Managing Talent Risk
Do you have a strategy in place to mitigate talent risk? Not many companies do, but i4cp research suggests that mitigating talent risk is critical in a volatile, global business environment. Recently our SWP Exchange met to discuss Talent Risk - what it is and what to do about it.
Highlights of our call:
· Talent Risk is an emerging issue tied to business volatility and changing demographics. But most organizations are trying to understand the basics of what it is and what can be done. They are struggling with how to identify, assess, prioritize and develop action plans to mitigate talent risk - and the vast majority lack a consistent methodology, clear definitions or accountability for doing this.
· No burning platform. One problem is the lack of a burning platform and general confusion over what talent risk is. Another is the lack of clear metrics. Yet, once things can be measured in terms of real costs to the business, things begin to happen. A partnership with finance early on is key to meaningful metrics that can be communicated and shared with line managers.
· Another problem, who owns it. Particularly as talent planning roles out in a global environment, companies are finding it difficult to get the right partnerships with line managers to make it work. HR really needs to rely on locally developed work plans where HR's role is to supply data, analysis and a process for talent planning. But line managers need to own the work plan and management of the talent. It can take 4-5 years or longer to make this happen, and it requires line managers to think differently about talent.
· It's about mitigating organizational and individual talent risk. Companies need to be operating on two levels to mitigate talent risk. They need to be identifying risk at the organizational capability level (role segmentation), but also at the level of individual talent risk management (retention, career planning and other engagement practices).
· The role of learning and talent development is critical. Learning and development of employees is a means to mitigate talent risk. So is knowledge transfer. Employees who experience a positive and learning-oriented work environment are less likely to be employees at risk. Managers can play a key role in mitigating talent risk through strategies to develop their employees.
· Talent risk and talent return are two sides of the Human Capital coin. At the end of the day, organizations are working to develop and manage a talent portfolio with their human resources. Analytical tools which can help us to predict and better describe talent outcomes are giving us new insights into talent planning strategies.
The presentation & meeting recording can be found here:
SWPE May 2016 Virtual Meeting Presentation & Meeting Recording
SWPE May 2016 Virtual Meeting Recording
Amy Armitage
Director Member Research Programs
