Seven Best Practices When Creating A Talent Plan
Posted on in Talent Strategy
Last week we focused on the ‘why’ of creating a talent plan – demonstrating the importance a plan is for your company, and highlighting a few of the benefits it can have on your organization.
Now, we’ll begin to delve into the ‘how.’ The process to create a talent plan doesn’t have to be complicated. Based on our experience, this is new for most organizations, so it’s best to keep it simple. Here are seven best practices to keep in mind when setting down the path of talent planning:
- Include your talent expert in your business strategy discussions. A true talent expert won’t use this as an opportunity to block your vision. What they will do is help inform, guide and refine it (if your expert throws up constant roadblocks, you should find a new talent expert). One important note, this individual is likely not your human resources professional (HR professionals are rarely strategic enough to drive the business, but that’s a topic for another day). Don’t have a talent expert? Make that your first investment in 2017 or sooner!
- Conduct a current talent capacity analysis. This is a “bottom up” analysis performed at the most granular level of each business unit, department or function and provides insight into the strengths and gaps on your current team.
- Roll the talent capacity data “up” into a final talent plan which shows the big picture. This allows your leadership team to gain an enterprise-wide view of what each business unit needs, from the perspective of those on the front lines.
- Evaluate the final talent plan and ensure the right business questions have been considered. This is an iterative process. Work one-on-one with your team to resolve questions and challenge assumptions.
- Link your talent plan to your business plan. Examine the key elements of your business strategy to determine that the “people implications” have been accounted for. Some will be more obvious than others. For example, if opening a location in a new geography is part of the business strategy, it will require the means to relocate or hire, pay and manage people in that new place.
- Monitor your talent plan as often as you review other key business metrics. Expect to make changes as the business needs evolve throughout the year.
- Share the talent plan with the entire organization. Transparency creates awareness and enables the team to plan and develop contingencies so they can deliver business results.
Not sure how to get started? Fill out the form below to download our guide: “Creating A Talent Plan,” which includes our Talent Capacity Analysis and Enterprise Talent Plan worksheets.
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