In the past I’ve talked about how everyone has a role to play when it comes to Employee Engagement (take a look at The Tricks To Achieving Employee Engagement in the resources section), that leaders can’t expect HR to take charge of everything that needs to be done. The same applies to Talent Management and with all the different avenues that people have for personal development, getting everyone involved is more important than ever. The traditional training model (if complete and comprehensive) has the following steps

1. Assess Training Needs
2. Design Training Program
3. Provide Trainings to Employees
4. Monitor for Effectiveness

Other than the third point, HR is responsible for most if not all of these steps. And all this is assuming that the company is organized enough to actually implement a formal training program. What’s important to remember is that training is only one part of a very important and comprehensive talent management cycle. When it comes to talent management, you’re looking at:

1. Workforce planning and recruiting
2. The onboarding of an employee
3. Performance Management
4. Training and Development
5. Compensation and Rewards
6. Success Planning

So once you understand that Talent Management is so much more than just Training and Development you realize why it’s so important for everyone to play a role in growing an employee to cater to the needs of the organization in the future and not simply accept where they fit today.

The People Involved

HR Department

HR essentially plays the role of the conductor in an orchestra. If people learn this concept, they’ll stop viewing the department as a one man band. It’s simply not realistic to expect HR to conduct the entire Talent Management Process. Of course I don’t say this because of the work involved but rather because HR simply doesn’t have the in-depth knowledge of the individual or team. Everyone has to provide their nuggets of information and effort and HR should play the role of putting it all together.

Leadership

People in the leadership team are where they are because the have the experiences and resources to view the bigger picture. So, though we don’t expect them to get involved in each individual talent management activities, their input is obviously required when it comes to succession planning, reward and motivation programs or to give their insight to annual workforce planning numbers.

Line Managers

There’s no surprise at the input required by the line manager. But that’s where most people make the mistake – just providing input by filling out forms. If line managers get deeply involved in the growth of their employees the sky really is the limit for the company and it’s people. A lot of this will come from informal discussions and efforts to motivate people to stretch themselves for the positions they want to be promoted to and not accept the status quo.

Employees

Last but not least, come the people themselves. You can’t force someone to do things they simply don’t want too. So it’s crucial that they are motivated and inspired to grow into the positions you envision for them. They also need to make sure to take charge of their personal growth strategies. We all know how hard it can be to take trainings seriously with all the work that’s put on our plates on a daily basis. Just make sure your people know how important it is for them to grow as well.

To make any of this happen you must have a communication strategy. A comprehensive plan that outlines who’s sending what message, in what format, for what objective and for which audience. If everyone knows what’s expected of them, you’re far more likely to get them all involved in Talent Management and less likely to fail at the process.

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