Talent Management - November 2008 - (Page 33)

Competency Modeling Can Remove Subjectivity from Talent Decisions Rick Brandt Last year, a 50-year-old retailer addressed a growing problem: Its hiring managers were consistently making selection decisions largely based on subjective criteria, resulting in hires that did not perform to expectations, resulting in higher-than-average turnover and increasing frustration company-wide. For example, when the company needed strong leaders to manage multiple stores, it most often considered existing store managers who had been successful in that position or individuals with whom a member of the team had previously worked. While these criteria are not to be discounted entirely, it is critical to consider additional, less-subjective information in the decision-making process. Although there have been countless studies evaluating the costs associated with turnover, actual dollar estimates vary greatly. Most people agree the costs of losing an employee are signiﬁcant. This includes time spent recruiting and interviewing, administrative work associated with hiring, newhire orientation and training, and overtime paid to employees covering vacant positions. Most importantly, these costs also are avoidable. The retailer began as a single-location operation and has grown to become the most recognized chain in its industry and geographic area of focus. Today, it operates more than 250 stores and ranks as one of the fastest-growing chains in its industry. Bottom line: Although it has been hugely successful in many ways, its talent selection and performance management processes were clearly faltering and negatively impacting company performance. The retailer worked with TalentQuest to remove the subjectivity from its talent decision-making process, ensuring consistent, relevant and meaningful criteria were used to identify and hire the right people for the right jobs. The process began by taking time to understand the company’s challenges, business goals and organizational culture. Then it conducted in-depth interviews with supervisors and high performers for a variety of positions. The interview data was used to create competency models that function as the foundation for all talent and performance management activities, establishing objective criteria for selection, management, development and succession planning. Competency models are simply a list of attributes, skills or behaviors that enable an individual to succeed in an organization, at an organizational level, in a particular family of jobs or in a speciﬁc position. In addition to facilitating the selection process, they enable organizations to differentiate between top, middle and bottom performers, develop skill sets, provide performance feedback in a meaningful and productive way, and create impactful learning programs and development plans — all of which ultimately lead to higher retention and increased organizational performance. Today, the retailer’s employees and candidates are measured objectively and evaluated consistently across the organization. Candidates are recruited and selected based on their compatibility with competency models, and training is geared toward improving the competencies. In short, all of the company’s talent management activities are based on a competency model foundation. Given the current economic climate, competency modeling may not seem like a top priority. But talent management initiatives such as competency modeling matter more in tough times than any other. Consider this: If an organization is directly impacted by the weakening economy, it might be forced to consolidate operations. This may require layoffs. How can talent managers be sure to keep the talent it needs to weather the storm and to rebuild when the time comes? Conversely, if an organization is growing, how can talent managers be sure they are selecting the best people from the increasingly large pool of available talent? Talent managers should take the time now to ensure they are prepared for the future. Competency modeling is an efﬁcient and straightforward process that can save an organization time, money and frustration. Rick Brandt is president of consulting services at TalentQuest, an integrated human capital management consulting services and software solutions provider. He can be reached at editor@ talentmgt.com. plement independently, whereas Q12 and Walker Loyalty are copyrighted instruments of their respective organizations and can only be implemented by those ﬁrms or their partners. ENPS does not provide actionable information organizations can use to improve. Gallup and Q12 offer an extensive program of organizational-effectiveness consulting that can be used to drive greater results. Walker Loyalty provides a detailed battery of items to evaluate and includes a detailed and segmented prioritization of attributes that affect employee engagement. For ﬁrms looking for benchmarks by country or by industry sector, Gallup is the best choice. Jeffrey Henning is chief strategy ofﬁcer at Vovici, a survey software, panel management and online community solutions provider. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. November 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 33 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - November 2008

Talent Management - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Recruitment & Retention Assessment & Evaluation Compensation & Benefits Performance Management Learning & Development Succession Planning Insight Dashboard Application Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - November 2008

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