Talent Management Often demeaned and long disregarded

Fri Feb 15, 2013

by Suzanne Joachim

Human Capital management, especially talent management, has been “often demeaned and long disregarded” as a business and political strategy in the OECS. Education, yes; human capital management — an incredibly strategic discipline for companies and governments to achieve their strategic and operational objectives — no!{{more}}

I am therefore not surprised that the 2012 ECCU review, under the theme “Realism and Hope”, delivered by Sir Dwight Venner, only alluded to, but did not sufficiently insert human capital management and, by extension, talent management, as one of the pillars, potent forces or strategic imperatives in moving the region forward.

The recent debacle with one of SVG’s oldest financial institutions — St Vincent and the Grenadines Building and Loan, among other things, clearly bears out my aforementioned assertion. In spite of talent management being the key to the success of the business, performance measurements and general discussions surrounding this public issue seem only to be assessed and ventilated in terms of financial and legal obligations; not talent management which integrates strategies or systems designed to increase productivity, efficiency and innovation at the BOD, management, employee levels.

The absence of a deliberate, thought out, future-oriented talent management strategy at the private sector and public sector levels “are real show-stoppers”, to use the Governor’s term. The resultant outmigration from our countries to North America and beyond will endure, the poor work ethic will persist and productivity will continue to miss the competitiveness mark, if we fail to invest in our talent inventories and strategies of our respective island peoples. Innovation and creativity, which drive success, will not flourish and we will not be able to exploit potential exporting opportunities and attendant Economic Partnership Agreements on offer. The army of Generation X and Y, who will be the bedrock upon which our island nations are developed, will implode! Moreover, we will carry on assigning our diminished progress and fiscal plight to our sociological impediment, borne out of a historical legacy of slavery and colonialism.

Talent Management, while not a panacea for the under-performing private and public sectors, overstretched governments and weak and dependent civil societies, asserted as our current realities — ought to be viewed as one of the strategic imperatives — moving human capital management/talent management from transactional to a strategic and tactical process.

The functional areas of talent management (workforce planning, management performance systems, competency models, succession planning, compensation, talent management software systems) ought not to be managed using the current scattershot approach. Talent is the key to helping businesses grow in the private sector and a weapon for development at the public sector level. However, it is clearly a missing ingredient within these two sectors in the OCES.

Let us examine the two distinct sectors — public and private — in light of best practice for three of the aforementioned tenets of talent management, namely: workforce planning, performance management systems and compensation. A definite growth and developmental path for governments or the private sector, in the short-term, medium term and long-term, requires deliberate workforce planning — a process whereby workforce demand and supply forecasts are completed based on an in-depth analysis of the strategic direction of the government or the business. An attendant inventory and development of skills, knowledge and abilities, competencies (behavioural and technical) required to achieve a predetermined development path, as articulated in the economic and social development plan in the case of the government and a strategic plan in the case of the private sector business, is an absolute necessity, yet visibly absent!

In our small island states, there is very little evidence that the workforce planning process is a deliberate one. Human capital policies and practices appear not to be developed, aligned and assessed based on how well they support social and economic development plans of our respective countries and well thought out strategic plans within businesses. As a side bar, in many instances, these two aforementioned processes are noticeably absent. Instead, human resources/capital have been primarily viewed through budgetary lens — as costs to be cut, not assets to be managed and developed — punto final! Moreover, political demands on one hand and business demands on the other hand, have morphed these best practices. Worse still, in some instances, there is no cognizance of the need for them.

Performance management systems which promote efficiencies in implementing governments economic and social development plans and link the government’s goals by cascading them to departments, teams and individuals, are in many cases not yet operational or possibly taboo! Similarly, in the private sector, there is little evidence of high performance management systems which are underpinned by formalized strategic planning processes that quantity goals and detailed plans of actions, as well as strategy cascaded, implemented and controlled through a set of performance measures and budgeting. As a result, we are repeatedly living out the aphorism: “What is not measured cannot be managed”. Or, “What gets measured gets done”.

Performance management systems will definitely ensure clarity regarding work expectations and standards, as well as Governance at the BOD level. These systems will align key performance indicators of the government and the private sector vertically and horizontally through all job categories and levels – pointing towards bottom line MEASURES and RESULTS. Importantly, the process will continually enhance employee competence, through the identification of output-related training and development needs and strategies. Moreover, it will facilitate performance-based remuneration and rewards, so employees can see a clear link between performance and the rewards they receive, not a culture of cost of living pay increases and bonus entitlements.

The process will also engage employees, so that they can be empowered to realize their fullest potential. The latter will become more urgent as we consider the army millennials (Gen X & Y) who will comprise a significant portion of the workforce in years to come. So, why are we so performance measurement averse? We shouldn’t, since according to Thomas Paine, an 18th century activist, a “body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody, ought not to be trusted by anybody”. We must have personal and professional accountability for bottom line success of our organizations.

People are assets whose value can be enhanced through investment, so that operational efficiencies and innovation can take place. This stance is supported by one of leading Human Resource institutions – the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) – underscoring that talent management integrates strategies or systems designed to increase productivity, efficiency and innovation at the BOD, management, employee levels, by developing improved processes for attracting, developing, retaining and utilizing people with the required skills and aptitude to meet current and future business needs. However, “positive cash flows cover a multitude of sins” says Johnny C. Taylor, one of the modern day HR Thought Leaders.

Address comments and criticisms to: sjoachim@joachimandassociates.com