Talent Management in and of itself is not a strategic function. Similar to core HR practices, the actual task and process isn’t strategic. One should be especially careful with Talent Management Systems (TMS). No system (TMS, HRMS, or anything else) can make you and your organization strategic. However, the philosophy you develop around the task and process (if applied to those tasks and processes) can make either HR or Talent Management strategic. Here are some pointers and examples:<\/p>\n
In talent acquisition, recruiters and hiring managers may perform a task of filling requisitions. I remember early in my career interviewing with a leading global actuarial firm. After 3 half day interviews, they put me in front of a psychologist for 6 hours to find out if I was the right \u201cfit\u201d for the job and the organization. Being in my early 20\u2019s, I had no idea what direction my life would take, but I\u2019m quite grateful now that they decided for me: \u201cYou would be really great, but you don\u2019t really want to be an actuary\u2026\u201d While 6 hours in front of a shrink is extreme, filling positions without a true vision into how each additional associate impacts the \u201cshape of your workforce\u201d simply drives you off of your target population. Today we have amazing talent acquisition tools, but each one must be configured to optimize and shape the target population.<\/p>\n
Learning management (as part of talent management) is not strategic when thought of as only “training.” If we take sales training as an example, we realize that no matter how many trainers you bring in to teach “the art of closing the deal” that this activity may not be strategic. Sure, this activity increases profits, but does it actually “shape your workforce?” For this activity to be strategic, the course on closing sales must also involve the dissemination of company culture. Closing sales is a critical teaching activity. Imparting knowledge on ethics, soft (or not so soft) selling techniques, what the brand means and how the brand is represented in the sales cycle are cultural and philosophical components of training.<\/p>\n