures productivity, 39 percent have critical positions with no succession plan developed, and 59 percent have access to data that identifies employees completing training and development activities. Approximately a third of those surveyed have filled leadership positions with in-house talent.
Talent Intelligence identifies potential and current top performers as well as the skills that are driving business performance. The workforce metrics help managers identify skill gaps, leaders who can be developed inside the organization, and employees with high potential who should be retained. It also identifies employees who are a good fit for long-term business strategies like globalization, mergers and acquisitions, and specialization. Talent Intelligence information systems link the human resources function directly to business performance, finally giving the human resources manager a seat at the C-Suite table.
Aligning for the Future
If Talent Intelligence had to be described in one word, it would be “alignment” – alignment of people to positions, talent to business goals, and workforce to business performance. Ultimately, it is intended to have the right people in the right positions, to know what they are capable of achieving in support of the business mission and goals, and to have a development program in place to ensure they have opportunities to achieve. It begins with recruitment, moves into developing leadership bench strength, determines strategies are in place to achieve top performer retention and talent attraction, and tracks the ROI of development activities.
Achieving this kind of business intelligence requires accessible data. The Oracle study indicated that many companies have not yet moved towards being data proficient in talent management. That is bound to change as Talent Intelligence concepts take root as critical competitive strategies.