Getting Value For Talent In The Millennial Era

Work performance is what firms are interested in, and a fair amount of research has been done to answer the question, “How to get the best out of people?” Other issues that firms grapple with are,” How do investments in people affect work performance?” “Who are our star performers?” “How to get people to give their best shot to work?”

Human Capital-Centric firms always keep people interests as their priority. Managing Human Capital is an elective course at the Harvard Business School and stresses on optimising the Human Capital lever to achieve high performance. In the words of Peter Drucker, “Every existing society, even the most individualistic one, takes two things for granted, if only subconsciously: that organisations outlive workers, and that most people stay put. But today the opposite is true. Knowledge workers outlive organisations, and they are mobile. The need to manage oneself is, therefore, creating a revolution in human affairs.“

Managing human resources in the 21st century with the millennial workforce is a far cry from days of transaction based Human Resources. Employees actively manage their careers and are far more aware due to the impact of digitisation and information availability. There is a global increase in the mobility of talent and job searches are not made while in between jobs rather while still holding a job; this is where Executive Search firms play an increasingly active role.

How should firms manage Human Capital in this Changing arena? Top firms are already using sophisticated ways to analyse employee data to bolster their competitive advantage. Organisations like Starbucks are using metrics (analytics) over gut instincts to understand shifts in employee engagement. Google & AT&T  use quantitative analysis to establish that a demonstrated ability to take initiative is a better predictor of on the job performance. A common occurrence of employee attrition can be seen approaching through data analysis again.  An employee whose compensation plan does not reflect long-term or deferred gains may not be in for a long tenure.

Analytical HR comes here to help firms. Human Capital facts, Workforce Forecasts, Talent Supply Chain and Human Capital Investment Analysis help answer the toughest questions about handing people that matter.  Significant issues like leading indicators of organisational health, attention requiring departments and positions and staffing could be addressed by taking care through HR analytics.

Building Talent analytics requires data, enterprise orientation, support from leadership and of course analysts. HR systems can provide reliable data for analysis. An initiative like analytics approach requires organisational, and leadership support to culminate into productive action. Firms like Intel and Royal Bank of Scotland have HR analyst groups to facilitate talent analytics. As organisational performance is linked to its people’s  abilities and motivation, talent analytics would be of great service.