Doing business means paying attention to millions of details that compete for your time. You can’t do it all yourself so (unless you are a sole proprietor) you have people to help you, either internally or externally. Oh yes, then there is the little issue of money, or to be more exact – cash.
Sorry, but there is no magic way to get more time. Cash is always hard to come by, although there are many creative ways to keep what you have and get access to more. Here’s how to make better use of that third factor……
Your people are the backbone of your organization. This simple statement is something all companies know, yet so often forget. As other priorities take over, companies sometimes turn a blind eye to how critical it is to have the right employees.
Whether you are looking for a CEO, mid-level executive, or front-line staff, it’s imperative to hire the right talent. Many companies have a mindset of filling positions as quickly as possible and accepting high turnover, or restricting the compensation offered to the point that only the least desirable candidates are available. These companies may think they are cutting corners, but much like a leak in the basement, they soon find out they have a much larger problem on their hands.
Read More: Hire The Best, Forget the Rest
Why is Talent So Important?
If you have the wrong people doing the job, everyone suffers. A high-performing team will turn into the most unproductive, unhappy team with the wrong manager overseeing them. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole batch, and the effects of a bad manager or team member can spread through departments and teams like wildfire.
Hiring the right people directly impacts your bottom line. Talent is one of the main factors contributing to the growth and success of your company, and there’s no other way around it. Every single person working for your company is adding something to your organization, and you want to make sure that what they are adding is a positive factor in the success of your organization.
Talented employees will work hard to ensure that business goals are met, team members are praised and valued, and will ultimately ensure that success is the outcome. Much like a bad employee can spoil a whole batch, a great employee can revitalize a team and achieve incredible things.
How to be a Talent-First Organization?
1. Align From the Top Down
Building a great team begins from the top. In order to be a talent-first organization, you have to make sure that everyone is aligned with one common goal: hiring and retaining top talent. It starts with the owner and, in larger organizations, the C-suite executives: CEO, CFO, and CHRO (chief of human resources officer). This is because being a talent-first organization requires determination and financial support. The commitment to fund this approach has to be there in terms of recruitment, salaries, benefits, and employee development, and the goals have to align.
2. Have Clear Goals
Restructuring your company or implementing an initiative to transform your company into a talent-first organization is no small task. Before you get started, have clear goals and a clear vision for what “talent-first” means. What does it mean for all levels of employees? How are talent-first teams structured? How do you measure the success of this initiative? What are some key performance indicators? You have to outline what you are trying to achieve and how you will get there.
For example, if morale has been low due to a lack of direction and communication of company goals down through the organization, you can take appropriate steps to solve that. Skilled strategic planning consultants can assist you in clarifying company goals, strategies to achieve them and most importantly, to communicate those goals and strategies to all employees so that everyone is on the same team.
Out of this process will be the ideal organization to achieve the goals that you have set out, and then you can engage in a process of ensuring that your ideal organization is populated by the level of talent required for every position. Many positions can be filled by existing team members after an assessment of their skill set is matched to the organizational requirements. For positions that cannot be filled internally, you will need to search outside of the organization.
Read More: The Role of Leadership in Productivity Improvement
3. Develop Top Talent
A huge part of being a talent-first company is retaining and growing the top talent that already exists within your company. When you have identified your top performers, you want to ensure that they have challenging responsibilities and the freedom to pursue them to achieve the overall company objectives that have been well communicated.
Promote from within your organization whenever possible, and develop talent accordingly. The people working for your company are already loyal, have a network, and know your business. Assist each individual to move forward in the direction and at the pace that they are comfortable with. Encourage cross training so that each person has a broader knowledge of company operations than just one set of tasks. This will pay dividends when someone is absent and others know how to take over from them for a period of time.
Encourage worthwhile education that is job related. People appreciate that you are willing to invest in them.
Talent-First Initiatives Will Create Long-Lasting Success
Becoming a talent-first company may seem secondary to your main goal of increasing sales and therefore profits, however it is probably the most important way of ensuring that rising sales and profits will be a long lasting and endurable feature of your company far into the future.
Once you set your company up to be a talent-first organization, it will continue to operate that way (with check-ins and modifications along the way, of course). These changes mean that you will get the right talent hired on every level, and will be able to continue to work towards broader company goals for years to come.
Kathbern Management is an executive search consultancy based in Toronto, helping companies find the executives and senior managers who not only have the experience and credentials to fulfil their responsibilities, but also have the emotional and “fit” requirements that will enable them to be successful in a particular environment. We simplify the process and, through our deep research, are able to bring more and better candidates forward than would ever be possible through a do-it-yourself passive advertising campaign.
Contact us today for a free consultation about your key person search.