Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices

For
Talent Management

Sharmila Devi Ramachandaran

Faculty of Business and Accountancy
INTI International University, Nilai
Sharmila.devi@newinti.edu.my

Sharmila Devi Ramachandaran

INTI University College,
Persiaran Perdana BBN,
Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia
sharmila.devi@newinti.edu.my

ABSTRACT
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Rapid environmental change and fierce competition has pressured many organizations to rise
with new strategies for attracting and retaining talent. This event highlighted that excellent talent
management is important ingredient to ensure better performance in organisation. As business
becomes increasingly competitive on a global scale, HR professionals have stepped up their
efforts to manage and retain talent. The challenges here are varied from determining who to
promote and why, finding appropriate employee incentives and reflecting on the value of leading
performers in the organisation. Talent Management have been emphasized as the most
fundamental source of component that drives and sustains successful organization. Along with
the understanding of the need to hire, develop, assess and retain talented people, most of these
organizations are awaked with the aim that they must manage talent as a critical resource to
achieve the best possible results. The purpose of this piece of writing is basically to review the
framework of talent management components in organization and the relevant Human Resource
Management practices and strategies that can be implemented for a superior performance.
Overall, it has been concluded that strong employee loyalty and commitments can considerably
improve organizational competitive advantage and thus contribute to long term sustainability.

KEY WORDS
Human resource Management, Competitive advantage, Talent Management, Recruitment and
Selection, Attracting, Retaining, Hiring

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1.0 Introduction.........................................................................................................4
2.0 Talent management..............................................................................................4
3.0 HRM Practices for Talent Management.............................................................. 5
4.0 Locating Talent.................................................................................................... 6
4.1 Employment marketing............................................................................6
4.2 Employer branding................................................................................... 7
4.3 E-recruitment........................................................................................... 7
4.4 Recruiting for competencies.................................................................... 8
4.5 Employee referrals................................................................................... 9
4.6 Workplace Diversity................................................................................ 9
5.0 Assessing Talent.................................................................................................. 10
5.1 Performance management and performance appraisal............................ 10
5.2 Balance scorecard.................................................................................... 10
6.0 Developing Talent................................................................................................11
6.1 Training....................................................................................................12
6.2 Creating learning organization.................................................................12
6.3 Job experiences........................................................................................ 12
6.4 Coaching.................................................................................................. 13
6.5 Mentoring.................................................................................................13
6.6 Succession planning.................................................................................13
7.0 Retaining Talent................................................................................................. 14
7.1 Job satisfaction.........................................................................................14
7.2 Employee Engagement............................................................................ 15
7.3 Motivation................................................................................................15
7.4 Work-life balance.....................................................................................16
7.5 Incentives and rewards.............................................................................16
7.6 Person-organization fit.............................................................................16
7.7 Not Retaining the Wrong People............................................................. 17
8.0 Conclusion........................................................................................................... 17

1.0 Introduction

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Organizational strength has been believed to be depended on the on the shoulder of its
employees as they are recognized as the most important and valuable assets in organization. This
could be due to the current trend on intangible assets such as brand names, innovation, creativity
and entrepreneurship, the arena of today cater to company that can produce the potential of their
key resources (Schweyer, 2004) as this will formulate them to be defined as outstanding.
Concerns about locating, attracting, assessing and sustaining top talents in all markets have been
increasing rapidly. To be really successful it is not only important for the organization to find the
right people on the right position but they should identify the superior performers for every
position (Hoogheimstra, 1992). Moreover in reality it is argued that the vision and strategy of a
company are important as the people that eventually will drive the company into the future
(Collins, 2001).

Human Resource Management (HRM) which has been present for a long time is defined as a
process of dealing with the people in organizations towards achieving individuals’ and
organizational goal. The functions of HRM comprising not only the process of hiring the right
people for the organization but it also include a strategic approach towards sustaining and
developing them towards being competitive. Originally HRM or personnel administration was
considered only as an administrative matter of salaries and costs, (Michaels et.al, 2006) and
measurements were only employee turnover, absenteeism and similar measurements (Phillips,
2005). However, in a current trend HRM is more prioritized towards building a company’s
competitive advantage through strategic use of cultural, structural and personnel techniques to
develop competent and committed employees. The idea of emphasizing people as one the major
aspects for organizations’ survival and prosperity created a need for a framework that can deal
with this processes which then created Talent Management. By finding and developing Talent a
company will beat the competition with regards to market shares, profit and long-term value.

2.0 Talent management

The term ‘talent’ refers to the sum of individual’s capabilities, potential, skills, knowledge,
motivation and attitudes to develop. This term of talent describe the characteristics of those
individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance, either through their
immediate contribution or in the longer-term by demonstrating the highest level of potentials.
According to Hansen (2007) talent in the organisation refers to the core employees and leaders
that drive the business forward. They are the top achievers and the one inspiring others to
superior performance. Talent management comprises the processes from recruiting the best to
retaining the best (Lockwood, 2006). According to the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), talent management is broadly defined as, “The implementation of
integrated strategies or systems designed to increase workplace productivity by developing
improved processes for attracting, developing, retaining and utilizing people with the required
skills and aptitude to meet current and future business needs”(Lockwood, 2006).

Thus, talent management basically involves a systematic location, attraction, identification,

development, assessment and engagement or retention of those individuals who creates value to
an organization, either through the manifestation of their high potential for the future or by
fulfilling organizational critical roles. Conversely Talent Management is not only aimed towards

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finding and developing employees (Laff, 2006). It is about attracting, identifying, recruiting,
developing, motivating, assessing and retaining people that have a strong potential to succeed
within an organisation (Laff, 2006; Uren, 2007; Berger and Berger, 2004; and Schweyer, 2004).
Talent management is a key for organizations to attain their long-term strategy so that
individuals are placed in an environment where they can have the highest impact within the
enterprise.

3.0 HRM practices for Talent Management

Given that people play major role towards achieving competitive advantage in organization, it
falls to HR professionals to make the necessary HR investment to ensure they are attracting and
retaining the best talent to their organization, maintaining a diverse workforce, encouraging
leadership, engaging employees and devising a comprehensive learning and development
approach. Therefore, Human Resource Management is said to have foremost responsible towards
creating an integrated system by means of implementing talent management strategies .This can
be done through the execution of effective systems of Talent management framework
encompassing the main elements involved in talent management ground. According to this
framework talent management has been described and explained in four constituting areas which
are Locating, Assessing, Developing and Retaining as stated in Table 1 below. Each of the parts
will be explained briefly in the next session provided with the relevant practices of Human
Resource Management that could be implemented throughout the process.
Table 1: Talent Management Framework and suggested HRM Practices
Talent management framework Human Resource Management Practices
Locating talents • Employment Marketing
• Attracting • Employer branding
• Recruiting • E-Recruitment
• Selecting • Recruiting for competencies
• Positioning • Employee referrals
• Workplace diversity
Assessing Talents • Performance Management and
Performance Appraisal
• Balance Scorecard
Developing Talents • Training
• Creating Learning Organization
• Job experience
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Succession Planning
Retaining Talents • Job Satisfaction
• Employee Engagement
• Motivation
• Work-life balance
• Incentive and rewards
• Person-organization fit
• Not retaining the wrong people
Source: Compiled for this research

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4.0 LOCATING TALENT

Locating talent has been identified as the first stage of the talent management framework. This
stage embraces the process of attracting, recruiting, selecting and positioning key individuals
with the potential to become talents. Hiring talents for compatibility is considered important in
HR as it determine the alignment between employer and employee towards achieving
organizational goal. Finding the right people for the right positions will be the main goal out of
all the resumes and applications that can be abundant. Recruitment process is always a priority
for the organizations as this will determine the types of employees selected for the organization.
In addition, due to the trend of current environment in Human Resource Management which is
accommodating to rapid change, core competencies such as the capability to acclimatize, social
skills and the needs for accomplishment were given more emphasize instead of qualifications.
Varieties of channels used to build and recruit pool of talents to the organization including direct
application via the internet, on-campus recruitment fair and internship programs. Since HRM has
always been about finding the right employees to fill the right position at the right time, HR can
provide value by focusing on few relevant areas to accomplish this goal.

4.1 Employment Marketing

Job advertisements are the first step the organization takes to fit into place potential applicants
(Feldman, Bearden and Hardesty 2006).This will be the first source of information for applicants
about how an organization will go about selecting employees and the type of roles are being
offered to employees. As job advertisements outline the stage of employers’ marketing thus
including particular information in job advertisements can contribute to whether an applicant will
apply for a role or not. Besides job duties and responsibilities, providing other specific
information in the job advertisement such as remuneration, developmental opportunities, family-
friendly policies and details about the workplace environment is likely to have a positive impact
on the applicants’ perception of the organization. Such information can lead to more positive
recruitment outcomes for the organization (Feldman et.al, 2006 and Lee, 2005) and thus may be
perceived as a particularly desirable place to work. Depending on the job or industry, distinctive
recruitment strategies need to be implemented by Human Resource Management in order to
convince candidates to apply for the position. Employment marketing methods enable
organization to locate talents across a much wider range as it is scattered all over the Web
through the advertisement. Online search experts are able to materialize every page on the public
Web domain to discover talents hidden in areas that would normally be unseen.Moreover this
method allow companies to compete with the largest well-known competitors in the same
industry for top talents to make them successful.

4.2 Employer Branding

Employer branding is about what a company has to offer to its employees and it can be used as a
long term strategy to manage the awareness and perceptions of employees, potential employees
and related stakeholders with regards to a particular organization (Arden 2006; Backhaus and

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Tikoo, 2004).Organization with excellent reputations and strong brands are well positioned to
attract top talent.

According to interview with The Conference Board of Canada, management leader Dave Ulrich
(2004) in order to attract talent, an organization needs to differentiate themselves from others.
Consequently positive employer brand should be able to differentiate one organization from
another and create a strong, unique and attractive identity for prospective and current employees.
This strategy can be tuned in Human Resource Management to drive recruitment, retention and
productivity management efforts. On behalf of that branding strategy also should be aligned to
the company’s mission, vision and values in addition to showcase the overall direction in which
the organization is looking at moving forward.

For instance, Google is known for having a strong employer brand whereby they use a complex
screening process to find the best talent with the strongest cultural fit. Then they support their
knowledge workers with many formal and informal opportunities to learn and do innovative
work. Google consistently ranks the top of the Best Places to Work list (ASTD, 2009).

Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) identify the Employer Branding process as comprising of three parts
which are value proposition, as an external “marketing tool” and the last part is that it has an
internal effect which have a strong link towards talent management in organization. To concise
these parts in detail with relation to talent management, value proposition is said to allow
company attract potential talent with skills and personal values that permit them to deliver on the
brand promise and enable them to represent the brand and company in a consistent way .As for
external marketing of the employer brand , this part ascertain the organization as an employer of
choice and thereby enables the organization to attract the best possible talent (Backhaus and
Tikoo 2004).Finally talking about employer branding part as an internal marketing, it is basically
develops talent workforce that is committed to the set of values and corporate goals prepared by
the organization ,which complicate other organizations to imitate as it is unique only to that
organization.Thus strong employer brand will streamline the process of talent management to
recruit talent as organization promote aggressively their values, goals and culture, and hence
avoid interviewing people who are incompatible with it.

4.3 E-Recruitment

A study which evaluated and analyzed the career websites of Fortune 100 companies (Lee’s
2005), concedes that e-recruiting is one of the leading e-commerce applications used as a method
of quickly reaching a large pool of potential job-seekers. Job advertising can be done through a
range of mediums, such as local, national and international newspapers, industry magazines,
radio and television to influence prospective employees. However the most widespread,
convenient and cost-effective way to advertise jobs is on-line, or what is known as e-recruitment.
Implementation of e-recruitment strategy by HR facilitates just-in-time hiring. When an
organization needs a candidate they can access the database of job portals, screen resumes and
send a mass mail. It can also shortlist people based on skills, location, salary and availability and
move on to the interview stage. Resume databases have been increasing manifold and the
availability of a database with number of candidates is much higher than what manual

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recruitment modes can offer. Thus emphasizing that organization’s web pages entice Internet job
hunters to surf deeper within their site rather than broadly across various sites is becoming an
increasingly important consideration in E-recruitment (Feldman et.al, 2006).

For instance, GE Energy, a global organization which produces products and services for the
energy industry, provides a link on its web home page for job seekers. The potential applicants
are promptly provided with information about the organizations’ diversity, employee benefits,
work-life balance policy, developmental opportunities and why the job seeker should work for
GE Energy. In addition, users have access to information regarding vacant positions around the
globe. GE Energy also provides users with access to a video about the Women’s Network Group,
a group formed within the company that assists females with professional career development
within the organization. Access to this information emphasises the importance GE Energy places
on workplace diversity therefore increasing its chances of recruiting females. (Lee, 2005)

4.4 Recruiting for Competencies

A better recipe for successful recruitment is “Hiring for Competencies” that is one of the
building blocks that Talent Management relies upon (Dalziel, 2004). Hoogheimstra (1992)
defines a competency as “an underlying characteristic of an individual which is causally related
to effective or superior performance in a job”. Thus, a competency can be any personal
characteristic that is measurable and that differentiate the poor performer from the superior
performer. Examples of competencies emphasized in organization are, such as motives, traits,
self-concepts, content knowledge, and cognitive and behavioural skills. Some of these
competencies are easy to teach while others are much harder. Although, changing someone’s
motives are possible, the process is time consuming, difficult and expensive. The lesson from
this is to employ based on motivation and traits and afterwards develop the knowledge and skills
required (Hoogheimstra, 1992).A human resource role towards assuring that the organization
having the human capability to meet its strategic challenges requires them to play many roles. In
this case identifying the critical skills that will deliver competitive advantage is important.

Competency based recruitment provide guidelines that will aid organizations to expand their
talent pool compared to traditional job descriptions which indicates what needs to be done in
specific positions but fail to address the talent competencies needed for success. Thus
implementing competencies strategy as a HR tool for recruitment and selection purpose will
apparently generate outstanding results towards building well-matched pool of talents as they
specify the knowledge, skills, and abilities that facilitate talents to efficiently and effectively
perform their job.

4.5 Employee Referrals

An employee referrals strategy in HR can be an effective tool in recruiting capable job

candidates. Employee referrals in HR refer to the process of an internal recruitment method
employed by organizations to identify potential candidates from their existing employees. This
strategy encourages a company’s existing employees to select and recruit the suitable candidates
from their social networks. As a reward, the employer typically pays the referring employee a

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referral bonus. Recruiting candidates using employee referral is widely acknowledged as being
the most cost effective and efficient recruitment method to recruit candidates and as such,
employers of all sizes, across all industries are trying to increases the volumes they recruit
through this channel. Moreover, spending money internally on an organisation’s own employees
may be worth more and cost less in the long term than spending the money externally on
recruitment agencies. This is due to the reason that the organisation’s own employees are in a
better position to know who the right person for a job is.

Employee referral enables organization to sort talents by ensuring that they are well-matched
with the position and the company’s culture. On the other hand employees also may protect their
reputation at the firm by not referring unqualified talents. Implementing this method will
significantly save costs and time looking for new talent as it is simple and effective, can be done
quickly, and can be a good supplement to traditional recruiting methods like advertising jobs on
newspapers and on job websites.

Examples of this strategy had been observed in a Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation
(SMEC) based in Sydney, Australia whereby they are offering $500 to any employees who can
find someone to work for their company, and an additional $2500.00 if that new recruit stays
after the six-month probationary period (Coulton 2007) due to extreme shortage of engineers the
organization, and the industry is facing.

4.6 Workplace Diversity

Organizations leverage diversity in many ways, and talent management is one of the top areas for
which HR professionals use diversity policies and programs to attract, develop and retain diverse
talent.HR believes that a productive environment assembled based on its strong culture and
values will enhance its ability to attract talent. According to the SHRM 2006 Workplace
Diversity and Changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Process Survey Report,
75% of firms have diversity policies or practices and 72% of employees believe their
organizations are either somewhat or very committed to diversity. In addition, more than one-
third of HR professionals have their incentive pay or compensation linked to the organization’s
diversity efforts and two-thirds of employees prefer working for an organization that is
committed to diversity (Nancy R. Lockwood 2006). A vast majority of organizations (93%) are
somewhat or very inclusive of diverse cultures and values, and 92% of senior managers believe
that diversity is somewhat or very important. These data provide evidence that diversity, as a
business strategy, is essential.

Clearly, workplace diversity practices serve as a key strategic business driver for HR regarding
talent management .Employers need to think creatively about the competencies or transferable
skill sets necessary for the job, and think beyond their industry specific box. Reflection should be
done towards interviewing someone from a different industry background, seek common skill
sets or common competencies, and explore how that diversity can be mutually beneficial for the
organizational culture. Diversity for a growing number of organizations will require talent with
differing ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities, age and gender. Those organizations

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with an inclusive organizational culture will attract and retain the much needed talent for the
future.

5.0 ASSESSING TALENT

Assessing talent involves the process of monitoring and evaluating the performance of talents
which is expected to be aligned with the organizational goals. Employees’ performance will be
assessed based on multiple dimensions and compared with successful characteristics that have
been determined to be associated with a specific level of achievement. The results of these
assessments provide useful information regarding employees’ potential to embark on greater
responsibilities and their strengths and areas for development. Employees who demonstrate
appropriate competency levels, scope of impact, and a history of getting successful results are
identified as having high potential and may be selected to participate in a structured set of
activities to rapidly prepare them for higher positions. The information can be obtained from a
variety of sources such as browsers, search engines, e-mail and database technology which can
provide HR professionals with the tool necessary to collect, analyze and assess vast amounts of
data regarding talents and other employees (Schweyer,2004 and Hustad &Munkvold, 2005).Two
dominating concepts within the assessment of Talents are Performance Appraisal and
performance Management.

5.1 Performance Appraisals and Performance Management

Performance appraisal is a process of evaluating how well individuals are reaching their goals.
This process focuses on quality, quantity, cost, time, and customer service issues associated with
employee performance. As for the performance management it includes an entire cycle that
begins with planning the work and the results to be achieved , monitoring employee behaviours
and result achieved, developing employees’ abilities ,evaluating behaviours demonstrated and
results achieved, and rewarding results. The performance management system comprises the
practices of objective setting, appraisal and rewards and their integration. Unlike performance
appraisal , which may suggest after-the fact performance review, performance management
includes an entire cycle of jointly and collaboratively planning the work to be done, assessing it
as it is carried out, and documenting results achieved , and the means by which those results
were achieved.Implementing both performance appraisal and performance management
facilitates talent to glance into the routine performance, review their results and observe where
they need to improve. Thus the strategy will keep organizations more focused to the goals and
objectives. Regularly tracking progress against performance goals and objectives will also
provides the opportunity to recognize and reward talent for performance and exceptional effort,
contributing to job satisfaction and productivity.

5.2 Balanced Scorecards

According to Harvard Professors Kaplan and Norton, who first described the balanced scorecard,
the goal is regard to organizational performance on a broader range of criteria than simple
profitability (Kaplan, Robert S and David P Norton, 1992). Balanced scorecard approaches are

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generally conducted in three stages which include objectives, measures of success and key
performance indicators (KPIs), and for each stage, the objectives, measures and KPIs are further
broken down into few other categories such as financial, customers, internal business process
and learning and growth measure. Thus, Scorecards provide both, the quantitative and qualitative
measurements of contribution, and provide critical information (Phillips ,2005).The idea of
implementing Balanced Scorecard approach is useful if implemented well in HR as it create a
unique strategy and visualise it in a cause-and-effect map, to align the organisation and its
processes to the objectives identified in the strategic map, to design meaningful key performance
indicators and also to use them to facilitate learning and improved decision making.

These methods help talent to round out their capabilities by focusing on important areas where
they need to develop.Consequently metrics and goals used in balance scorecard are useful
towards monitoring the success of talent management activities and to measure the current
performance. Furthermore, these scorecard metrics help distinguish key elements driving talent
performance management in the organization. Identifying succession gaps helps determine
which skills are required for future talent, and create the training program to develop those skills
inside the organization.

6.0 DEVELOPING TALENT

Finding the right talent and assessing them will be not be sufficient enough as the human
resource management also need to invest in the development of those people. Developing talent
here involves far more than sending people on courses or paying for their studies. By focusing on
policies and interventions that encourages growth and development, organization creates a
culture that encourages employees to stay with the organization to enhance their
“employability”. There are two ways to increase the talent in an organization which are through
hiring new talent from outside or develop talent from within. Ordóñez de Pablos (2004) states
that firms can protect their human resource from being eroded by making knowledge, skills and
capabilities more unique and valuable by a so called “make system”, or internal system of HRM,
which comprises of comprehensive training, creating learning organization, coaching and
mentoring and succession planning.

6.1 Training

Training is designed in HR to furnish individuals with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they
need to get acceptable, or even outstanding, work results. These training can occur on the job,
near the job, or off the job. It can be conducted in many media such as onsite training conducted
in a classroom or online training conducted via Web. Good training can narrow performance
gaps which is described as a term between what people can do and what they must do to perform
acceptably. (William J.Rothwell 2010).Training should be considered as the solution of last
resort instead of the solution of the first resort simply because training is very expensive. If

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people have done the job right once, they do not need training. Instead other action is needed as
additional training will not solve the problems.

6.2 Creating a Learning Organization

Study conducted for Conference Board of Canada indicated that improving organizational
performance is more about changing attitudes, organizational will and strategy than about
spending capital (Parker, 2006). Fostering a learning culture compensates organizations through
greater retention of talent, employee satisfaction, quality of products and service, productivity
and profitability (Parker, 2006). The study recommends four pillars of a learning organization
which are vision, culture, learning dynamics and knowledge management or infrastructures.
Vision described as the clarity of an organization’s vision and the extent to which learning is part
of that vision play important roles in creating and sustaining a learning organization. Corporate
culture influences every aspect of organizational performance, including organizational learning.
As for the learning dynamic it is an effective organizational learning system that challenges
employees to think and act with a comprehensive approach. Knowledge Management and
Infrastructure emphasize systems and structures ensuring that important knowledge is collected,
collated, stored and made available to those who need it. Finally learning investment provides
supports of internal learning by investing in formal training and informal learning for the
development of all employees in organization.

6.3 Job Experiences

As a part of the new paradigm of development, it is acknowledged that people need challenges
and experiences to grow, and as Michaels et.al, (2001) point out this is especially true for high-
potential employees. Further they point out the importance of stretching the abilities, not being
afraid to promote and assign projects to people without the specific relevant experience. Timing
is, however, important since moving people too fast will undermine the ability of the employee
to achieve any motivating results and wilt the learning process. It should also be pointed out that
Michaels et. al, (2001) put importance, not only on stimulating people through “bigger jobs”, but
also stress the fact that employee need different jobs such as line-to-staff switches, starting
projects from scratch and fixing projects in trouble. Thus, this gives the pool of Talent many
different challenges throughout their careers.

6.3 Coaching

Michaels et.al, (2001) attributed great importance to coaching as a part of the new paradigms of
talent development. Employees need knowledge of their strengths and consequently the areas
where they can improve to be able to develop in the best possible manner. Further, there is also a
chance of derailment of highly talented people if no feedback is given, and then the lack of these
practices becomes directly harmful to a business. Feedback should be given to allow for people
to illuminate areas which they need to improve. Coaching builds on this knowledge and
contributes instructions, guidance and support to allow employees to act on the feedback that
they are given. This process should ideally be built on the coaches own experiences and be

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communicated through storytelling. This does not only make the manager appear more humane
but also instructs and comforts (Michaels et.al, 2001).Further, Michaels et.al,(2001) point out
that leaders who are exceptional at providing vital development tools such as feedback and
coaching should do so frequently in both verbal and written form. Including both genuine
affirmation, but also provide direction on how the employee can grow and improve.

In a case study conducted at Electrolux (ELS), on managing Chinese employee in China , the
senior managers conducted ‘Appraisal Talks’ quarterly with their subordinates( Wenzhu Cai &
Ulyana Klyushina, 2009). These ‘Appraisal Talks’ help employees to realize the problems and
to improve their performance. ELS use the ‘Appraisal Talk’ with every subordinate regularly,
when superior as a coacher helps employees to realize the problems and enhances them to find
solutions. Also coacher assists in making individual working plans for employees. Additionally,
ELS offers special trainings for improvement of coaching skills of senior staff.

6.4 Mentoring

Another important way for developing Talent is according to Friday & Friday (2002) mentoring.
Michaels et.al, (2001) notes that, a manager builds self-esteem in the high-potential employee by
offering praise, encouragement and support by believing in the employee’s ability to achieve
above everyone’s expectations. However, the mentor’s role also requires the communication of
painful feedback, but from the mentor position a bigger picture should be visible so that further
encouragement and advise on how to develop from the source of the feedback can be initiated.
As with most of the concepts within Talent Management, mentoring needs to become an integral,
embedded, part of the organisations whole strategy in order for a firm to reap its benefits.

6.6 Succession Planning

In a globally competitive marketplace, with shortages of skilled workers and the baby boom
generation beginning to retire, succession planning is more critical than ever before. Having a
resourceful plan to fill key positions in the organization allows for smooth transitions, even when
vacancies occur with little notice. The SHRM 2006 Succession Planning Survey Report points
out that HR have the primary responsibility to lead succession planning initiatives. The survey
findings show that more than half of companies have either a formal or an informal succession
plan while 75% of succession plans focus on senior management positions. The trend today is
also to include employees from both middle management and non-management positions in the
succession planning process.

Strategic succession planning in HR identifies key positions in the organization, potential

succession gaps and gaps in employee competency levels. HR works to ensure the company has
the right talent in place to fill key positions immediately. The succession planning process is also
an excellent medium to communicate to employees on what skills and capabilities are needed to
fill future employment opportunities in the company, inform employees if they are considered as
potential leaders within the organization and notify them if they are candidates to fill future

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vacancies. Employees can also indicate interest in future job openings. Thus, succession
planning fills a strategic role in the cycle of attracting and retaining top talent

According to Grubs (2004), succession management can be executed with many goals in mind,
and it is important for an organisation to identify these. For instance, role-based programmes
target key positions critical for the business success, individual-based programmes focus on
specific employees that have great potential for future advancement while Pool-based
programmes are created to facilitate the move of any number of people that could fill several
positions within the company.

7.0 RETAINING TALENT

Employee retention is about the efforts of the employer to keep its desirable employees and
thereby reach company objectives (Frank, Finnegan & Taylor, 2004). Herman (2005) points out
that a retention plan helps avoiding unwanted loss of human and intellectual capital, reducing the
costs of employee turnover and improves the workforce stability and engagement. In his research
Herman (2005) stated five given reasons why people leave, which all except compensation
which ranked lowest of the five, has to do with cultural and communication issues such as the
perceived feeling of the company culture or reputation, lack of encouragement and support from
managers or a lack of feedback that makes employees feel unnecessary. This is also supported by
Benjamin (2003) that recognized poor management as the number one reason for why employees
leave. Two major trends point to the growing importance of employee retention as an important
HR issue. One is the constant rise in turnover in virtually every economic sector and left
unaddressed it can have an adverse impact on organizational effectiveness. The other is the ever
raising cost of turnover, especially when it involves high performers. In present scenario people
choose companies which have pleasant atmosphere and prefer change if they don't get desirable,
as it may hinder the growth and success of the company.

7.1 Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is one of the most important factors that influence to employee remains with a
company. By being aware of key motivators of workforce, HR professionals can be better
informed to develop workplace programs and policies that address important aspects of job
satisfaction. A good way to gauge employee needs and responses regarding workplace culture,
communication and benefits is through an employee attitude survey. For instance, survey done
by SHRM 2006 in Job Satisfaction Survey Report, indicated that the top five factors of job
satisfaction are compensation or pay, benefits, job security, work-life balance and feeling safe in
the workplace. The survey report also found that specific benefits are important to employees.
For example, 90% said that healthcare/medical benefits as well as paid time off were either
important or very important. Having the right combination of policies, programs and benefits
positively affects the retention of qualified skilled workers. Therefore, to promote talent
retention, HR have to review all policies and programs annually to ensure they are competitive in
the marketplace and appropriately address employee concerns for job satisfaction.

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7.2 Employee Engagement

Engagement is a concept within Talent Management closely connected to retention. Low in

engagement always leads to high employee turnover, and consequently organizations that
manage to create a highly engaged workforce have a low employee turnover (Frank et al, 2004).
It is a part of Uren’s (2007) definition of Talent Management, defined as to create an
environment that engages the individual to perform at their best and stay committed to the firm.
Challenges, job satisfaction, treating the employee with significance, being predictable with
systems and practices that are lot bent or changed to accommodate any individual at any time
may help retention. Task force could be represented to examine the sources of attrition. When
employees are adequately engaged and sufficient social and financial security is provided
retention goes up on its own.

7.3 Motivation

Motivation factors enable organizations to retain talent. What people view as a motivation is
grounded in their individual values, beliefs and attitudes which can vary among cultures and
continents (Vaiman &Vance, 2008).The motivation profile of an individual determines how
individual will use and display their competencies at workplace (Bernard, 1992). Bernard (1992)
describes motivation as a combination of three social motives that forms a person’s motivation
profile which are the drive for achievement, the desire to maintain friendly relationships with
others, and the drive for power. The drive for achievement characterizes itself through a
tendency to take reasonable risks and the desire to take responsibility for results, a permanent
concern for personal improvement and how to do things better, faster or differently. The desire to
maintain friendly relationships makes people focus on establishing and maintaining relations at
work and they are more sensitive for factors influencing them. Power, or the will to influence, is
the third motivator and is concerned with the desire to impress and influence others, build a
reputation and to spontaneously offer support and advice.

Empowerment is seen as another motivating factor (Holden, 1999). Empowering employees

contributes to cost reduction, productivity, business performance and knowledge creation, thus a
more sufficient use of personnel then just pushing buttons or other repetitive, simple tasks (Hatch
& Dyer, 2004; Glen, 2006). It is about moving from direct control and instead create
commitment to the organization’s goals and thereby improving the quality of products and
services. Thus, getting employees involved is developmental and could help release creativity
and create knowledge (Holden, 1999).

7.4 Work-life balance

Work-life balance has important consequences for employee attitudes towards their
organizations as well as for the lives of employees. Employers should realize their role in helping
their employees strike a balance in their lives, before they burn out. Example of initiatives
Human Resource Management can implement towards work-life balance are such as parenting

15
workshops, an in-home care project, a day-care centre and access to a work-life essentials web
site that offers work-life balance tips. Adjusting work patterns for everyone, regardless of caring
responsibilities, age, race, gender or disability, can help employees find a routine that enables
them to easily combine work with other responsibilities and aspirations (Dunne 2007). Effective
work-life balance programs are also focused on solving any personal issues that can detract
employees from their work (Szczypkowski 2007).

7.5 Incentives and rewards

Progressive HR departments strategically use incentives and rewards as part of the total
compensation package. Employees have a human need to feel rewarded, recognized and
appreciated. Sometimes just a thank you will do, but realistically, work is about the money, and
almost every individual wants more. Surveys show that employees view bonuses more
favourably than they do raises (G.K.Lim , 2004).Employees have extra incentive to work for
something tangible, and bonuses keep other employees from feeling unfairly treated when
someone else gets a raise and they do not. People understand others getting a reward for a one
time achievement, and know that they had the same opportunity. Commissions and bonuses that
are easily calculated on a daily, weekly, or other basis, and easily understood, raise motivation
for doing a job well and help retain staff.

Vaiman & Vance (2008) define two classifications of retention tool to meet employees’
requirements, which are extrinsic and intrinsic incentives. Extrinsic incentives includes different
sorts of monetary rewards which can satisfy employees’ physiological needs, while intrinsic
incentives refer to non-monetary rewards that can fulfil employees‘ psychological needs.

7.6 Person-organization fit

Person-organization fit is considered as another good predictor of intention to staying in human

resource management effort. This person-organization fit emphasizes match between people‘s
value and the value of the organization, because value are conceived of as fundamental and
relatively enduring (Kristof, 1996 and Van Vianen, 2000). Besides, employees need to be
stimulated with training, development and career opportunities for personal growth and self-
actualization unless they will have greater intentions to leave the organization. On the other
hand, organizational factors largely influence talent retention. Retention tools like culture,
communication and teamwork relationships are able to suffice employees’ needs for affiliation.

7.7 Not Retaining the Wrong People

Employees that do not live up to the expectations for performance of the organization or unable
to work with others or do not meet competence requirements were classified as “misfits” (Berger
& Berger, 2004). Misfits need either a special development program with close supervision, or if
it is the job role that is the problem, they should be reassigned to a work where they can improve
performance, or to be removed from the organization entirely (Rosen & Wilson, 2004). Despite

16
the fact that it can be difficult to lay someone off, however sometimes it is necessary because
they can negatively influence the entire workplace chemistry (Rosen & Wilson, 2004),
innovation, creativity and cooperation within, as well as outside the organization. Tolerating bad
behaviour amongst its employees in organization will create difficulties in recruiting and
retaining the best performing talent, poorer client relations, damaged reputations and less
investor confidence (Sutton, 2007).

8.0 CONCLUSIONS

Talent management offers an integrated framework and practices for managing human resource
in organization. Thus, managers should develop thoughtful processes to locate, assess, develop
and retain employees. It is crucial for management to communicate explicitly about talent
management process for the organization and for employees. Being transparent and openness to
feedback will also allow the organization to monitor and review its processes. If the process is
well designed and effectively implemented, it will be seen as a fair process. Moreover,
encouraging employees to develop their own initiatives and actively engage them in
implementing positive change within their role obviously will lead to employees feeling more
optimistic and inspired towards their job. Employee involvements that build morale will
definitely be able to attract and retain talented workers. Thus, providing employees with a
positive work environment and sufficient resources that is conducive to achieving goals can
increase employee loyalty and commitment towards improving organisation’s competitive
advantage and hence contribute to an organisation’s long term sustainability.

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