5 Ways to Drive a Talent Management Culture

Driving and building a culture goes beyond hiring great talent.  Retaining the talent that you have worked hard to recruit and train is paramount. Talent management and the employee retention process is more than annual performance reviews and quarterly leadership training.  It’s a culture and message that is all around us.  Here are 5 examples and ways to drive a talent management culture within your organization.

• Reverse Mentorship Programs. Since most effective culture change starts from the top down, try leveraging a reverse mentorship program.  Companies like Ogilvy & Mather are using reverse mentorship programs to educate senior executives on the ways in which their younger workforce communicates and the tools they use to effectively engage one another, especially when it comes to new technologies as well as social media.  You just may be surprised at the result.

• Just Ask. Imagine a workforce where you don’t have any say over who your company hires but you are responsible for managing, developing your team as well as, meeting organizational goals. Its not ideal, but it happens. Many managers like Navy Captain Michael Abrashoff and now best selling author, are faced with the challenge of leading and developing a team you didn’t select. Michael’s slogan is, “It’s Your Ship.”  Start by getting to know them, take the time to learn what’s important to them, and immediately take action on their suggestions.  Morale will increase and you can begin to build a great team focused on delivering results.

• Starting with the Job Descriptions. Companies like Apple make an impression with candidates even before they submit an application.  Their job descriptions are consistent and start with the same sentence, “Changing the world is all in a day’s work at Apple.”

• Position Titles. Sometimes it takes more than a job description to make a cultural shift.  Companies like Hulu have created Human Resource position titles to further describe their company focus on talent management and their people.  HR professionals are called “Minister of the People.”  What kind of message do your job titles send within your organization and beyond?

• Encourage Celebration. One of the best ways to drive innovation and change within an organization is to encourage fun with a purpose.  Set up a gong outside your sales team’s office.  If one of your team makes a sale, ring the gong, and let the celebration begin. And if you don’t have a gong, make up your own celebration. Just five minutes of celebration, recognition, and camaraderie can change an entire team’s perspective.

Recruiting doesn’t end when your new hire begins. Recruiting your candidates is a continuous process. Businesses and organizational leaders need to focus on retaining their top talent just as much if not more than the time they spent sourcing, interviewing, and hiring.  Creating a strategy focused on employees throughout the time within an organization can help you drive a talent management culture while also serving as an opportunity to drive employee referrals. If you embed your culture into your employees, your current employees and employee alumni may provide referrals. Anyway you look at it, driving a better talent management culture will grow your talent pipeline.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.