Unlocking Success with an Effective Talent Management System

An effective talent management system helps you increase productivity across an employee’s tenure and prepare for the future. Learn what makes for an effective talent management system and how to navigate the challenges of talent management systems in HR.  

In recent times, companies have started taking extra measures to manage, retain, and develop their top talent. In Singapore, more than 1 in 3 employers have already increased or plan to increase how often they provide salary hikes, as part of addressing the challenges of talent management systems. So, how does this crucial talent management function work? What are the different talent management models you can employ, and how do they lead to organizational success? Read on to find out.  

What is Talent Management? 

Talent management entails making investments in an organization's most precious asset: its people. Employers can achieve this by hiring applicants with  skill sets the company seeks, providing opportunities for ongoing learning and development, acknowledging and recognizing team members for their performance, and facilitating their growth within the organization. 

It is extremely important for companies to devote the time and resources to nurture and motivate their employees and invest in  talent management. 

What is a Talent Management Strategy? 

A talent management strategy is a multi-layered, long-term plan that lays out how different components of talent management will operate and the outcomes they must achieve. An effective talent management system will include strategies for: 

• Recruitment: This refers to showcasing the employer brand efficiently, identifying wherever the right candidates can be discovered, preliminary screening of applicants, and evaluating promising candidates – all of which constitute talent acquisition. 
• Training: Recruiting begins with defining the skill sets required to accomplish the company's objectives. Once considered the employee's responsibility, it is now something companies provide employees. This includes initial training soon after the employee joins, and continuous learning & development opportunities. 
• Performance management: Performance management includes activities like assessments and check-ins with managers of teams to assist employees with expanding their skills , boosting engagement, lowering turnover, and improving overall efficiency and productivity. 
• Compensation and benefits: This refers to salaries, incentives, rewards, and other benefits that employers offer to employees to ensure they’re motivated to stay with the company in the long term and perform to their maximum potential.  
• Succession planning: This refers to planning for an employee's career pathway, whether it's a promotion, retirement, or resignation. It is important both for the individual and the role/position that may need to be filled once the incumbent moves on to other roles.  

Learn More: 3 Talent Management Challenges That Can Be Solved With Technology – Highlights from HR Transformation Asia Singapore  

What is a Talent Management System? 

Technically, a talent management system is a collection of processes that make the five components of talent management run smoothly. This may be done manually, but for large companies or those with complex talent requirements, a software-based talent management system is more effective. 

An effective talent management system or TMS, is a unified software platform that facilitates essential talent management processes and includes all HR modules for attracting, hiring, and training employees. 

A cloud-based system offers numerous advantages, including increased data storage capabilities, improved safety, and simplified integration with supplementary apps like learning & development, , and rewards & recognition etc. 

The Importance of an Effective Talent Management System 

In the 1980s and the 1990s, talent management concentrated mainly on cultivating internal talent. During the economic recession, businesses restructured and placed a greater emphasis on recruiting outside talent. In the late 2000s, however, organizations discovered that they were acquiring and losing experienced individuals at approximately the same rate, and this resulted in a renewed emphasis on keeping and cultivating existing employees. 

However, there was little time for HR and recruiters to spend on long-term goals because of paper-based and time-intensive processes. 

In order to integrate all HR talent aspects onto a single platform, efficient talent management systems had to be designed. With integrated, cloud-based talent management systems, processes have become more efficient,  driving profitability, reducing attrition, and building future leaders. 

Learn More: Top 10 Talent Management Trends for 2022  

What is Talent Management in the Context of Succession Planning? 

At its foundation, talent management is the management and support of the complete employee lifecycle, from the initial candidate acquisition to succession planning. Planned departure and succession planning is vital for the development of new leaders in an organization. 

When an employee leaves, you want to avoid a large skills deficit, so making investments in individuals and in their own prospects is a necessary practice. An effective talent management system is crucial for achieving this. 

• It offers visibility into the internal talent you need and potential sourcing options. 

• It enables you to make data-driven decisions while hiring, performance management, and other such processes. 
• It helps enhance business performance by encouraging employees to pursue their professional objectives. 
• Effective talent management software systems facilitate succession planning by enabling companies to track staff competencies and discover potential successors. 

For instance, talent management software delivers the necessary tools for leadership succession planning. You can use the tool to find employees with high leadership potential, provide them with training, and then elevate them to leadership positions. 

What is a Talent Management Framework? 

The objective of talent management is to nurture employees and ensure they perform to their maximum potential and achieve both their personal aspirations and the organizational goals. It is an integral component of the staff planning process. However, because the objectives of various workers and organizations vary, talent management practices must also be adapted accordingly. That is why each company needs its own talent management framework to determine, guide, and drive the five areas of operation we previously discussed. 

Talent management frameworks consist of proactive organizational plans, procedures, and assets for implementing talent management strategies. The most effective talent management frameworks prioritize both overarching organizational goals and a rewarding employee experience, and will be used to lay out all the plans and tasks related to the entire lifecycle of an employee. 

The Four Pillars of a Talent Management Framework 

While the exact framework will vary across organizations, every organization, across industries, must work around the four pillars of talent management that make the function effective and sustainable in the long term. These four pillars of talent management to include in your framework are: 

1. New roles and vacancies management

With an effective talent management system, it is easy to clarify roles and expectations in a straightforward manner. HR teams may define roles with thorough job descriptions, expertise, and experience prerequisites, which is advantageous for workers and recruiters when filling a position. You may additionally establish specific goals for each role that staff members are expected to achieve. The talent management framework must include guidelines and processes that will determine role management. 

2. Competency management and development

Competencies define both the technical and behavioral skills required for employees to succeed in a role. They define the most suitable applicant for the position while offering a framework for evaluating performance and identifying outstanding potential. Every role, department, and organization is going to have distinct requirements, so an effective talent management system must allow for the complete customization of key competencies in order to offer the most value to its users. 

The second of the four pillars of talent management also determines the training and employee development programs in the organization. Therefore, your talent management framework must factor in current and future competencies per role. 

3. Tracking and aligning with performance goals

This pillar enables employees and administrators to plan and monitor their objectives. It provides visibility into initiatives, coordinates meetings, monitors achievements, and supports recognition. Goals elucidate what must be accomplished and when, and they also keep tasks on track. 

An effective talent management system will help supervisors and employees in establishing the link between organizational and individual goals. The framework needs to have structured processes for goal setting and communication, as well as tracking them, rewarding achievers, and correcting poor performers. 

4. Employee experience and engagement management

Productivity is heavily reliant on employee engagement, which is an essential aspect of talent management strategies. Without it, your organization could face the costs linked to disengagement and lose the advantages of a highly motivated workforce.  

The last of the four pillars of talent management is also crucial for employee retention. Therefore, the framework must include processes such as benefits, perks, rewards, engagement surveys, sentiment analysis, etc. to keep the talent invested in their work goals. 

As you begin the task of establishing a talent management framework or enhancing an existing one, consider compiling a set of queries that your team can answer to ensure the framework's success. What are the key business objectives? How can a framework for talent management assist in achieving broader business goals?  What is successful with current attempts to develop talent – and what can be enhanced? What are the challenges of your talent management system – e.g., cost overruns? 

Always come back to the core organizational goals and needs to ensure that your talent management framework is well aligned, and not in dissonance. 

Learn More: Talent Acquisition vs Talent Management vs. HR: A primer  

4 Models and 5 Tips to Implement an Effective Talent Management System 

There are several ways to implement an effective talent management system,and companies have devised different talent management models based on their requirements. 

For example, GE created a prominent talent management model known as the 9-Box model. In accordance with their achievements and potential, this model classifies employees into one of the nine distinct categories. The range of categories includes "high performers" and "non-performers."   

Another instance is the succession planning model, which is frequently used by organizations to find and nurture employees who have the ability to occupy key leadership positions in the future. 

A model that takes into account the growth of all employees is referred to as an inclusive talent management approach, and it can provide substantial benefits to the company and the employee. Some of the other different talent management models include: 

1. The traditional talent management model

Traditional talent management models are less adaptable and less vibrant than their modern versions. It focuses solely on standard HR functions like workforce planning, hiring, selection, instruction, management of performance, and compensation administration. There is barely any use of technology and not a lot of focus on employee engagement. 

2. The new-age digital talent management model

The new paradigm of talent management is driven by online  cloud-first talent management systems. The software encompasses all processes and phases that can take place in talent management. Digital tools and mobile-first applications are used to perform core HR tasks like recruitment as well as employee-centric ones like feedback analysis. 

3. The integrated talent management model

Integrated talent management is the integration of traditional functions, including hiring and selecting, workforce preparation, management of performance, learning and development, rewards, and succession planning, in order to tap into talent more strategically. Instead of working on each operation in isolation, HR teams seek to fully understand each function's wider impact, adjusting every system to more accurately reflect the needs of the organization. 

4. The employee lifecycle model

The employee lifecycle model encompasses the total employee experience. The process begins with recruitment,  then moves on to onboarding, instruction, performance oversight and management, and retention. The model eventually leads to succession planning when an employee leaves a company. 

This talent management model's primary objective is to establish an environment in which employees, at all stages of their tenure, are sufficiently engaged, inspired, and highly productive  – pushing them to contribute to the growth of the organization. 

How to Ensure Talent Management is Effective and Efficient

There are a few best practices that can help you implement an effective talent management system. These are: 

1. Define and quantify what you are looking to achieve

What is the company's primary purpose? What are the organization's mission and vision statements? What outcomes or benchmarks support the goal? What abilities and competencies are required to accomplish the goal? Identify the organization's current and prospective objectives in order to steer the talent management process, and then look for employees who can achieve these objectives. 

2. Outline role success profiles

A success profile is a graphical representation of your ideal candidate's traits, skills, and personality type. It's similar to a consumer persona, in which you create a model of your ideal consumer. Developing success profiles enables rapid identification and evaluation of competencies for the intended position, and the performance expected. Given that competencies are among the four pillars of talent management, success profiles are essential to implement it effectively. 

3. Invest in a strong performance management system

Hiring employees with exceptional potential cannot ensure an efficient talent management system. It is essential that employers keep investing in their workers and provide them with opportunities to advance their skills. Therefore, it is prudent to implement software to support processes for managing performance. This will allow for recurring check-ins, assessments of performance, constructive criticism, goals, and talent development strategies for the future. 

4. Make your workforce planning process more collaborative

Effective workforce planning calls for interdepartmental collaboration. This process encompasses all the planning that goes into the talent procurement strategy, like the budget available to acquire new employees, the timeline of initiatives and outcomes, and the specific competencies required to achieve the current objectives. Collaborative workforce planning makes sure everyone is on the same page with the talent management system and it is implemented uniformly, while making the best use of cross-departmental assets. 

5. Collect and analyze HR and employee data

Using people analytics software solutions allows you to monitor employee data. They align workers and managers with organizational goals and aid in making informed decisions regarding talent management. The lack of a clear analysis framework can expose an organization to liability – for instance, when you inadvertently ignore the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) aspects of talent management due to the lack of workforce composition data. 

Learn More: Talent Management Strategy To Create a Sustainable Workforce  

Navigating the Challenges of Talent Management Systems 

While modern TMS software and different talent management models make life easier for HR departments, challenges and complexities still exist. An effective talent management system will need to navigate the following challenges to succeed: 

1 . High employee turnover 

Talent management systems are primarily concerned with an employee's growth. The development of a worker's expertise and skills will assist them in feeling valued, tested, and, ultimately, fulfilled with their employment. If the TMS fails to function properly, a company may experience a high rate of employee turnover. To navigate this particular challenge of talent management systems, companies need to focus on their engagement strategy and processes, and ensure employee experience is integrated with the TMS. 

2.  A diverse workforce

Leaders establish the tone for the ethos of an organization. Leadership characteristics, mindsets, and practices will determine how talent is supervised by managers. This can be problematic if managers exhibit short-term or compartmentalized thinking.  

It is crucial to have a larger and more diverse talent pool that is visible across the organization in order to address specific business challenges. In addition, managerial bias can arise during succession planning if a supervisor opts for 'talent' who/they are identical to themselves. To navigate this, an effective talent management system will quantify outcomes, gather 360-degree and peer feedback, countering bias, and ensure there’s diversity in the workforce. 

3. Absence of organization-wide collaboration

A siloed strategy for talent management is a major obstacle in several organizations. Ineffective cross-organizational collaboration can restrict an employee's perception of career advancement and chances for promotion. Effective collaboration doesn't just increase productivity but also fosters interpersonal relationships while offering insights into other areas of the organization. This develops a sense of belonging. 

Talent management software that supports multiple roles, access from different devices, and multi-stakeholder tasks can help navigate this. It improves visibility by removing silos, increasing the chances of success. 

Learn More: [Webinar Highlights] Reimagining Talent Management For Tomorrow  

How to Address the Challenges of Talent Management Systems and Maximize Results 

An effective talent management system is invaluable for HR teams. Modern software can streamline processes, quantify outcomes, and provide detailed people analytics to make the best possible talent decisions. An effective talent management system can help you navigate the many challenges of running a business – from economic turmoil and remote/hybrid work to market competition and emerging employee expectations.  

By using an integrated solution like Darwinbox, you can tie-in TMS with your core HR processes like payroll and workforce management to build a seamless and truly effective talent management system. Schedule a demo to learn more.