The Importance and Significance of a Talent Management Strategy - Essay Example

Introduction Talent management is a critical factor in the human resources strategies within an organization. The skill of talent management is usedto in the hiring or recruiting skilled employees. Today’s production systems focus on the use of human capital where the power of human resources comes first. In a scenario where the human resources are unskilled, unmotivated and work not as a team then organizations tend to fail. In the scenario presented in this case, we take a look at a company by the name of Candlelight Inc. which is a telecom based company. This company had been operating successfully in the past but of late the organization has faced several challenges emanating from human resource management issues. Talent Management Strategy In light of the challenges facing Candlelight Inc. it is important for the new consultants who have been hired to turn around the company to adopt prudent talent management strategies. As part of Triad Consulting group which was hired to develop a talent management strategic plan, Candlelight Inc. has to rely on its strengths to overcome its challenges as the core of the talent management strategic plan (Israelite 30). The most pragmatic talent strategic plan will be implemented in phases and sections which need organizational change. The talent management plan recommended by Triad consulting groups will focus on the following areas: a) Creation of a new Human Resources department to be headed by a senior vice president in charge of Human Resources. The SVP of administration has been overwhelmed by controlling several departments under him leading to high staff turnover. The new Human resource department will be responsible for hiring talented staffs as part of talent management. Under the new Human Resource department, a complaints and dispute resolution section should be created to solve the issues facing staff at the organization. The new Human Resource department will be also responsible for undertaking negotiations with unions concerning employee commitments. In some cases the Human Resource will be responsible for advising the CEO on the prospects of outsourcing the employee recruitment process in difficult situations such as Unions impasse (Davis 126). b) Candlelight Inc. needs to stay competitively ahead of other organizations and therefore, the company needs to hire talented employees who will steer the company’s new Research and Development (R&D) department. The SVP for R&D is talented though he does not have the people management skills. As a result, Candlelight should merge the R&D and the marketing departments. The new department should be headed by the sales and marketing SVP who is good at motivating staff while the R&D department will be responsible for creating innovative products (Silzer 71). c) In the process of talent management, it is a good procedure to boost the morale of the employees as a measure of enhancing productivity and increasing efficiency. One of the strategies to be implemented in the strategic plan is to train and develop new employees for them to feel empowered and appreciated. One of the best strategies of reducing turnover in a company is to make the employee feel appreciated for his/her contribution (Blass 78). This could be achieved through offering good perks to employees with offers such as paid holidays, company share buy plans, cars and so on. Such strategies help employees feel more appreciated and motivated to work extra hard. d) The biggest problem facing Candlelight Inc. is lack of flexibility in terms of leadership. The company’s SVP for Administration has been in the same position for a long time and thus the company lacks succession planning. The company should come up with a succession planning scheme that allows for upward mobility for low cadre employees to rise up the ranks. e) Last but not least is the development of a communication channel whereby the company’s expectations can be easily communicated to all employees. Employees should share information easily in a cross-functional manner that is capable of creating a cross-cultural network. This strategy is important in the development of a teamwork environment. At the same time, Candlelight Inc. should create a position for a SVP to be in charge of Change Strategy (Israelite 42). The duty of this individual will be to oversee the talent management strategy is implemented while in consultation with the CEO. Executive Summary Talent management is at the core or implementing organizational strategy since human resources are the drivers of organizational strategy implementation. Candlelight Inc. has enjoyed success due to its experienced staff in the past. However, lack of a clear strategy in talent management in connection to human resources changed the company’s fortunes. Candlelight Inc. is a market leader in telecom manufacturing but it may lose its market position due to poor talent management (Silzer 97). Human resources are the most important asset in an organization and thus, Candlelight Inc. should value its employees by introducing plans such as succession planning. Some other problems that Candlelight Inc. faced include the non-alignment of business strategy with talent management plans. The leadership structure of Candlelight Inc. created potential problems in that the company structure and power were laid on the SVP for Operations. For a large company like Candlelight Inc. a R&D department should have been created long ago together with a sales and marketing department to gain competitive advantage over its opponents (Davis 109). Communication is important in the establishment of a cross-cultural team with capabilities of overcoming challenges. Candlelight Inc.’s move to acquire a new facility in South America will create the challenge of escalating the human resource management problems. The human resource department of Candlelight Inc. should be more proactive to enable the company hire qualified and competent staff in the achievement of the organizational change. The immense challenge of implementing talent management is commitment and consistency by the organizational leadership in realizing the talent management plan (Blass 131). As part of the Triad Consulting Group that drew the talent management strategy, we recognised that it is important to hire and retain competent staff in implementing organizational strategy. High staff turnover leads to discourse in the realization of the organizational goals and objectives. As a result, talent management is a skill that should be taken seriously by organizational leaders or decision makers. Works Cited Blass, Eddie. Talent management: cases and commentary. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Davis, Tony. Talent assessment: A new strategy for talent management. San Francisco, CA: University of Berkley Publications, 2007. Print. Israelite, Larry. Talent Management: Strategies for Success from Six Leading Companies. London: Murray Publications, 2009. Print. Silzer, Rob and Dowell, Ben. Strategy-Driven Talent Management: A Leadership Imperative. Chicago, IL: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print. Read More