10 March, 2008
Managing Uncertainty in Talent Demand
Author: Maksim Ovsyannikov

Those of us who are involved in talent management hear constant memorandums of need associated with developing and retaining employees. Almost unilaterally we are prescribed an ample succession program for our organization and we are told that there are needs to have bench strengths in every area of the organization – that we need to develop targeted succession pipelines and place internal candidates in development programs in order to guarantee meaningful succession.

It is interesting, however, that none of the advice focuses on the uncertainty in demand for the employees that we grow. It turns out that the hidden data is alarming and quite urgent to consider. You simply should not engage in targeted development unless you are certain that there are opportunities for the people you develop within your organization. Otherwise, you are simply feeding the market with skilled workforce without any benefit to you.

Are you surprised? After recent years of hearing “develop, train, and align” at every HR conference you attended, all of a sudden you are being told to slow down! Well, you shouldn’t be too shocked. You see, your talent management program needs to make sense. And the only way it can make sense is if the people are actually moving in the organization – succession pools must result in mobility and not in rigidity.

People who are developed must actually be given opportunities that they were targeted for. The evidence for this is simple - studies by the consulting firm Watson Wyatt show that people who recently received training are the ones who are most likely to “decamp” – as they leave for opportunities to make better use of those skills. That is, of course, unless those opportunities are given to them within their current organization.

This month’s "Harvard Business Review" already began educating leaders on this shift in paradigm – Wharton’s management guru Peter Cappelli slapped this topic right on the cover! Peter claims that we need a new approach for managing talent in 21st century and he goes straight to the point – talent management has to be “just in time”. And if you ask me, Capelli is right on and just in time himself! During the age where the amount of information is doubling so frequently and where new skills emerge daily, we do not need to spend time developing future leaders if we are not certain of future leadership opportunities. Much like our supply chain management already is today, if our talent management isn’t “just in time” for ourselves, it will become “just in time” for our competitors! Now, chew on that for a second….and hurry to make sure that your talent management program makes sense.

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Comment from Sly Jackson on March 20, 2008

You are so right on spot in this blog. We have been trying to inform people about this real issue for over a year.

We all understand the need to develop our staff for competitive advantage, but not for the competitor or the employee benefit. You develop for the benefits of your own organization in align with your own business goals and objectives.

We (employees) naturally want to learn more skills that make us more marketable, but businesses need to remember that they are really developing that poll for the current sustainability and future success of the company. So, it needs to be "right on time" with your own growth and opportunities you have planned for that employee.

When did we (the company) stop asking the question, "What's in it for me". Where do I see you within this company in 1, 2 or 3 years? The real answer to this question, should help direct how, when, what and if I invest funds in your development now or later.