Errors in Talent Strategy Hindering Your Business Growth (And Solutions to Overcome Them)

Recruitable Design Team

In a recent discussion at Gloat Live, Josh Bersin emphasized the importance of viewing skills as a means to an end. This statement resonated with me deeply, particularly in the context of talent and skills strategies often devised by CHROs and Chief Talent Officers. One of the most glaring mistakes I’ve observed is the failure to align talent strategy with overarching business goals.

During another session at Gloat Live, Lucredia Borgonovo and Rohit Chauhan from Mastercard shared their organization’s transition towards a skills-driven approach. Their account highlighted another prevalent blunder: imposing skills on stakeholders without soliciting their input on when, where, and how they intend to leverage them. Unlike many organizations, Mastercard adeptly utilized skills to address tangible business challenges, showcasing the importance of strategic alignment.

Furthermore, the discussion underscored a third common misstep: attempting to overhaul all aspects of talent management simultaneously. Mastercard’s success in this transformation stemmed from prioritizing a singular problem and focusing efforts accordingly, rather than dispersing resources across multiple initiatives.

So, how can these pitfalls be avoided?

1. Firstly, it’s imperative to anchor skills strategy to business objectives. Leveraging the Strategy Choice Cascade, as outlined in “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works,” facilitates this alignment by guiding organizations to identify critical capabilities and corresponding skills essential for competitive advantage.
2. Secondly, engaging stakeholders collaboratively to discern their skill utilization preferences is crucial. While offering strategic insights is beneficial, it’s paramount to align skill deployment with stakeholders’ needs and challenges, as evidenced by Mastercard’s approach during the Covid crisis.
3. Finally, once critical skills and stakeholder preferences are identified, prioritization becomes key. A four-box prioritization matrix, considering costs and benefits, aids in determining which initiatives to pursue immediately, what to defer, and what to discard.

By adhering to these principles, organizations can navigate the complexities of talent strategy, aligning them with business imperatives to drive sustainable growth.

I hope you find this article helpful. If you have any questions or wish to discuss your talent and skills strategy you can contact me at aouf@go-platform.dz

Reference:

Lafley, A. G., & Martin, R. L. (2013). Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.