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.

Struggling with your talent management program? We’re here to help.

Talent management continues to be a top concern for leaders; therefore, in this blog I’ll address ten talent management best practices. Let’s start by defining what talent management involves. I often hear that “talent is the most important asset in our organization.” But are you taking the necessary steps to attract the right talent, and then educate, encourage, and maintain your top talent?

Talent management is the umbrella that covers all aspects of taking care of your employees—your talent. Talent management includes the following components:

• Strategies to attract the right talent
• Education and training tools for all staff
• Established career paths
• Personal and professional development opportunities
• Mentoring relationships
• Leadership development plans, and
• Culture training based on your organization’s core values.

In this two-part blog, I’ll outline ten talent management best practices that can enhance your institution’s talent management program. Here are the first five talent management best practices:

1.      Updated Job Descriptions and Role Clarity

The very first step to formalize your talent management program is to create and update job descriptions for all positions in the organization. In the “Position Purpose”  section of your job descriptions, clarify the role of the position so the employee understands their job clearly. Include the organization’s core values so employees can identify if their personal core values align with the company’s. Clearly defined job descriptions for all positions is a strategy to attract the right talent.

2.      Current Organizational Design

With the current turnover ratios that institutions experience these days, you could update your organizational chart daily. However, that is not necessary. Ideally, you first create an organizational design based on functions. Then you create the org chart with the employees’ names that occupy each position. The two questions to answer are: Does our organizational design support our current business model? What changes are needed to ensure it supports the future needs of the institution? Update the org chart at least quarterly and ensure it’s available to all staff.

3.      Formal Performance Review Process

The lack of a formal performance review process results in a complete lack of accountability at all levels of an organization. There are many software solutions that automate the review process and save all documentation electronically – managers no longer need to complete review forms by hand. Yes, the process takes time, but it is foundational to retaining top talent in your company.

The best employee review processes have three simple steps: 1) Employee provides input into their own performance for the past twelve months (at least one week prior to the formal review meeting); 2) Employee and manager meet to discuss opportunities to grow and recognize accomplishments; 3) Employee takes ownership of his/her growth and provides manager with a plan to improve, grow, learn, etc. for the next year. Ensure the compensation and salary communication takes place in a separate meeting. Doing so will avoid the employee to want to get to the salary conversation right away.

4.      90-Day Check-In with New Hires and “Stay Interviews”

Attracting and retaining new talent is an ongoing challenge for most companies today. Conducting a 90-day check-in interview is one way to ensure new employees are integrating into your company’s culture and performing their jobs as agreed. It is also crucial to stay in touch with your existing staff and one way to do this is to conduct “stay interviews.” The purpose of these interviews is to discover any challenges employees may have within the organization. Many issues can be addressed through these informal meetings with your current team members.

5.      Provide Culture Training

Your company has an established culture. Can you define it in words? Does your culture reflect your core values? Do your employees know and can recite your core values? These are important questions to ask your leadership team. The first step to provide culture training is to ensure you define your top 3-5 core values and share them consistently with the entire staff. Reward those who exhibit and live out your company’s core values to encourage others to do the same. Your culture reflects how you do things “your company’s way.” You need to continually enhance your culture and protect it from bad influences once you achieve the culture you aspire to have in your organization.

I will address the next five best practices in Part 2 of this blog. I hope these five will get you started in enhancing your talent management program at your organization.

Are you looking for help with your talent management program? As always, we are here to help.