Human capital management continues to be at top concern for leaders; therefore, we are devoting this two-part blog to address ten human capital management best practices. In Part 1 I defined what human capital management involves, the important components, and shared the first five best practices. In this blog, I address the next five best practices as follows:
6. Establish and Communicate Succession Plans for All Key Positions
It is imperative for your leadership team to identify successors to take over the key positions in the organization. You need to identify an “immediate successor” and a “planned successor” to have a complete plan. The immediate successor to a specific position could be several employees in the event of a tragedy or sudden departure. The planned successor must be a person who has the skills, talent, and experience to take over the duties of the person leaving. Once you identify the successors, tell them! Often emerging leaders leave a company because nobody told them they were being considered for key positions in the company. Communication is key to the success of succession plans.
7. Provide Leadership and Management Training for Emerging Leaders
Once you identified and communicated to the potential successors that they have an opportunity to move into leadership positions, provide them with leadership and management training. Choose the appropriate course for them to attend and ensure you budget for their training. There are also leadership books that can prepare emerging leaders to take over leadership positions. They need to know that you support their learning activities and that it’s okay to not have all the credentials just yet. Give them time to grow and mature so they can succeed at their first supervisory job and grow from there.
8. Continued Leadership Development for Experienced Leaders
One key to the ongoing success of any company is to continue to develop your leadership team members. Often their training does not happen because they themselves are too busy helping the upcoming leaders. But leaders at all levels must continue to develop their own leadership talent. There is nothing like experience; however, even experienced, matured leaders need help in new situations—especially in the uncertain world we currently live in. Ensure you budget for higher leadership training and send your senior executives. They will come back refreshed and encouraged to continue leading the organization.
9. Implement Cross-Training throughout the Entire Organization
The best way to avoid “control freaks” in your company is by cross training everyone in something else. When there is an established culture where every employee is trained first in their own job and then cross-trained to back up another position, the company will experience higher employee retention. Employees appreciate when the company invests in their education and training. To elevate the importance of ongoing cross-training, always keep your customers top of mind. Can they be serviced regardless of who is on vacation or out of the office? If the answer is yes, you have a well-trained and cross-trained staff.
10. Pay Incentive Compensation Plans and Bonuses Based on Performance
Organizations want to please their employees and ensure they feel appreciated. However, there is now a spirit of entitlement where employees forget that a “bonus” is simply that—a bonus paid based on their efforts beyond the call of duty. Communication is the key to ensure employees understand on one hand that they are valued, and on the other hand, that they are paid to do a specific job. They should not expect a bonus for doing their job. The bonus is based on merit, their own performance, and also based on the company meeting its goals as a whole.
I hope these ten top human capital management and talent management best practices help you in your development of your talent management program. Attracting the right talent and then taking care of your top talent is key to the future success of your organization.
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