personnel managing talent


excruciatingly cost conscious, and were under extreme pressure to cut yet more from their already tight service charge budgets. So it essential that the talent agenda supports and re-engages employees that they wish to retain. Many will have seen a period of instability and transition and have seen some valued colleagues and friends leave the business due to the economic crisis. It is essential that any organisation’s talent management strategy works at rebuilding trust and commitment in the organisation and ensure that the employee has a clear career strategy plan within the organisation so that they don’t feel the need to look elsewhere. Of course, unfortunately not all teams


the recession hit is a flawed plan and a false economy as it will have a detrimental effect on any talent continuity plans. The other area where our clients attempted to save costs was in the training and development budget. A cull of training and development budgets will have a similarly detrimental effect as it is in this period when employees are asked to do more, in areas that are outside their comfort zone, that they crave the additional knowledge and support that training can bring. In our research for this article we spoke with many senior managers in the property industry, and there was an alarming lack of talent strategies that were effectively communicated and understood by all levels within the organisations. There seemed to be a number of initiatives but, problematically, not one company we spoke with had a cohesive, communicable talent management strategy. Talent management is more than just identifying and recruiting new staff – it is about engaging and developing your existing talent. Most of our clients spend significant percentages of their human resources budget on recruitment but a worryingly small percentage of their spend on the training and development of their staff and working on talent continuity plans. Estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organisation up to 100% of their salary, and senior managers up to 200%, so it is


definitely worth investment in retention strategies. Retention processes and initiatives fall


Now more than ever, organisations need to employ effective talent


management strategies to ensure their people are engaged. Having an engaged workforce means having people who will invest energy, emotion and capability in achieving organisational performance.


in to two groups: those that are tangible, such as systems, policies and conditions of employment; and those less tangible around management style, leadership, empowerment and organisational values and culture. Now more than ever, organisations


need to employ effective talent management strategies to ensure their people are engaged. Having an engaged workforce is more than having people that are satisfied. It means having people who will invest energy, emotion and capability in achieving organisational performance, people who will grow and evolve with the organisation – seeing a mutual interest in success. The inevitable and unfortunate


contradiction is that those that are most engaged are likely to be amongst your top performers and it is these individuals, the most capable and confident, who are most likely to choose to leave the organisation. Losing your top talent will significantly impact on the pace and effectiveness of recovery and has a negative impact on service delivery. It is likely that your top talent pool will be the group most likely that has borne the brunt of the extra pressures that the recession brought with it. It is this group who had more buildings added to their property portfolios, had to deliver better service with less staff as clients became


48 l Property Management Select l september 2010 l www.pm-select.co.uk


are full of high achievers and your talent management strategy should ensure that it effectively addresses all levels of employees, not just the top performers. Whilst with people in this group there is not such a threat of them leaving, they can still have a negative effect on organisational development and recovery as they cling to the job they have out of personal security and lose focus on their customers’ demands and the levels of their service delivery. In order to satisfy the exacting standards of your customers and clients and ensure your competitive advantage, it is essential that this group of people be included into the talent management plan to identify future top performers and meet their training and development needs. Often overlooked in talent strategies, a


successful talent development strategy must include the senior management team to ensure that they are re-equipped to lead their teams into, through and beyond change. Managers need to be given the courage, skill and tools they need to talk about careers and encourage honest and frank feedback on career potential and career paths within the organisation. So, ultimately, there are two questions


that every manager should know the answer to. Have you identified who is your top talent, and what are you and your company doing to retain and develop this talent? Does your organisation’s talent continuity plan successfully train and develop your stars of the future? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then you run the very real risk of your staff moving to a competitor company where there is a clear career development plan waiting for them.


Nikki Dallas and Gary Binder are from Talent FM, a talent management consultancy that specialises in the facilities management industry.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68