Patti & Ken Leith: Talent Planning – What? Why? How?

Editor’s note: This guest commentary was written by Patti and Ken Leith, the founders of Bentonville-based EDGES, Inc. and Fort Collins, Colorado-based (e)Gauge, Inc. You can review more of their work at www.e-gauge.com. 

Any work that gets done in an organization should be targeted at achieving the organization’s goals. 

People complete all the work; therefore, any growth in an organization must involve growth of its people. That doesn’t mean just send everyone to a training class of their choice. While doing so would send a message that your people are important, the training would probably not help them improve in areas which help deliver goals improvement. Thus, it mandates that growth should be focused on improving in the areas an individual needs to grow to effectively complete the tasks within a job and deliver results. 

What is Talent Planning? 
It’s an organization anticipating its requirements for qualified personnel, and planning to meet those requirements. The word talent, in this case, refers to the collection of skills/competencies held by the people within an organization. A talent plan is an analysis of what skills/competencies will be needed, along with a means to acquire and/or develop those skills within the workforce. 

Why is Talent Planning Critical for Growth? 
Organizations often miss growth targets because they don’t realize (or don’t think about) what it would really take to meet them. All too often, when a team develops a strategic plan for growth, they talk about what they will accomplish. But it isn’t only about talk. A good strategic plan maps out how the targets will be met. 

All too often, organizations don’t consider the new skills people will need to develop in order to contribute. As a result, failure is highly likely. An example would be a manufacturing company pursuing a global growth plan without the skills and knowledge to sell and ship to another country. Another would be a services firm trying to develop a national brand presence without marketing expertise. 

In both scenarios, a good talent plan could have averted costly mistakes. Without that plan, the organization will scramble to find or develop the skills within its existing personnel. 

How Should a Talent Plan Be Developed?  
The first step is a solid analysis of competencies needed to meet the goals. It should include a look at what the work will entail and what competencies are needed to complete the work well. For example, if a strategic plan calls for a shift in the sales team’s focus from product to solution, the sales team will need different skills to make that transition. This step should always involve the repetitive question, “What will that take?”  

This competency analysis is critical to the rest of the talent plan. You have to know what you need in order to hire for it (recruiting). You have to know what competencies are needed for goal completion in order to develop existing personnel to be effective (workforce development). You have to train existing personnel in the new skills needed in order to keep them (retention).  This study, when done by position, can be the foundation for performance reviews, which include results measures.  This will enable the assessment and development of skills and provide a foundation to hold team members accountable for job responsibilities and incentivize performance.  

The next step is a comparison of the competencies needed against what currently exists. Once you understand what you need, you need to determine if you have it within the talents of your team. The best way to do this is to make sure that job descriptions and performance reviews are competency-based. Person by person, you need to understand what talents they possess. Keep in mind the importance of a good tracking system for all of this information. 

This analysis will show where the gaps are, clearly defining who needs development in which areas, as well as the needs for external talent recruitment. When documented and tracked well, this becomes your Talent Plan. 

Consider this final note about job placement, whether an external recruit or an internal placement. 

The decision should be much more substantive than the commonly practiced “title placement,” or you will miss the mark more often than not. Title placement is the practice of moving a person to a role because they had a similar title in another organization (or in yours), without determining that their skills match the role and the work that needs to be completed. 

Before hiring, understand the job expectations and the competencies/skills necessary to meet them. Then, screen for similar experiences and/or mastery of the skills required by the job.