Did you know that amongst the FTSE 50 and Fortune 100 companies, the majority of HR Directors spend 25% of their time focused on one specific activity – monitoring, nurturing and growing the best of their internal talent?
That’s quite a statistic – and indicative of top-level, home-grown talent being seen as an extremely high priority. So if that’s ‘best practice’ and ‘world class behaviour’, the question has to be posed – what on earth is the rest of the private sector in the UK up to, never mind the public and social sectors as well?
Why is it so hard to grasp? Productivity tends to be greater when employees are engaged and feel valued. Employers, who demonstrate their commitment to the workforce through recognising, rewarding, fostering and growing internal talent undoubtedly send a powerful message to employees that they are valued.
So, what reasons do HR Directors at these big global businesses give for focusing such a high proportion of their time on managing internal top talent? And what’s more, why do their CEOs and Boards expect them to do this?
- It saves on recruiting externally: manage and develop your own people properly and you generate more internal candidates for top vacancies
- It reduces staff turnover: staff know that they will be developed and groomed as serious potential candidates for senior roles, so they tend to stay on, move around the organisation, gain greater experience and valuable knowledge does not walk out of the door to a competitorIt ‘walks the talk’: how many organisations state that ‘people are our greatest asset’ and then do little to make a reality of that statement?
- It’s good for morale: top talent likes knowing that the organisation is looking out for themIt’s good governance: proper and effective succession planning is a key governance responsibility for any organisation of whatever size in whatever sector and should be applied at all levels
- Above all, it makes good commercial sense, regardless of sector: investing in people delivers improved performance and outcomes, whether judged by bottom line or through service delivery
- And in a time of austerity – it saves money
With the above in mind, here are some thoughts:
On growing your own
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It’s absurd not to invest in and develop your own people. Not to do so:
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Is a waste of resource
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Risks your top talent and knowledge walking out the door as soon as they can find a better opportunity
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Risks all your staff talent being less motivated and less productive
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Risks your hidden gems of talent remaining just that
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The business loses great opportunities
Irregular (if at all) and dishonest performance reviews does not develop talent
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Performance reviews need to be a positive and constructive experience, rather than negative and destructive – or worse, deceitful
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Contrary to hype, most staff in all sectors actually want to do well; they lap up honest, constructive critique that is thoughtful, accurate and well-intended
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‘Going through the motions’ reviews kills staff motivation and respect
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Ideally, reviews should be at the end of each major project, and if not then at least quarterly; waiting for 12 months to formally discuss a development need is madness
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And above all, failure to identify clear development needs (as well as opportunities) is an abdication of management responsibility at best, and commercial lunacy at worst
Mentoring and coaching programmes are probably some of the most cost-effective initiatives that you can deliver for your staff.
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Whether the mentors are internal, external (or ideally, a combination of both), they are a vital tool for growing your talent
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Failure to tap into people’s passion, enthusiasm, interest or sheer talent (including latent talents) – and provide development opportunities or projects (provided they can be accommodated within the scope of the strategic aims of the organisation) is a massive own goal
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You will likely know your staff for what they are; the key is what they could yet do, if given the opportunity
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This is about unlocking the talent that is within us all
And finally, its about letting go of specific models of what success and top talent looks like
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Diverse teams tend to make more informed decisions
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Talent comes in all shapes, sizes, heights, weights, widths, ethnicities, ages, genders, orientations, accents, nationalities, faiths, introverts/extroverts, … the list goes on
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And the best of talent in any one section, department, business unit, activity, sector, and country – tends to be as good as the best of talent in any other
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Stereotyping of what we think talent looks and sounds like is a recipe for miss-managing talent, not uncovering hidden gems, and a total failure to develop an organisation’s most expensive resource
Employers should involve employees and their representatives in the development of their talent strategy and recruitment policy.
However, sometimes you will be minded to recruit externally to:
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Introduce new ideas and new skills, and access to new networks and customer relations
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Ensure that you infuse your human resource with the best talent available
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Challenge existing ways of doing things
Even so, if you have senior vacancies, look internally first:
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If you are always thinking about succession planning, then you should always have potential internal candidates for any senior role
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Consider carefully the benefits of giving emerging or top talent some broader experience
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Growing your own means taking some risks
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However, risks can be minimized when you also provide people with the right mentoring and coaching support
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People need to be helped to succeed – not dumped in a job and left to sink or swim
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Recruitment is not the start – it’s just the beginning When there is external recruitment the rationale for this should be clearly communicated.
If you want to test the external market as well, or are not sure if you have a suitable internal candidate, then:
Prepare the specifications for the role such that all internal candidates from your and other sectors are not effectively excluded. Every time you recruit, the specifications need to be re-visited, and challenged.
If using recruiters/headhunters:
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Encourage ‘credible’ potential internal applicants
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Insist that ‘credible’ potential internal candidates are interviewed alongside externals on exactly the same basis
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For those internal applicants who are not yet ‘credible’, ask that the headhunter put them through a ‘developmental interview, and provide feedback after (both to the candidates and yourself) to assist with career development
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Be certain that any application/interview process is reviewed to ensure fairness, candidate ease and cutting out any irrelevant froth or bureaucracy
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Be certain that your headhunter is not applying their own prejudice, either about what sector candidates must/must not come from, or about what success looks like, and thus seeking to exclude candidates (internal or external) who they do not feel fit ‘their’ stereotype; recruitment is not meant to be about what or who a headhunter likes or dislikes – it’s about you, the employer, and your needs
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Don’t obsess about what size budgets and numbers of staff candidates have managed in the past; more important is that if this new role will require a major increase in either or both, do they understand how they will need to adapt their management styles to manage both effectively? This is most particularly the case with internal candidates – for how can a person ever grow if they are not given the chance?
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Insist on detailed reports/evaluations of all candidates interviewed o Insist on all candidates being given full feedback at the end of the process; candidate care is paramount, as is your organisation’s reputation
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With regard to internal candidates interviewed but not appointed, use the opportunity to work with them after to agree development needs, action and support o With regard to the person appointed (internal or external), prior to them starting, sit down to discuss the decision, development needs, networking needs, any skills/knowledge gaps – and agree mentoring/coaching support.
As the balance of the economy shifts between the business, public and social sectors and, in particular as public service delivery becomes more pluralistic, it is vital that we have more professional and managerial leaders who have experience of more than one sector.
People need to be encouraged and supported to move between the sectors in their natural career paths. When recruiting staff, leaders have a responsibility to facilitate such progression. For example, a public sector body procuring from the business sector would benefit from having senior staff that have business sector experience; and the reverse applies to business sector suppliers.
As will be obvious, we do not subscribe to the view that any one sector is better than another. Our view is that all sectors have much talent and skill, coupled with commitment and professionalism. Our plea to leaders across the social, business and public sectors is recognise, respect, nurture and reward your own talent – but also be prepared, intelligently, to import new talent when necessary.
The tragedy is that too many organisations take their own people for granted, fail to develop both overt and hidden talent, and thus miss real opportunities that would both benefit employees and the organisation.
Grow your own – and when you do go external, do so properly and intelligently. All organisations need the best motivated and talented people. It makes operational and commercial sense – and delivers better outcomes.