Four strategies
To develop and retain your talent
cost-effectively
By David Bischof (Senior Manager – Assessments at Deloitte Consulting)
Trends essentially indicate the need for stronger
leadership and management and the need for better ways
to develop talent faster and more cost effectively.
Results of the Talent Edge 2020, launched by Deloitte, indicate that respondents
anticipate greater executive leadership shortages over the next several years than
any other talent category in their companies. They also rank leadership as their
most pressing talent concern. Trends essentially indicate the need for stronger
leadership and management and the need for better ways to develop talent
faster and more cost effectively.
Here are four strategies to cost-effectively develop and retain talent in your organisation:
1. Skills audits
Many organisations (particularly those in the public sector) are seeking to understand
their own skill levels, status and gaps, so as to drive decision making at strategic
and operational levels and to inform HR activities and development priorities.
With growing pressure from the public for more efficient government spending, skills
audits provide a great opportunity to improve resource utilisation. An effective skills
audit can assist in the execution of the HR strategy with regard to targeted skills
development, management reporting, succession and talent management, strategic
workforce planning, sustainability and the optimal use of talent already in the
organisation.
2. Identification of executive and leadership talent
More and more organisations are now trying to gain a targeted view on talent at
their leadership levels through innovative and scientific assessment methods.
A robust, methodical, objective and well-validated assessment methodology at this
level can provide deep insight into potential for succession planning, which is crucial
at this level to grow an organisation in a highly competitive environment.
A well-structured and effectively communicated talent management project
can go a long way to retain talented individuals, as well as to effectively target
development. Essential predictors of success at this level tend to include:
•Behaviouralcompetencies–canindividualsactuallyperformtherequired
competencies on the job?
•Cognitivecapability–aretheyabletodealwiththecomplexityrequired,anddo
they have the potential to deal with higher levels of complexity?
•Personality–whatpersonalitystrengthswillenablethemtosucceed,andwhere
do personality derailers exist?
Assessment of these areas through a robust and comprehensive assessment
centre can yield valuable information regarding the potential within a
management pool that can be leveraged to the advantage of the organisation.
Four strategies To develop and retain your talent cost-effectively
1
Organisations need to ensure that they assist and
support leaders to acquire and apply skills “on the job”
for maximum effect.
3. Development of executive and leadership talent
Within the current fast-paced organisational environment, executives and leaders are
finding it more difficult to dedicate meaningful time to development. This development
is often not aligned to actual training needs. Targeted training based on the outcomes
of an objective assessment of strengths and developments needs is critical to
ensure that high-impact development takes place.
Organisations need to ensure that they assist and support leaders to acquire
and apply skills “on the job” for maximum effect. There is also a trend towards
more web-based, innovative development initiatives, as opposed to classroom-based
training. These types of engaging and blended learning platforms place the
ball squarely in the court of leaders and executives to take accountability for
targeting and managing their own training.
4. Online talent management
Organisations are increasingly seeking innovative, cost-effective and efficient
methods to identify talent within their organisations, particularly for entry level
leadership positions where the biggest development gap in leadership tends to reside.
Assessment and development methodologies are thus moving away from paper-based,
resource-heavy and time-consuming standpoints, towards online-driven and
resource-light arenas which are time and cost-conscious in their set-up and delivery.
With the ever-changing organisational and talent management landscape, businesses
need fast and innovative methods to make quick and effective talent-management
decisions–andtoensurethattheyretaintherightpeopletoenablesuccess.
Summary
The focus for talent management is starting to show a rapid shift towards more
integrated and online-driven assessment and development initiatives to identify
and develop organisational skills and talent faster and more cost effectively.
Furthermore, the focus seems to be on the identification and development of internal
talent to respond effectively to shifting economic realities.
The answer may be
more obvious than
you would think.
2
Thecorequestionthatleadersinboththeprivatesectorandthepublicsectorneedtoask
themselves is, “what is the financial, health and reputational risk to my organisation in
running a skills-depleted business where the talent gap cannot be effectively addressed?”
The answer may be more obvious than you would think.
For a more detailed discussion relating to talent development and retention challenges
withinyourorganisationandhowtoaddresstheseissues,contactDavidBischof
(SeniorManager–AssessmentsatDeloitteConsulting)[email protected]
or on +27 11 517 4011.
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