JOIN USThe need for acquiring and developing talent
Key to successful business is Talent Acquisition, Talent Engagement and Talent Development. Leaders in all businesses have realised that talent matters and is one of the critical “success factors” of growing their businesses. Having the right talent in the organisation can make the company and an absence of it can break it as well.
Companies today are hunting for the right talent, however there is only a small pie available in the market and everyone is trying to acquire that pie. Organisations have launched, from time to time, multiple initiatives to attract and build talent viz., through campus recruitment, employee referrals, Build operate transfer (BOT), outsourcing so on and the list is endless. The only way forward is “Develop your own Talent.” Do not worry about talent leaving your organisation, once the acquisition strategy is defined you always have right people to deliver right results.
At Tyco there is a lot of emphasis given to attract the right talent into the organisation. The selection is done through a rigorous interview process and fitment to the role and cultural fit, and one of the main aspects of culture is company’s values, which are Integrity, Teamwork; Excellence; Accountability and Customer service. Hiring people such that there is a good congruence between candidate’s values and organisation value helps in significantly enhancing employee productivity.
As we speak about the culture one of the main aspects of culture is its Value system. Value helps define culture of the organisation, more than 80 per cent of the organisation today has value statement, that essentially mean “value” equate with business ethics. The value is derived from orgasization vision, which helps define company’s belief system and how they would want to conduct business in this competitive world without compromising its core value.
To ensure cultural alignment of new incumbent “employee induction” is significant such that employee is well oriented to company’s values system and how to conduct business. Therefore the performance evaluation is not based only on Results i.e, What we did, but also on Behavior i.e,. How we did. Every single employee is required to go through ethical reflection and vital value program.
Tyco’s focus on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) plays an integral part in how the company operates and is inherent in the commitment we make to our employees, supplier, customers, shareholders and the communities where we live and work.
As we continue to grow our established and emerging markets, promoting a diverse workforce and a culture of Inclusion are key to achieving our business goals and ensuring a competitive advantage. We believe that through diversity we access the best people and through Inclusion we inspire the best in our people.
Once the employee has joined the organisation, it is imperative to engage employees as it helps to align their activities to organisation strategy. It measures the success of organisational policies in assisting the realisation of organisational goals. Employee engagement is not just a process of engaging employees to organisational goals, however there is an expectation from the organisation to pave way to ensure employees are motivated to put in their best efforts.
Engagement process espouses loyalty and commitment in employees that helps wealth maximising. At Tyco the engagement process begins with Induction and the journey continues till the employee is with the organisation. Employee’s Individual goals are set in conjunction with the manager. Tool used is very comprehensive, where in employees development is captured on regular basis.
There are couple of areas that are looked into at the time of goals setting for all employees viz.,
* Alignment of individual goals with organisational overall strategy, which are further sub divided such that tracking is easy and achieving them become simple by having a focused approach.
* Competency based goal setting.
* There is consistent approach for the same across organisation.
* Development goals - what competencies are required to move up the value chain.
Feeling “engaged” depends on the “strength” of the workplace not necessarily on the corporate leadership. As Buckingham & Coffman, in ‘First Break all the Rules’ pointed out that companies do not retain people, people decide to stay, they decide to stay when they feel “engaged” and “Engaged” employees stay longer. This is because engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organisation that employs them.
The other important aspects to employee’s journey with the organisation are his / her development. The strength of Tyco is in its people. There is a very well defined career path for deserving candidates. Development falls into two categories viz., technical skill development and soft skills based on Lominger’s 67 competencies. Individual’s performance is tracked and monitored on regular basis.
Contrary to the believe that people leave or join the organisation because of money, the research shows this items to be far down in the list. According to studies average employees desire: Recognition, Job Security and Working conditions, Career development, Sense of belonging, the feeling that their work is important & critical to the business; and compensation.
In this dynamic global world there is always a need for good leaders in the organisation to keep with the pace of growing economy. Therefore there is a constant need for developing leaders in companies. There are multiple, and effective, HR Initiatives are launched in Tyco, towards identifying and developing these leaders.
There are set of competencies, behavioral (based on Lominger 67 competencies) and technical for each role in the organisation. These competencies serve as guidelines for hiring; developing and promotions.
These employees then go through a well defined development process including class room and On the Job Training, e.g., a leadership assignment on some of the key business strategic imperatives. Identification of such resources is done through a very effective / robust Organisation Leadership Review program that helps diagnose existing people capability. This process helps in identifying critical resources; the “Best Bets” (High Potentials) and people who are ready to take higher responsibilities and employees on the watch list.
The Human Resources department plays a significant role in identifying employees for development program such as 360 feedback process; Emerging Global Leader program etc. to name a few. 360 degree throws a very comprehensive report viz., skill rating overview; Blind Spots; Emotional Quotient (EQ) report; career staller / stopper etc, that helps employees understand their areas of strengths and areas of improvement. The feedback is provided by certified coach who then works closely with the employees to overcome these areas of improvements.
Have you ever signed a business agreement with the customer and went back and said you cannot deliver?, very very rare I suppose. Such is the agreement between employee and the organization, once you have decided to hire ensure that you have provided necessary wherewithal to him / her to perform and deliver.
(The writer is MD at ADT Security India, a division of Tyco International Limited)