Talent Management

A popular catch phrase for HR (Human Resource) professionals, and with good cause. As the economy brightens, top management is refocusing their attention on people -- getting and keeping A-level talent on board to ensure their top place in the competitive marketplace.

Sounds easy but any manager worth their salt knows that attracting and keeping great people is the single most important, and often the most difficult, skill set to learn.

How can you make your mark identifying, developing and motivating top performers?

_{"Good managers take time and learn what makes their people tick," says Ashton, head of Excel's permanent staffing division.}

2.       Track Progress.

Have a system in place for training employees and tracking their performance, especially during their first year on the job. This doesn’t have to be a complicated affair, a simple schedule outlining learning and performance goals for each quarter (timelines are essential) works great.

Equally important is that you share this with your new recruits and that you are both signed off on it.  This takes the agonizing guess work out of wondering whether or not they’re meeting your expectations.

And it keeps them (and you) accountable with an agreed upon frame of reference when doing performance evaluations. 

3.       Communicate Regularly.

Good managers take the time to know what makes their people tick. As humans we are instinctively driven by the need to belong, to be valued, and acknowledged as a part of something meaningful.

Each member of your team should know how their job supports your organization’s objectives. People may work hard for you regardless, but they’ll be much happier (more motivated) just knowing how their efforts are contributing to the big picture.
Regularly bench-mark with your staff on the team’s achievements in relation to the company’s overall goals. Be as specific as possible and make sure that they understand their role in every success.

There is nothing more important -- to your personal and company success -- than hiring great people.   Nothing.  Lou Adler, President of The Adler Group & Author “Hire With Your Head”

Let’s face it. Hiring is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do in business.

With or without an HR department to help you in the process, finding right talent when you need it is the lynchpin of a successful business.

1. Define the Skills You Need

I’m a strong believer in not hiring by gut instinct. I’ve done it many times over the years and sometimes its even been successful. But by far the greatest hiring successes were the ones where I sat down with my team and defined exactly what competencies and behaviours were needed and in what order.

My first business was a recruitment firm dedicated to hiring high tech contractors and employees. When it came time to grow I needed to hire someone totally dedicated who be as committed as I to serving customers and growing the business. And I needed strong administrative and customer service skills yet this was not an area I knew much about.

2. Knowing Where to Look

I turned to an administrative staffing firm to source right-fit candidates for me. This raised a lot of eyebrows (someone like me giving business to a potential competitor), but it worked brilliantly. So well that I used that same recruitment firm three times over a period of ten years, each time getting exactly what I needed.

Come to think of it, why wouldn’t I give myself the same advice I’d been dishing out to prospective clients?

3. Asking the Right Questions

You’ve got some great candidates lined up for interviews. You’ve done your prescreening and can safely assume they’ll be highly motivated and hungry to beat out other job seekers.

The more skilled applicants will be mirroring your mannerisms and gestures and doing everything in their power to make you like them. And that’s fine. But aside from demonstrating eager-beaver salesmanship, it doesn’t tell you a thing about their essential skills or what they’re going to be like in the line of fire.

4. Behavioural Interviewing Will Save You
   Prepare two or three challenging scenarios that are typically associated with the position you’re trying to fill. This will bring out each candidate’s Achilles heal and quickly sort out the so-so candidates from the A-Level players you’re trying to hire.
   
   You’ll need to put together several scenarios to accurately measure each candidate’s skills -- as they relate to your exact needs. Then ask each to describe how they would deal with, address or respond to each scenario.

5. Watch for Signs

Here’s what to look for to learn what you need to know about each candidate:

• Can they think on their feet and remain calm while juggling multiple demands?
• How do they handle difficult people?
• Do they take initiative to solve problems?
• Are they accountable for their behaviors at the end of the day?
• Can they maintain a balance dealing with others and getting their job done?

These are just a few of the inherent skills that you’ll want to be looking for in your A-Level players, and which are essential for you have on your side -- not the competitors’.

No matter your education ability or accomplishments if you’re not skilled at playing well with others, all will be for not. Your relationships with others will dictate how well you do in the workplace far more than your skills and abilities.

Many of you are right now thinking I already know all that. Of course you do. But let me ask you this. Why then do so many otherwise glowing careers get tanked or submarined right when they should be taking off?

The number one reason is that these would-be leaders lacked the people skills, appreciation, and/or the motivation and drive to build meaningful relationships inside and outside their sphere of influence, namely their coworkers and peers.  

Here’s a few tips to help keep you out of the line of fire…

Avoid Sarcasm, Verbal and Non-Verbal.

Verbal or non-verbal sarcasm, or in any way talking down or acting in a demeaning way to a co-worker or subordinate is felt not just by the one you are addressing. It reverberates and stay in the long-term emotional memory banks of your entire team.

The consequences are that you risk losing your best people. Your A-level players are are the first ones to take action and are especially at risk. Why? Because they care deeply about building their workplace relationships. They are naturally the ones most vigilant about scoping out the emotional well-being of their colleagues, and are also the ones mostly like to have competitive offers waiting for them.

Table Solutions, Not Just the Problems.

The easiest thing in the world is identifying problems. Anyone can do that. What sets the average from the A-level players apart is the ability to find and articulate workable solutions to these problems.
Remember also to frame your solutions as cost-effective benefits to the company and productivity gains to your team. You will be seen as a team player and, gain the respect and ear of others like you who are onside to make things better.

Acknowledge, Never Blame.
If finding problems is the easiest thing to do then blaming others is a close second. It’s human nature to look outside at the cause of problems and to focus attention there. But this does little else but alienate your from others.

Nobody wants to be at the receiving end of blame. Focus attention on what is going right and acknowledge the good things individuals and teams are doing before presenting problems.

This is all part of staying in the solution and goes a long way to your building and keeping strong mutually respectful relationships with your peers and co-workers. And isn’t that what enjoying our work is really all about?

Barbara Ashton heads up Excel Personnel’s executive search & permanent staffing division as well as managing new business development. Working throughout British Columbia, across Canada and internationally, her track record in recruitment spans an impressive 25 years recruiting A-level talent for exceptional companies.