At one of the Corporate Consultancies that I used to work for, there was a period of staff reduction, following 5 years of rapid growth. Restructures with the insecurity of job losses are always stressful, and so we spent a long time working out the strategy for change. How to communicate with staff and what support to give to those who would be displaced. We ran the programme well, and at the end of the process, achieved our goal and reached our savings target.

However, in the 6 months following the restructure we received resignations from a large number of highly valued, well performing staff. When we attempted to retain these individuals, the feedback we received was that they didn’t feel secure in their role and that they didn’t feel valued or invested in. They certainly hadn’t realised that they were considered part of the top 10% of the Company.

This company DID NOT have a Talent Management Strategy! They didn’t invest in ensuring that their top performers were happy and motivated.

So, What is Talent Management?

The CIPD describes Talent Management as ‘the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles’

3 key reasons why Talent Management is key:

Staff turnover will be reduced
Client delivery will be improved
Your organisation becomes a ‘employer of choice’

The Vlog on this subject, can be found here. Let us know how you motivate and retain your top talent in the comments section below.

Next week, we will cover how to start creating your Talent Management Strategy.