Talent Acquisition & Optimization (Part 3 of 3) – RSS

This is the last instalment of our three-part overview designed to help small businesses not just survive – but thrive. We’ve identified the top 3 reasons why small and even large businesses fail:

Insufficient market demand
Lack of finances (and specifically, lack of sales)
Labor issues

In part two I said that the lack of finances – or sales – was the most important of the three, but that was because money is needed to stay in business. To survive and thrive over time requires great people, and that’s the focus of this instalment. Since the beginning of time, people who worked for others were called by various terms: the help, staff, workers, and employees. More recently you might see terms like associates, and even partners in employee-owned businesses, but those are not the norm. Increasingly, a new term is emerging, and it’s an encouraging sign, if only that, because it places a value on the people who carry out and execute the strategy of a business. The term is “Talent.”

COVID and “The Big Quit” have also focused the spotlight on a company’s talent, in ways not seen before. People are re-evaluating their career paths as businesses struggle and juggle to keep their doors open. Wide-scale remote working was initially thought to be a short-term band-aid, but it’s become the norm for many and a contentious one for some, as businesses try to return to the old normal and employees preferring the new one.

How it plays out will determine the success or failure of many businesses, because now, more that ever, companies need great people. The pre-COVID percentage of businesses that failed to achieve their annual plan remains steady at 90%. This is one of the top reasons new businesses fail, and it’s important because talent optimization is considered to be the bridge between strategy and execution.

According to a 2021 Predictive Index survey of more than 500 executives:

93% of talent optimized companies were able to prevent major financial loss as compared to 76% of their peers.
87% of talent optimized companies surpassed or met their goals in the past year.
more companies are implementing talent strategies and more businesses are shifting to intentionally align those talent strategies with their business strategies.
strategy alignment influences performance outcomes.
talent optimized companies remained on track long-term, largely by focusing on alignment and engagement, and by increasingly using behavioral data to inform their hiring and team building processes.

Is your business Talent Optimized?

It may be if you can answer "Yes" to these three questions:

Do you have a business strategy?
Do you have a talent strategy?
Are those two strategies aligned?

Here are a few other takeaways that indicate a lack of talent strategy thinking. How would you answer the following?

Do you have the right executive team in place to execute your business’ strategy?
How confident are you that your senior team is aligned with the business’ strategy?
Do you have a well-documented talent strategy that is understood throughout your organization?
Have you aligned your organizational structure with your business strategy?
Does your senior leadership team think and believe that people strategy is everyone’s responsibility and not just HR’s?
Do you map leadership competencies to your business strategy?

Talent Optimization will play a huge part in your business’ future. COVID may have helped move more companies to try to understand and engage their people, and then align them toward their goals, but the new generation of workers will demand it. It’s a significant change from business as usual, and anytime the word ‘change’ appears, you know it won’t be easy.

But it's what we do and we can help you get started. The good news is that talent optimization is not a megabuck endeavor, yet the payback is huge! Take the first step and let us help you build the right teams to develop and implement winning talent and business strategies.

Coming up: Next week we'll talk about some steps and actions to engage your talent - involving, motivating, and harnessing their skills and thinking.

Exciting News: Later this month we'll begin publication of our new book, "CSM - The Best Business Tool For Managing Your Business." Send me an e-mail at [email protected] to have each chapter sent to your inbox and, a free copy of the book when the series finishes.

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Van Fleisher

About the Author

Van has worked in over 30 countries helping large companies and small. Author, mentor, board member, CEO, and team leader have been some of his job titles, but his passion is helping businesses succeed through their own employees' efforts.

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