Perhaps you do not run a huge, sophisticated organization with department heads and divisions for every function.  Or perhaps you do.  Either way, you can probably do more to get the best from your people, aka human capital, and thus support your Employer Brand.

Take some time to think through the essential components of the Talent Management Cycle to see if there is an opportunity for improvement in the way your organization Recruits, Deploys, Develops and Retains people, aka talent.  You do not need to invest in expensive infrastructure, technology or super-specialized executives and consultants to ensure your human capital management system contributes positively to your Employer Brand.

Here are a few questions to help your organization identify its strengths and weaknesses and to develop a world-class human capital management system:

Recruiting

How do you source candidates?

How do you screen them?

Are you clear about the criteria for success for the positions you are seeking to fill?

Do you have an interview template so you can compare interviews with different candidates?

Do you have thoughtful interview questions prepared so you can probe for the right information?

Are members of your search committee clear about all of the above?

Do you have a good and consistent reference checking process?

On-boarding

You have gone through the nerve wracking process and have made the hire.  Now what do you do?

Do you dump a pile of documents on the new person’s desk and tell them to get on with it?

Do you have a welcoming process for the first day/week/month?

Do you have an assimilation process so new hires can get up to speed quickly and efficiently?

Do you offer on-boarding coaching to senior recruits to ensure alignment between leadership teams and the board?

Training

Do you offer any training to enhance job skills or workplace effectiveness?

What kind of training do you offer?

Is it effective?  What evidence do you have of its effectiveness?

Is there training you have not yet considered but would be worthwhile to offer?

Are you sure you have people in the right roles?  Could you cross-train them to take on additional roles that would play to their strengths? Could you move anyone to a better suited role rather than spend money on unnecessary training?

Executive Development

What support is there to ensure executives and leaders are doing the best possible job?

How do you ensure effective communication between different constituencies – executive leadership, the board, divisional leaders, staff, volunteers, etc?

How do you deal with conflict?

How do you create and execute organizational strategy?

How well do you create and execute organizational strategy?

To what extent do you hold individuals accountable for accomplishing the mission and delivering positive outcomes?

Performance Management

Do you have a performance management system that is perceived as open, transparent and fair?

Do managers know how to deliver constructive feedback to staff?

Do managers know how to receive feedback from staff?

Do you have a culture that encourages people to take responsibility and learn from mistakes, or are they intimidated by fear of failure?

Strategic Career Management

To what extent do you encourage discussion about career paths and career progression?

Do you have a mentoring system in place?

Are people able to speak about their career aspirations in an open manner?

Let me know if your recruiting efforts are more fruitful, if your employees are more engaged, and if you are increasing your retention of top talent.  If so, congratulations – you have a world-class human capital management system!

 

Fredia Woolf, Principal of Woolf Consulting, is a leadership coach and change management consultant.  Fredia works with clients to build their capacity to manage career and organizational transitions, and to accelerate positive results.  She dreams about organizations with wise leaders and engaged people having a positive impact on the world – and in the meantime, blogs about careers, leadership challenges and workplace survival strategies.

She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on December 17th, 2009 at 08:45 am