The Value of Talent: Don’t Short Change Your Future

Navigating the Talent Landscape

Originally published by Graham Peelle on Medium on July 22, 2023

Talent Strategy & Solutions — There are a multitude of ways to get work done. Talent Solutions is the larger segment made up of many of those options. It’s important to understand the various ways to get work done to position your work mix for your business model.

Just some of those talent options include:

• Contingent Labor (contract, temp, etc.)

• Managed Services (bundled, staffing+, or BPO in some cases)

• Independent Contractors (1099)

• Gig Workers (Think Uber and DoorDash related concepts, work on demand, with a variety of big players in the on-demand digital flexible staffing models, like Swipejobs)

• Engineering Services (Also referred to as Professional Services, Technical Services, Managed Services, Project Work, etc.)

• Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

• Talent Acquisition

• Your internal recruiting team with a dedicated individual, group, or entire department

• Drives your internal strategy and accountable for delivering on organization’s strategy

Talent Attraction & Cultivation

• Marketing — includes all aspects of marketing, with the biggest being digital

• Talent engagement through talent communities and social awareness

• This includes not only marketing to talent, but also keeping them warm and interested in hearing from or about your company as a way to drive future talent

• University, technology and trade school partnerships are a subset of this area

• This is the key to tapping into external talent

Talent Management & Development

• Actively managing and developing your current internal talent pool

• Driving career pathing and skills development

• Closely aligned with Learning & Development (L&D), but more specific to the overall strategy of taking your organization’s talent to the next level

• This is your talent engine and what can build your next level leaders, managers and supervisors, but also brings value to the entire organization by providing your talent career guidance, motivation and tools to drive forward

Now, you may wonder, how can I succeed as a leader in the world of talent? Leverage your available expertise in-house, hire that expertise, or work with a consultant to help set-up your talent strategy and can provide specialization. Position your expert talent consultant or talent leader however necessary to help build your talent strategy, and align with your business needs. Bring your Talent Leader or Consultant to the table to help form your strategy, not hand it to them. Talent Strategy is best formed in partnership, not as a directive, as this drives clear targets, expectations and aligns business objectives.

Provide your talent leader a seat at the table, depending on your organization size, a seat as part of the ELT, reporting to the owner, or for larger companies, reporting to the CHRO, but provide them the title, voice, and mandate to help drive organizational change centered on talent. If your talent leader isn’t reporting to the owner or CHRO, find a way to engage them at the highest level that you can in your organization. Never short change talent — it will leave you grasping to hang on for your industry’s best of the best. Hire and retain talent, as it’s your rock for the ability to hit your growth targets. Talent drives growth, and as a leader if you can understand the landscape and learn to navigate, you can master the talent game.

Hopefully, this added a little value to your business or your career. Thank you for reading.

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