Workforce Intelligence: From Seed to Sprout
Data-driven HR. HR Analytics. Talent Management. Organizational Agility. Chief People Officer. Once just buzzwords, these concepts are now foundational elements of a strong organization’s human resources strategy. In a job market that caters more and more to the candidate’s needs, organizations are seeking to become more proactive. They’re no longer filling a vacancy. Today, it’s a matter of finding and cultivating talent, integrating that talent into a strong and diverse company culture and nurturing that talent to produce the best possible workforce.
Organizations are moving beyond the old hire-to-retire approach and looking more holistically at recruiting and people management. It’s the seed-to-sprout approach. Every individual is a seed, with his or her own defining characteristics—personality, strengths and skills, weaknesses and challenges. Each individual has the ability to grow and change over time. In the right environment, each seed has the potential to grow into a valuable asset. Some will grow straight up with no branches, but many more will experience twists and turns and stops and starts. They’ll shape their environment as much as they are shaped by it.
If talent is a seed, then the employer is the expert gardener. Some gardeners, like me, work mostly with the old elementary guess-and-check method. But, my results (or lack thereof) speak for themselves. Some seeds thrive, others don’t. A few of them manage to grow tall and strong, with nothing but thorns to show for it. Some bloom halfheartedly on withering stems but still manage to attract a butterfly from time to time. But by the time the leaves are brown, sometimes it’s too late. Some gardening experts, on the other hand, are steadfastly working on a plan that will allow them to “grow enough fresh produce to feed the world in a space one-third the size of Hawaii.”
What does this have to do with human resources? The exact thing that differentiates my dead zinnias from the Dutch scientists’ cure for world hunger is the same thing that differentiates the “we’re hiring” human resources of yesterday from the integrated talent management of today—workforce intelligence. The Dutch experts know everything there is to know about their “workers,” the plants, and the environments in which they grow and thrive. They know everything there is to know about each seed, and they leverage that knowledge in order to minimize variables, maximize potential and create the best possible environment based on each plant’s individual characteristics. Each plant is then free to grow into the best possible version of itself.
To achieve the best possible talent in an organization, companies must become the expert gardener. It’s not enough to just implement an integrated talent management system. It’s not enough to just gather data. Knowing is just the beginning. It’s putting that knowledge to work that really matters. I know flowers need water, but if I neglect to water them for any reason, perhaps they’ll hang on for a little while but eventually they’ll leave me for a gardener offering more water and perhaps a bonus of fertilizer too. Organizations must proactively leverage data-based insights into actionable strategies that allow the company to plant the seed of excellence in each candidate or employee and watch it grow.
Too many workers are ready and eager for a change, for growth, for career development opportunities but feel stifled in their current roles. Subsequently, too many organizations are blind-sided by the departure of a key employee and rush to reactively fill the role, when the proper application of the right intelligence could have prevented the situation entirely. Continuously working backwards makes it impossible to get ahead. You already know you need data and analytics to make talent management more productive in your organization. Perhaps you’ve already implemented such a solution and are still trying to figure out how it all will come together. Join David Weisbeck and myself on April 15 for a live webcast, “Workforce Intelligence: The Future of Talent Management,” to learn how you can leverage workforce intelligence to create a proactive and engaged talent strategy. Sponsored by Visier.