With the costs of living ever on the rise and, in many ways, job seekers maintaining the upper hand in the job market these days, employee retention and thus business growth are—perhaps now more than ever—at the fore of every manager’s mind. This is because employees are in large part what determine an organization’s growth and thus overall success. So, of course, whenever we talk about business growth, we first need to address talent management and retention.
So, how can you improve your talent management skills to grow your business effectively and consistently in the long-term?
Let’s start with the ways in which talent management controls business growth.
How Effective Talent Management Drives Business Growth
From the very beginning (recruitment/poaching) to the end (exit interviews and offboarding) of an employee’s time at an organization, they are one of the main forces that determine a company’s success.
Specifically, as the Broadstreet Financial Review outlines, countless quantitative and qualitative business growth indicators are based on worker retention and performance. These include customer retention rate, satisfaction, and loyalty, labour turnover rate and organization reputation, and operational performance and productivity.
And, in the worst-case scenarios, what prevents a business from reaching its full potential are mis-hires and unengaged employees. Preventing such worst-case scenarios, then, requires a careful focus on hiring the right talent and fostering their internal growth and development.
So, the question now is will your talent management strategies support or hinder your business’s growth in the long-term? Here are 6 key components to consider when examining your existing talent management strategies.
6 Key Components of Effective Talent Management
1. An Efficient and Equitable Talent Acquisition Practice
Starting with an efficient and equitable recruiting and hiring practice is, as aforementioned, crucial to prevent mis-hires. But more than to ensure someone is well-suited for a position, it’s important to ensure your hiring practices are both efficient and equitable.
Most often than not, this means filtering candidates blindly or by features that are not limited to hard skills, like education or level of training (wherever possible). This is so candidates of all backgrounds and identities are equally considered for positions for which they are well suited.
In fact, equitable hiring process is becoming more and more widely accepted to be a default these days to ensure improved inclusivity and diversity in the workforce.
And not having an equitable hiring practice can suggest both to the general public and to your own employees that these things are not a priority for you as an organization.
So, show you care about equity and diversity within the workplace by using an equitable hiring process, like we do here at Workwolf. In fact, you can use the very same hiring system we use—that is, one that focuses solely on soft skills rather than on hard skills or even identity markers—by signing up for a Workwolf business account here.
2. Clear and SMART Goals for Employees
Once you’ve hired your star talent based on their potential to succeed in a given job function and field of work, you’ll need to set them up for success by offering them measurable and attainable goals to reach. Not only will these motivate employees, it will also allow you to better lay out a plan for achieving large-scale business goals in smaller steps.
These goals should not nor cannot be vague or lofty for the employee’s and the organization’s foreseeable future. They need to be SMART goals (i.e., specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).
So, start with the most immediate and SMART goal you can offer your employees. Eventually, your team will reach goals that collectively contribute to your organization’s growth.
3. Long-Term Methods for Retention and Internal Growth
One of the most noticeable ways a company can lose its momentum is in quiet quitting or mass resignations—both of which have been massive work trends in the past two years. So, monitoring employee engagement and satisfaction can save you and your organization from having to lose precious time and resources on a re-hire.
As well, of course, employee retention goes beyond merely keeping employees happy and engaged in their current positions. It also means retaining them long-term by lining them up for internal growth opportunities for when the time comes.
This way, if another employee leaves, you have your bases covered and you won’t need to hire externally for a higher position—one that inevitably will require more extensive training.
4. Opportunities for Further Education and Skill Development
Even if you hire the most qualified and best suited candidate for a position, without on-going training and skills updates, eventually your business growth will plateau.
So, periodically, make sure your employees are updating their skills, taking online courses or workshops, and are making connections within the industry (on LinkedIn or other platforms, for example) to make sure they’re staying up-to-date.
And supporting education and skill development, in fact, means financially supporting your employees’ ventures to do so. So, encourage your employees to find courses or workshops that really pique their interests and will challenge them in their work. Then, of course, pay for them.
You’re sure to reap the benefits in no time!
5. Accurate Ways to Measure Employee Performance
Of course, in addition to offering and overseeing your employees’ goal setting, you’ll need to review how well they’re achieving their goals.
More specifically, you’ll need to be able to measure your employees’ performances in a way that both acknowledges their hard work and success and motivates them to continue improving.
With that said, it’s a fine line to walk between discouraging and leaving an employee feeling like they are no longer being challenged in their work. So, in order to make sure an employee feels they can adequately approach their goals, make sure to:
- set fair and standardized criteria for all employees within the same level of position
- (i.e., do not measure them with the same criteria as those with higher paying or higher ranking positions. They’re not paid enough for that kind of responsibility!)
- address specific performance issues with examples from their work and backed by quantitative data where possible
- (i.e., you need to share how someone is not doing well, if this is the case)
- offer tangible actions the employee may take to become more successful in the future
6. Leadership Skills That Transfer onto Employees
With all of the above stated, there’s only so much you can ask of your employees without having to also do some of this work yourself as well. Demonstrate the initiatives you want to see others taking.
As well, if you embody what you want your employees to embody—such as the organization’s values and behaviours—your employees will more naturally want to do so, as well.
This will also show that you as a leader are not above the expectations of other employees and you’re willing to walk the walk.
Do you have any other advice for those looking to improve their talent management? We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment on our LinkedIn post for this blog.
