Is Your Talent Acquisition Strategy Misaligned to Corporate Goals?

Executives and HR leaders typically focus on basic talent management – sourcing, hiring and retaining good talent. This is only half the equation for optimal business success. The key is to align your company’s talent management with its overall corporate strategy. Organizations that take this approach are better prepared than their competitors to capitalize on new opportunities and succeed in the global marketplace.

Align talent management with your mission and vision.

Begin aligning talent management with overall business goals by asking critical questions of your leadership team. These might include:

• Do your leaders understand that talent is the single most important function within your company? Without the right candidate matches you will never achieve your desired outcomes or levels of success. Tenure and turnover must be top priorities. Try calculating the real costs related to your sales. You need a real handle on costs in order to accurately plan profit.
• What percentage of your employees are performing at 100 percent of expectation or higher? Your job requirements and descriptions must reflect what your company truly needs and take into account your corporate values and objectives. Be sure you are looking at the performance measures of both performers and non-performers to find any common denominators.
• Are your people excited to come to work? Communication is key. Every team member needs to know how their job affects their department, other groups close to them and the company as a whole. They should feel they are in a position to positively impact business outcomes. Assess how well you are utilizing performance reviews. They should be a positive growth step and not simply a box-checking exercise.
• How is your company perceived by job seekers? Your recruiting process should be efficient, welcoming and respectful of candidates’ time and talent. Your onboarding process should foster confidence and success.

Processes may need to be changed and people may need to learn new habits in order to succeed. Transform your talent management function to continuously attract and retain A-level players. Then align your strategy from your BOD and CEO down and back up again.

• Assess and align your executive team.
• Evaluate the past and present performance of your company and your people.
• Benchmark positions and employees.
• Assess organizational development.
• Consider technology improvements.
• Document your optimal recruitment, training and retention processes.
• Coach your managers in talent management best practices.
• Retool your performance evaluation process to give line of sight to corporate goals.

Align individual goals with corporate strategy.

Goal alignment is a powerful management tool that clarifies individual employee roles and demonstrates the ongoing value of talent to your organization.

• When you engage employees in their work through goal alignment, you create greater ownership in your company’s success. Team members become more committed to your organization; thus achieve higher performance levels.
• Clearly communicate your strategic business objectives across the company. Allow your managers to access the goals of other departments to reduce redundancy and share ideas. This also helps people better support each other. With everyone working together, you can execute strategy faster and with more adaptability.

Linking talent management to your strategic planning process turns organizations into communities. You revitalize your company and provide employees with a management system that empowers them and is in everyone’s best interest.

Aligning talent management and corporate goals seems like a tall order as well as an ongoing priority. Make it happen by partnering with the recruiting experts at BrainWorks. We will provide exceptional support, insight and results. Contact us today to learn more.