Talent management isn’t only about recruiting and retaining the best employees you can find. It’s also about helping them become the best they can be at what they do and how they do it.
By helping employees to better themselves, you create a stronger, more focused workforce. A workforce that drives your business towards achieving its goals.
Fact 1: The better the onboarding process, the better the employee’s chances of success
Onboarding has a massive impact on new recruits. It is your best opportunity to introduce them to your corporate culture, ideals, goals and ethos. The more effective the onboarding process, the more inspired and welcome they feel. And the more in tune they are with where they are going and what they need to achieve.
Nobody works in a vacuum. Each employee needs to know how they fit into the organization and how their role contributes towards its success. It is this sense of purpose that defines how quickly they pick up the torch and run with it.
At Cognician, our onboarding process is intense. It doesn’t happen in a day or two. Rather, it is spread out over a few months and employees can follow at their own pace. Not only do we learn about our role within the company, we learn about the roles everyone else plays, and how they fit together. It soon becomes clear that we are all in this together and that each and every one of us cares deeply about what we do and why.
Fact 2: Ongoing training fosters greater competency and boosts confidence
Learning is essential to human beings. It never stops. When it comes to on the job learning or targeted training, it’s vital in creating a powerful workforce. An effective talent management strategy should include regular learning opportunities that focus on building skills and competencies. It should also include regular work performance reviews and planning sessions, to discuss the development of everyone’s careers.
At Cognician, learning is in our DNA. We regularly share learning within and across teams on special days for the Tech, LXD and CX teams. We also share knowledge via Slack, via our Codex internal knowledge management site, via Stack Overflow, and in an “About” folder on Google Drive, which contains more than 200 sub-folders to organize some of the core knowledge we’ve collected over the years.
Fact 3: Ongoing mentoring, coaching and feedback helps employees feel valued and useful
Employees are the lifeblood of any organization. And they should be treated as such. Mentoring and coaching should be provided regularly, as well as encouraging and giving feedback. Everyone likes to know how they are doing. How impactful their work is. And how much they are respected and valued. Few workers improve and grow on their own. It takes a conscious and sustained effort to encourage their development.
At Cognician, we foster a culture of caring and intent. We regularly hold company-wide Mind Melds and once a year, our Mega Mind Melds bring everyone together so that we are all on the same page. It’s an opportunity to check-in with each other. And an opportunity to collectively contribute towards our goals and outcomes.
Talent management is all about developing people in the workplace. If you don’t take care of your people, they won’t take care of your business.
