What do you look for in talent management professionals?

When seeking talent management professionals, I prioritize those with a strategic mindset and exceptional communication skills. They must understand the organization's goals, market trends, and competitive landscape, translating this vision into actionable talent strategies. Their role is crucial in aligning talent with business objectives and communicating effectively across all organizational levels. The ability to identify growth opportunities and manage resources efficiently sets these professionals apart, making them invaluable to the team.

There are different roles in Talent Management. In our company, there are global roles in a Center of Excellence which is mainly designing processes, toolkits, innovations which are deployed for the entire group or division. People who are in these roles need to have a strategic mindset, have a good understanding about the business and extremely good communication skills to orchestrate and influence stakeholders on various levels. Analytical skills and the ability to work and interpret data is getting more and more important. As a Talent Manager who is responsible for e.g. certain Talent Programs, Talent Brokerage, business understanding, listening skills to understand the needs of the stakeholders and a genuine interest in people is key.

The Talent Management world has been evolving significantly in the last decade. It is critical that TM leaders are strategic in their approach as they scale alongside with their business leaders and global marketplace to remain relevant.

In my opinion, you cannot be a talent management professional if you do not have the skillset and personal ability to build a strong professional relationship with all kinds of stakeholders. Communication is the absolute foundation at at the heart of the most successful talent management professionals.

In today's AI era, I seek a combination of strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of industry trends. The most crucial thing is to persuade the stakeholders using data and an effective storytelling technique.

The ability to articulate, influence and impact stakeholders are foundational skills. Without the right articulation the opportunity to drive results by scaling talent programs will be lost.

Strong communication skills are essential. I look for individuals who can effectively convey ideas, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and articulate complex concepts clearly. Exceptional listening skills are also vital for understanding the needs and perspectives of team members and candidates. Additionally, the ability to tailor communication styles to various audiences and situations demonstrates versatility and empathy. Ultimately, effective communication is the cornerstone of successful talent management, driving engagement, alignment, and mutual understanding within the organization.

When talking about communication skill, many people think it's about talking well, engaging, make no mistakes, have no accent, etc. However, it's much deeper than that. - Conveying the message without misleading others - Influence & persuasion - Inspiration & motivation - Use of sophisticated arguing and turn-taking strategies - Ability to adapt your tone of voice, vocabulary, rate of speech depending on the audience - BODY LANGUAGE - And of course effective listening

Conceptually, Talent Management is one of the "easiest" domains to understand. Most people can grasp the idea of identifying, developing, engagement and mobilizing talent, (thus why everyone seems to have an input or opinion). However, the ability to effectively communicate in a way that positively changes the receivers' behaviour to a desired expectation is incredible challenging and requires a truly deep understanding of human interaction. A basic example is the ability to concisely inform someone that they are not selected for a program, they will no longer receive special benefits, whilst still motivating them to contribute exceptional value to the organisation requires a degree of finesse and experience.

Instead of drowning stakeholders in statistics, use data to tell compelling narratives. Craft stories that highlight talent trends, successes, and challenges.

Implement skills mapping to bridge talent gaps effectively. Identify key skills required for current and future roles within your organization.

Make data-driven decisions by cultivating the habit of using relevant metrics in your work. Start by identifying key performance indicators for your projects and track these regularly to assess progress and identify areas that need improvement. Remember the management adage, "what gets measured gets managed", highlighting the importance of regular monitoring and adjustment based on data.

Analytics is important, but it's just a tool. We need to verify the purpose of using that tool first. If we drive a car without a purpose, it doesn't make sense. We should have a roadmap, knowing where we want to go, and then we can choose which kind of transportation will help us get there. I think the ultimate goal for analytics is to find areas for improvement. We can use the PIPE framework to support us in analyzing the data. PIPE stands for Procedure, Information, People, and Equipment - these are core elements in any working process of a company. We can categorize our collected data following these four elements to track where the problem is and figure out approriate solutions to fix it.

Talent management covers workforce planning, attracting, selecting, developing, retaining, and transitioning talent. What does talent management include? A strong strategy involves a range of employer responsibilities: Planning ahead. Determine the necessary human capital, key roles, and employee development plans for a strong business strategy. Attracting top talent. Connect with potential job candidates through recruitment campaigns, job posts, and referrals. You can also leverage premium recruiting tools within G-P Meridian Prime™ to find top global talent. Search the best talent pools, anywhere in the world, to find the perfect fit for the role based on your unique needs, including industry and occupation.

Talent management professionals need a variety of analytical skills to be effective in their roles. Here are some key analytical skills that are often sought after: 1. Data Analysis: The ability to collect, organize, and interpret data is crucial. 2. Critical Thinking: This involves looking at situations, events, or data in a logical and structured way. 3. Problem-Solving: Talent management professionals often need to identify issues or challenges and determine the best course of action. This requires a methodical approach to assessing situations and developing solutions. 4. Reporting: The ability to present data in a clear and understandable way is important.

Learning agility is an important trait that we should look for in talent management professionals. It relates to the ability of quick learning and adapting new situations, environment, technologies and challenges. Professionals with high learning agility are proactive. There are few aspects of Learning agility that are important in talent management professionals:- 1. Curiosity 2. Adaptability 3. Critical thinking 4. Self Awareness 5. Flexibility

Foster a growth mindset by staying open to new ideas and experiences. Dedicate time each week to learning new skills and staying abreast with the latest industry trends. This could be an 'learning hour' set aside each week for online courses, reading, or other forms of professional development.

Learning agility is essential for talent management professionals. It involves quick learning and adaptability in the face of change, complexity, and uncertainty. This skill enables professionals to learn from experiences, feedback, and mistakes, and apply this learning in various contexts. It keeps them updated, fosters innovation and experimentation, and enhances their problem-solving capabilities, aligning with agile and people-first practices in talent management.

This quality ensures they can stay ahead of industry trends, integrate new practices, and respond effectively to changes in the business environment. Talent management professionals with high learning agility can quickly assimilate new information, apply insights to real-world scenarios, and pivot strategies as needed. This adaptability not only supports their personal growth but also drives innovation and resilience within the organization.

1. Adaptability: The ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn is crucial. This means being able to adapt to new situations, learn new skills when needed, and discard outdated practices. 2. Openness to Experience: Individuals with high learning agility are open to new experiences. They are curious and willing to take risks in the pursuit of learning. 3. Speed of Learning: The ability to quickly absorb new information and apply it effectively is a key aspect of learning agility. 4. Application of Knowledge: It's not just about acquiring knowledge, but also about applying that knowledge in different contexts and situations.

A well-rounded set of skills, including strategic alignment, effective communication, analytical capability, change management expertise, leadership qualities, adaptability, interpersonal skills, cultural competence, technology proficiency, and unwavering ethical conduct. These qualities collectively contribute to creating a positive, inclusive, and high-performing organizational culture.

Look for talent management professionals with robust collaboration skills. These individuals excel in leveraging diverse team strengths to achieve common goals. In my role as an Agile Coach, I’ve seen firsthand how essential it is for professionals to share ideas and resources effectively across various groups. This ability to manage relationships and navigate conflicts ensures that projects are completed efficiently and align well with organizational objectives. Strong collaborators drive synergy and innovation, making them invaluable in any dynamic team environment.

In organizations of varying sizes, Talent Management (TM) roles require different skillsets. However, strong collaboration skills are crucial across all TM positions. Typically structured as a Center of Excellence (CoE), TM must engage with business leaders at all levels and work closely with other HR CoEs and Business Partnering teams. This ensures strategic alignment, customer focus, and seamless integration of talent initiatives within the broader HR strategy, leveraging the HR operating model. Building robust relationships through regular communication and reliably acting on promises is essential for fostering trust and effective collaboration.

Talent management professionals should be able to build and maintain relationships and teamwork both inside and outside the organization to promote achievement of business goals, and enable effective management of organizational changes and improvements. They need to encourage sharing of information, skills and technical capability across teams for mutual learning and development.

A key trait for talent management professionals is innovative thinking. They should be able to think creatively and propose fresh solutions to attract, retain, and develop talent. This involves staying abreast of the latest HR technologies and trends, and being open to experimenting with new approaches in talent acquisition, learning and development, and employee engagement. Their innovative mindset helps in adapting to changing workforce dynamics and maintaining a competitive edge in talent management strategies. #InnovativeHR #TalentStrategy

Somebody with deep market knowledge for me would be so valuable If you are immersed in one/two areas you will really understand what is going on & any new trends This will also give you much a better understanding of what the teams you hire for actually do... the pain points & frustrations they are likely to face and what get's them out of bed in the morning! It will also allow you to understand the personalities & traits of people in these spaces which will allow you to communicate more effectively.

Resilience! The talent space is not easy in any industry and one in which we need to continually manage different personalities, expectations, meet various KIPS, and sometimes meet different expectations from different stakeholders. Those who are resilient have the capacity to pivot when business calls and adapt to changing circumstances without losing focus on long-term goals. Resilience allows talent management professionals to manage difficult days, go home to reset, and get up the next morning and repeat.

Genuine interest in leading and supporting talent is crucial for fostering employee development, engagement, and retention, which are all central goals of effective talent management strategies. Talent management professionals who prioritize the well-being and growth of employees can contribute significantly to organizational success.

Most successful professionals I've seen in the Talent space are proficient in a few specific competencies: change management, project and/or program management, and the ability to pull insights from data to tell a compelling story. When I've built talent teams in the past, I prioritize these competencies (along with things like learning agility and accountability) over specific functional experience. In fact, some of the best talent leaders I've had the privilege to work with had strong backgrounds in other HR functions like Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, and Internal Mobility Program owners.

Adaptability and constantly learning In what is a very volatile landscape right now... you need to be able to adapt and add more value than just hiring people. You also need to constantly learning and improving in this space.... can you be leveraging any new tech... can you understand the basics of analytics to analyse your performance, channels etc