Why Talent Management is Vital

Sheri Vogel, Talent Management Consultant, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

I had two conversations recently that solidified for me why talent management is so vital right now.

The first one was with the executive director of a non-profit who wanted to better understand a request for one of her directors to participate in an up-coming community meeting as a facilitator. This executive reached out so she could be sure that this opportunity would be a good fit for the professional development of her staff member, and so that she could be sure to make the time available for her to participate.

The other conversation I had was with one of our young professionals who is participating in the Jewish Federation’s Non-profit Leadership Institute. We were talking about her current role and how she feels a bit disconnected from the larger organization. She loves her work and would like to have the opportunity to experience additional challenges. She also shared with me some of her skills that are not being used in her current role. I asked her about her professional development plan and if it included activities that would give her the chance to grow within and beyond her current role. She expressed that her supervisor probably doesn’t see her potential beyond her current role.

In my first example, I was struck by this leader’s deliberate focus on a performance development plan for her staff member and how she was making the time for her to pursue this opportunity.

In the second example, I worried that perhaps we are missing an opportunity to support someone who wants to stay within the organization and even have an opportunity to advance.  I can’t help but worry that there is always the risk that someone like this may find her greater opportunity somewhere else.

Developing an effective talent management program requires a commitment from you and your leadership team to be the best leader you can be. Are you seeing the current and future potential of your team and supporting their professional development and career growth?  Is this part of your current culture?

Talent management is many things but it is primarily making sure that you have the right quantity and quality of people to meet your business priorities and fulfill your mission now and in the future.

It is an organization’s commitment to recruit, retain, and develop the most talented employees.

Here’s how we want to begin thinking about this:

• Ask yourself if this is part of your current culture or if a change is needed
• Begin with your business strategies – and look beyond simply filling positions. Consider how talent fits in to the goals of your organization
• Start assessing competencies and engagement of your team. Identify the gaps between where you are currently and where you need to be. Get the right people in the right jobs
• Build in succession planning
• Develop a thoughtful acquisition and retention program (including hiring and promotion)
• Develop meaningful on boarding, performance management and professional development programs
• Offer opportunities for learning and development
• Review your compensation package
• Make sure that you are connecting individual goals to team goals to corporate goals
• Build in the processes, systems and tools to sustain this effort

This ability to engage people at all levels,  create an environment  where staff is doing meaningful work, feeling  challenged, seeing their impact related to the mission and working for an organization that is invested in their future can solidify the most important competitive advantage your organization has; your people.

Sheri Vogel, Talent Management Advisor, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, is an experienced executive and consultant with a demonstrated history of leading non-profit and healthcare organizations. She has extensive background in leadership training, development and coaching. She is also skilled in project and program management, process improvement, and strategic planning. Sheri is a strong community and social services professional who graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara.