Abhijit BhaduriGuest Author
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Talent 2021

By | Abhijit Bhaduri |Keynote speaker, Author and Columnist

The Society for Human Resources Management just concluded its two day conference. On 15-16 April 2021, the top thinkers of the profession in India and abroad shared how they viewed the evolving landscape. The opening keynote on 15th April 2021 by Johnny Taylor @JohnnyCTaylorJr , President and CEO of SHRM talked about the changing workplace.

The tech community rose to the challenge of Y2K. The financial community had to address the 2008 financial crisis. 2020 certainly was the year when the Human Resources community came centre-stage.

The tech community rose to the challenge of Y2K. The financial community had to address the 2008 financial crisis. 2020 certainly was the year when the Human Resources community came centre-stage.

The New Workplace

The pandemic turned the workplace on its head. HR was expected to pitch in and help in business continuity. The employees had to be kept safe. Managers depended on HR for issues around compliance, toolkits, playbooks, new policies and legal advice (would domestic violence or an accident count as violence/ injury in the workplace?).

Divisive and sensitive issues

Leaders cannot longer say that the employees discuss what strictly appears to be part of the job. That is a thing of the past. CEOs have to take a position on issues that were considered beyond the firm’s purview eg LGBTQ rights or race relations. So the leaders have to build an environment where it is possible to discuss issues openly. If you cannot talk about it openly and candidly, you cannot fix it.

“63% of Americans think CEOs should step in
when governments do not fix societies’
problems.”
— Edelman

Bridge the Gaps

  1. Access to top talent: Organisations are no longer limited by the talent that is available to them within a 50 mile radius. They can now reach out to global talent pool. It will be harder for businesses to retain top talent. Recruiting an on boarding will have to be done virtually and HR has to learn how to use technology to do it well.

  2. Well-being will include physical and mental well-being: 64% of employees feel isolated and burnt out because of the new work conditions. 25% employees feel “depressed often”. Some companies in Asia have appointed an Emotional Well-being Officer.

  3. Focus on women in the talent pool: The pandemic has taken the greater toll on working women. If HR does not address it, we stand to lose decades of slow progress made to make the work places more equitable. Some manufacturing sector jobs are being made open to women.

  4. Leverage HR Tech: Training and professional development have to be made available any time anywhere. Technology such as VR and AR make it possible for everyone to learn in new ways. Worldwide less than 25% organisations expect to invest in reskilling and upskilling. Succession planning is not practised in most organisations. Embrace tech to make the workplace better.

Empathy is a business skill: Polarisation in the workplace happens when we only focus on our own views. Empathy is a business skill because the empathy gap is impacting productivity. Parents do not understand the worldview of singles. People with different political views do not appreciate each other.

Empathy is a business skill: Polarisation in the workplace happens when we only focus on our own views. Empathy is a business skill because the empathy gap is impacting productivity. Parents do not understand the worldview of singles. People with different political views do not appreciate each other.

The Science of Talent is Unchanged

If Johnny Taylor’s message was about the changes in HR, Marc Effron’s session suggested that the science behind talent management remains unchanged. I am summarising them

  1. The leadership team must agree on the talent philosophy. They must agree on how the firm will view performance. How widely will they differentiate between the top performers and the rest. Will they hold the people managers account for the development of their team. Will they be transparent with the individuals about their future prospects.

  2. Set no more than 3-4 BIG goals. Individuals respond to additional challenge with additional effort. Every goal should be set to the maximum level of stretch. Read more

  3. Drive business results with coaching. Every quarter discuss with your team member two things that are going well and two that need to be addressed going forward.

  4. Build depth of talent by using education, experience and exposure. Do talent reviews. Think of talent like a Talent Production Line . Start by defining what great talent looks like. According to Marc Effron, ‘to define “great” throw away your competency cards and ask your customers to describe what they want the finished product to do. You’ll hear their specifications described in real-world language that makes it easier to design an actual production process.’

    Read more

talent Production Line.png

Hold the people managers accountable for developing their teams.

Here is a sketchnote to summarise the ideas.
Sketchnote - Marc Effron.jpg

I work with organisations across the world to create their talent strategy. If you want to connect with me, drop me a mail at abhijitbhaduri@live.com

Republished with permission and originally published at www.abhijitbhaduri.com

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