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Talent Management Truths - 5 lessons from the field to help solve todays workplace challenges

Talent Management Truths: 5 Lessons from the Field to Help Solve Today’s Workplace Challenges

Human Resources / By

Talent management has been in the spotlight recently as many organizations face historic talent shortages, a workforce struggling with fatigue and burnout, and the ongoing pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity. Not only do organizations need to find talent with the right skills for today, but they also require an agile workforce who can adapt to the constant changes in job demands. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, half of all employees will have to reskill by 2025. The pressure is on talent leaders, and organizations alike to ensure their people are prepared for the future of work and this pressure is not likely to dissipate any time soon.

The Talent Management Revolution

The Talent Management Revolution

Human Resources / By

Talent management has emerged as a top priority for organizations over the last decade and has only been accelerated by the pandemic as employees were sent home, many displaced, and employers had to radically shift business operations. Human Resources (HR) led the charge in supporting business units to make this transition as seamless as possible – while stabilizing a very disrupted workforce. Not only has HR been thrust into the spotlight over these last few years, but progressive HR leaders have played a significant role in shining a spotlight on a much-needed talent management revolution.

The Great Resignation: will they stay or will they go?

Will They Stay or Will They Go?

Human Resources / By

Can we stop the great resignation? The pandemic has provided time for people to reevaluate what they want from their work and personal lives. A resulting shift in perspectives on what fulfilling work looks like is now in play. After the uncertainty and exhaustion of the past year, this new paradigm, along with a desire for a universal reset, has created the perfect storm for the Great Resignation, an unprecedented tidal wave of voluntary attrition. Some workers, frustrated with watching paychecks and advancement opportunities stagnate, are leaving their jobs to accelerate career growth and access more equitable compensation elsewhere. Others are making the switch to more meaningful careers, having used the time during lockdown to reflect on what type of work truly makes them happy and fulfilled. There are also those who have burnout from juggling the demands of work-life balance during the pandemic. To support their mental and physical health, these workers are moving to employers who are offering the promise of greater flexibility and work-life integration.

Hot Skills in a Dynamic Canadian Market

Hot Skills in a Dynamic Canadian Labour Market

Human Resources / By

Understanding the impact of hot skills on one’s business model and organizational capabilities can be both a challenge and an opportunity and, if not done thoughtfully and carefully, can result in a number of HR and economic risks. Knowing what hot skills are in this day and age, how they should be managed and compensated, and the risks and implications of ineffective choices for both one’s hot skill employees and broader workforce have become a critically important HR strategy issue for many employers.

Identifying High Potential

Identifying High Potential

Human Resources / By

How do you spot potential? What differentiates a high potential employee from one who has reached a career plateau? Many organizations fall into the trap of relying on past performance as a measure of future potential. Current and past performance may be an indicator of potential, but the two are not synonymous. In fact, according to a study conducted by Gartner (previously CEB/SHL Talent Measurement) only one in seven high performers are actually high potentials. That means that over 85% of today’s top performers lack the critical attributes essential to success in future roles. 

The Talent Gap – Is it Reality or Fiction?

The Talent Gap – Is it Reality or Fiction?

Human Resources / By

A simple Google search on the words “talent management” reveals almost 17 million hits, and if we look at studies in all countries over the last decade, every time CHRO’s & CEO’s are surveyed, two of the top three challenges they say they face are lack of talent and a shortage of leadership. It isn’t clear whether these two are linked (i.e. is talented leadership scarce; or is it that both leadership and specific talents at all organizational levels are in short supply.)

Workplace In Motion Summit Proceedings

Queen’s University IRC 2015 Workplace in Motion Summit Proceedings

Organization Development / By

The world of work is changing, and the most successful organizations and practitioners are those that understand how these changes impact the way they do business. To help them do so, and to foster further dialogue, Queen’s IRC hosted the Workplace in Motion Summit. This report elaborates on the most important questions, issues, and themes identified by Summit participants going forward.

Network Mapping as a Tool for Uncovering Hidden Organizational Talent and Leadership

Network Mapping as a Tool for Uncovering Hidden Organizational Talent and Leadership

Organization Development / By

This article will focus on the practice of social network mapping within organizations to deliberately leverage and engage intra-organizational sets of informal connections that are less “hard-wired” than formal organizational working relationships. In particular, the article will highlight the applications of the tool to identify hidden talent and leadership within the organization to support succession planning initiatives and diagnose internal communication and decision making blockages.

The Next Tsunami of Environmental Disasters in the Workplace

Managing Under the Microscope: The Next Tsunami of Environmental Disasters in the Workplace

Human Resources / By

There is a new wave of environmental disasters that are just beginning to splash onto our daily news feeds. Workplace cultures are the next targets that will be publicly examined and debated in excruciating detail – just ask the CBC, Amazon, or the Lance Armstrong “company machine.” All the dirty laundry of inappropriate behaviours and unacceptable people practices are flooding out in the wash, and every detail is being hung out on the public line to view.

Creating a Mentoring Culture for Organizational Success

Creating a Mentoring Culture for Organizational Success

Human Resources / By

Mentoring is a management practice that can assist organizations in building a desired corporate culture, while enabling the careers of those who are already motivated to pursue one. It is an efficient and effective method of shortening the learning curve of new executives and providing more knowledgeable employees with broader perspectives. New executives with a mentor have a sounding board, as well as the benefit of their mentor’s experience as they navigate through situations that may be unfamiliar to them.

HR Secrets of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies

HR Secrets of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies

Human Resources / By

We surveyed the Profit 500, an annual listing of the 500 fastest growing companies in Canada, to find out about their HR practices. We asked questions surrounding their strategic capabilities, organizational development activities, change management processes, training opportunities, performance management systems, leadership development programs, and the use of HR technology. Overall, the top HR challenges faced by the Profit 500 include (1) finding key talent, (2) managing and feeding talent pipelines, (3) appropriately leveraging HR metrics to inform decision making, and (4) choosing and incorporating the right HR technology.

Summit Chair Brenda Barker Scott

Getting Ahead of the Shift: Summit Inspires Thoughtful Conversations About the Changing World of Work

News / By

With an impressive line-up of guest speakers and facilitators, the Queen’s IRC 2015 Workplace in Motion Summit brought together over 100 leaders in HR, OD and LR from across the country to engage in conversations about the workplace of the future, and the trends that are driving new models for organizational planning. The Summit, held on April 16 in Toronto, featured a number of themes, including: Talent: How do we engage, retain and motivate a new generation of workers? Transformation:  How can organizations transform without trauma?

Queen's IRC Coaching Skill training program brochure cover

Coaching Skills: Post-Program Perspectives

Human Resources / By

In December 2014, Queen’s IRC introduced a new two-day Coaching Skills program. With long-time Queen’s IRC facilitator Françoise Morissette at the helm, the program promises to deliver essential coaching skills, tools and models to help participants master the coaching process and improve performance at the individual and organizational level. “Coaching is popular because it’s very portable and can be used formally or informally,” said Françoise, the lead facilitator for the program.

Approaches and Tools for HR Managers

4 Trends in Recruiting Top Talent: Approaches and Tools for HR Managers

Human Resources / By

As the use of traditional methods of recruiting decline, human resource managers must develop new approaches and tools to recruit top talent.  Hiring managers are often faced with wage pressures (particularly within private companies) and a lack of qualified workers.  To effectively compete in the talent marketplace, organizations are leveraging a rich blend of methods in order to identify and recruit the best human capital that they can.

Zones of Engagement

The Head-Down Theory: How Unfairness Affects Employee Engagement

Human Resources / By

Modern HR practice suggests that the difference between successful and struggling companies can be found in employee engagement. Those companies who engage employees to actively participate in the success of an organization report greater productivity, morale, innovation and health. Most companies offer rewards as a way of promoting employee engagement. Yet very few have analyzed the reasons why employees are not engaged.

Recruiting Talent Using Applicant Tracking Systems

Recruiting Talent Using Applicant Tracking Systems

Human Resources / By

As demographics, technology and social media change, so must approaches to recruiting talent.Companies who establish innovative recruiting practices will have a competitive advantage for attracting quality candidates. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are a key component of this. Their ability to provide an improved candidate experience leads to a greater talent pool from which to draw and, by automating routine recruiting activities, also provides Human Resource (HR) professionals and hiring managers time to focus on other aspects of recruiting.

Executive Summary

The State of HR in Canada: 2011 Survey Results

Human Resources / By

In February 2011, the IRC surveyed HR professionals across Canada to glean their perspectives on HR, the challenges and priorities for HR departments, and the kinds of skills and knowledge that are perceived as critical for the practice. This article provides a synthesis of some of our data. Please note that a complimentary copy of An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada: Executive Summary is available for download from the Queen’s IRC website.

Taking Notes on Behavioural Interviewing

Behavioural Interviewing: Hiring Effectively for the Future

Human Resources / By

With 18 years of experience as an HR professional, I have observed that most organizations realize that a strong recruitment plan is crucial for the success of any business. Efficiently recruiting and hiring the right candidate is critical in today's competitive market. One technique that has become widely used in the recruiting process is the art of behavioural interviewing.

Insights Opinion Poll

Practitioner Perspectives on Talent Management: Opinion Poll Results

Human Resources / By

February 2012 marked the launch of the IRC's new research initiative, Opinion Polls, that address hot topics facing Canadian human resources (HR), labour relations (LR), and organizational development (OD) practitioners. The IRC's inaugural opinion poll addressed talent management, and the ways in which Canadian organizations recruit, retain, and develop their talent. This article summarizes some of our findings. All reporting is based on aggregated data.  

Talent Management, Beyond the Buzzwords

Talent Management, Beyond the Buzzwords

Human Resources / By

The ubiquitous term "war for talent" was coined in 1997 by management consultants McKinsey & Co. The consultants had conducted a year-long study and had concluded that the most important corporate resource over the following two decades would be talent. The demand for smart, technologically savvy, and globally astute businesspeople, they said, would outstrip the supply.

Has Talent Management Weathered the Economic Storm?

Human Resources / By

Organizational development and change management more than ever before are being linked to learning and talent development, according to a report recently published by the UK-based CIPD. “It is clear that organizational development and design will become increasingly important as organizations seek to change, innovate and to link learning to organizational goals,” according to CIPD’s …

Has Talent Management Weathered the Economic Storm? Read More »

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