Talent strategy: definition, pillars and how to develop it

Talent strategy is part of the companies’ recruitment plan that rely on this aptitude to attract and retain human capital.

Knowing how to build a talent strategy means understanding that is based on the pillars that support it, which we will develop in this article. 

Similarly, we will show you the basic steps for developing an ideal talent strategy. 

What is a talent strategy?

A talent strategy is a strategic plan that helps organizations recruit, develop and retain the employee profiles that best match the needs and performance of a given position. 

This type of strategy takes into account not only the employees’ current skills but also their training for the development of future activities, as well as paying attention to important signs in the employee such as whether the Dunning Kruger effect, for example, is occurring.

In addition, the talent strategy is ideal for identifying potential gaps in these skills that, thanks to early detection, are likely to be corrected before they progress.   

10 pillars of a talent strategy 

The talent strategy is based on a number of pillars that support talent management in HR.

Here are the 10 pillars of talent strategy that we believe are key.

Operational excellence 

The goal is to create a culture of excellence in which employees keep up with new technologies and seek to improve their skills and opportunities in the company.   

Strategic alignment 

All departments and stakeholders must be aware of the goal to be achieved and the importance of being strategically aligned to achieve it.

This alignment must be vox populi so that all employees are aware of it.

Workforce development

Developing employees with new competencies and skills exponentially increases retention rates, employee engagement and competitiveness. 

Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more productive and likely to stay with the company longer. 

To support employee development, HR managers need to map career paths around differentiating skills and motivate employees to complete their skill portfolios.

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Agile learning

The combination of agile learning and dynamic training practices makes learning ostensibly improve the skills required of a talented professional. 

This can be achieved by applying several measures: 

• Connecting learning and earnings curves to measure and report the impact of learning as a source of key skills. 
• Leveraging skills strategies, such as using data insights, to tailor learning delivery at the point of need. 
• Implementing agile learning practices to accelerate the development of skills at the speed and scale of need.

Internal mobility  

Internal mobility allows organizations to leverage prior knowledge of current and future employee skills and competencies to ensure that employees’ choices are the best fit for the new roles for which they are being profiled.

In general, most organizations’ internal mobility programs and policies tend to be based on permanent transfers by function, when in reality an organization’s leaders and key projects require more fluid mobilities that, in addition to stability, allow for flowing and attracting talent when and where it will work best. 

Diversity

The key is to know the richness of each professional in order to take advantage of their strengths, whether they are technological or human. 

Quality of talent

Recruiting top talent is a challenge for headhunters, who know that this type of professional brings a performance that can be much more effective, regardless of the complexity of the position. 

Retaining top performers is possible by increasing their employability. 

Organizations should focus the development of their most talented employees on those skills that enhance their employability and personal growth, not just their roles. 

Employee engagement

The direct consequences of disengaged employees are: higher absenteeism, higher safety risk, poorer customer relations, lower productivity and therefore lower profitability. 

Talent experience

This is an increasingly important factor for organizations. 

A good employee experience translates into a superior sense of belonging, a greater engagement and a bigger likelihood that employees will bet on innovation and self-improvement. 

In fact, recruiting talent with a human-centered brand connection helps to increase engagement even further, as employees feel positive about their daily work experience, are willing to explore how life at the company fits with their unique and individual needs, and develop a sense of trust in the organization through transparency and authenticity. 

Skills gaps

Identifying critical skills gaps through strategic workforce planning and technology allows you to anticipate future talent needs in light of business priorities. 

This identification goes beyond simple workforce forecasting and short-term staffing needs. 

It is important to identify professionals with skills that may be needed in the future, even as those skills change in today’s volatile employment landscape. 

8 steps to developing a talent strategy 

There are 8 steps to developing a talent strategy, which are detailed below: 

Understand business goals  

It is always important to know where you are going and, in this case, it is especially important to align with the business strategy on which to focus the efforts and actions of the HR department. To this end, it is useful to rely on strategies such as the knowledge economy, among others.

Aspects such as achieving a certain level of digitalization, focusing on innovation or pursuing operational excellence are examples of business objectives that include talent strategy.

In fact, it will evolve according to the guidelines and changes in the company’s business strategies. 

Understand and join company culture 

Failure to understand the culture of the organization can be counterproductive to talent strategy. 

As mentioned in the previous point, it is essential that the company’s culture and goals are the ones that shape the search, attraction and retention of talent. 

For example, if the company is committed to digital transformation and, in line with this, task automation is common practice, the talent strategy will have to take into account that professional profiles that do not have technological skills will have no place in the selection processes. 

Run a talent assessment 

Talent assessment helps identify and prevent talent gaps and skills shortages in the workforce. 

It can even be used to create training plans to fill these gaps once they are identified.  

When conducting a talent assessment, it is important to think not only in the present, but also in the future, in order to get more appropriate job profiles. 

Develop a plan to set gaps and needs 

In addition to looking to the future, it is important to look back and learn from past problems to see how they affected the structure of the company. 

It is also important to analyze the projects with more expansion possibilities in order to better control the possible resources that will be needed, the profile of the professionals that will be involved, as well as if it will be necessary to incorporate new roles and if they will affect the talent strategy.

Design a recruitment plan

Having a recruitment plan helps not only to recruit but also to attract and retain the most suitable profiles, saving time and money in the process. 

This plan will be designed taking into account the recruitment objectives, the profiles of possible ideal candidates, the recruitment strategy, the selection process to be carried out and the tools that will be needed, whether they are technological or not. 

Set a learning and development plan 

A learning and development plan is designed to improve the knowledge, skills and therefore the competencies of employees. 

Once the learning plan has been designed, specifying the objectives to be achieved, the plan can be created to move from theory to practice and then to evaluate and monitor the results. 

Building a retention plan 

When building a retention plan, keep in mind that employees who feel they have opportunities to grow and develop are more likely to be engaged, perform better at their jobs and not think about going elsewhere. 

As a result, companies that invest in employee training and development are able to reduce turnover and increase retention rates. 

Create a succession plan 

In most companies, there are critical roles and having employees prepared for succession helps to avoid problems if they leave unexpectedly or for some reason they are unable to develop their work. 

At SMOWL we are committed to technology that helps you work in a secure environment, that’s why we have designed proctoring plans that not only guarantee security but also respect the privacy of potential candidates or employees. 

If you want to know more, just ask for a free demo where we will show you how we adapt to create customized solutions for your project.

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