Top 7 Talent Management Strategies for Rapidly Expanding Organizations
As the organization begins to grow rapidly, it typically starts bagging multiple projects, investing in machineries, innovating their services and products and even acquiring new businesses.
And while Business Leaders are busy relishing speed of growth, sometimes a critical fact eludes them. Which is, in addition to the Marketing and Sales Strategy, Production Strategy, Information Technology and Financial Strategy, the Business Leaders MUST invest time and resources to develop a robust ‘Talent Management Strategy as they plan to move into a high growth phase.
There are various examples of startups or mid-size organizations scaling great heights within the shortest span of time only to plummet downwards as quick. In order to ‘NOT’ find yourself in such a scenario, it is required to understand and implement scientific strategies with the help of Talent Management Consulting Services. It may be helpful to read about a few strategies beforehand so that you know what exactly you should expect from your Strategic Management or HR OD Consultant.
Talent management then, is essentially a science, to refine and develop the Human Resource of an organization to improve the value of your business and achieve your organizational goals. Here are the top 7 strategies, fast growing companies needs to adopt, to save themselves from the pitfalls of growth phase.
Provide Clarity of Organizational Goals to the employees: As an organization starts achieving one milestone after another, starts increasing in size, the average employee goals/KRA-KPIs may start getting narrower, operational and number driven. Thus, keeping the employees abreast with big picture becomes important to enhance their strategy connect and goal alignment. Goal alignment also helps inculcating sense of accountability, enhancing motivation and engagement of employees resulting in high performing organizations. Hence the employee performance goals should be lucidly communicated across all levels of organization in context to larger organizational goals.
Refine your manpower planning and hiring processes: Many high growth companies end up recruiting hastily in order to fill the critical vacant slots or emerging manpower needs at the earliest. Thus, often compromise on quality, overestimate manpower numbers and disregard scientific selection process. In this process many companies become overstaffed with their costs eating out larger part of their profits. Once the hectic growth phase is over many organizations get stuck up with heavy burden of underutilized and sometimes mis-fit workforce. To avoid finding yourself in such a fix, it is important to design and rigorously implement a scientific manpower forecasting, planning and hiring process especially during the startup and high growth phase.
Provide growth opportunities to your existing loyal and competent employees: While your organization is growing, the growth of your employees should not remain stunted. Employees form the nervous system of any organization, and providing them with growth opportunities only helps the company strengthen its foundation.
I have observed that high growth organizations often neglect/ miss out on developing existing high performing talent and as a quick fix to situation, bring in highly paid external talent at senior levels. These management decisions in future create a serious dent on the moral of internal high performers aspiring to grow in to future leadership positions. Observing that the organization does not have a credible Talent Management and Leadership Development Strategy, internal talent and even the externally recruited employees quit after a while. Hence it is utmost important to have leadership development and career development plan for your employees.
Manage the Mid-Management: Mid-Managers, as their name suggests, are actually found in the sandwiched situation quite often, as they have to meet expectations of their bosses and as well their subordinates, while delivering on their performance goals. Middle Management is the channel through which the strategy connect, communication, direction and motivation flows. They are responsible to understand, articulate, communicate strategy and get it executed through the levels below. Hence it becomes important for a business leader to spend sufficient resources on developing as strong mid management level during high growth phase. However, unfortunately many organizations neglect this fact.
There are some commonly observed mistakes such as- concentration of power at the top resulting in marginalizing operational freedom and authority of middle managers. Top management’s distrust in middle management, top managers directly accessing resources, directing employees reporting to middle managers resulting in sending wrong signals and marginalizing position/moral of middle managers. Middle Managers used merely as whipping boys/girls or as messengers without ensuring meaningful roles, resources and authority to empower them. As organization grows the undeveloped and weaker mid-management level becomes a big hurdle in executing strategies. Hence enlightened Business Leaders and CEO’s often focus on developing middle managers as their most powerful and efficient Second in Commands.
Stop Micromanaging: As a company starts growing, it becomes impractical for the Founders/ Business Heads to get themselves involved in the nitty-gritties of all the departments. As the Founder/ top leader of a growing firm, you are now required to invest your time into the broader aspects of business. The best way to ensure that everything is running smooth without your constant intervention is to empower your team with the essential skills and also engage in developing your own knowledge and skills to efficiently manage the higher order business challenges. Establishing scientically validated business processes, delegating responsibilities and empowering your team will do away with the necessity of micro management.
Keep checks to maintain equilibrium between People and Processes:
Organizations should trust both; it’s people and it’s processes. Creating robust processes allows business leaders to maintain equilibrium between dependency on people and dependency on processes. Bestowing too much power and trust upon employees in critical roles or completely disregarding talents of people and blindly believing processes both poses threat to the organization.
Over dependence on few people may tempt them exercising their power for personal gains and then vanish from organization once the purpose gets served. Similarly over dependence on processes will dehumanize the workplace and alienate employees. HR OD and Change Management Consultants would help you develop right balance in your high growth phase.
Accept that one size doesn’t fit all: While the strategies mentioned above are more or less applicable to all the growing businesses, it also holds true that every organization requires a unique strategy, tailored to fit their organizational goals. Since every company has a different structure, it always helps to hire a Professional Strategic HR OD consultant to ensure an unbiased, most relevant and practical approach towards a ‘failure-proof’ growth of your business.
Cerveausys Strategic Team is full of expert and friendly professionals, dedicated to bring Strategic Performance Improvement in Your Organization. Cerveausys Strategic is a strategy consulting firm in pune and Mumbai, offering value to your organization by enhancing Strategic Focus, People Performance and Motivation, resulting in superior business outcome. Are you are keen to join hands with a reliable and knowledgeable partner to protect your business from unwarranted failures? Would you like us to make your journey easier while you are on your quest to achieve a holistic growth? Contact Us! info@cerveausys.com or +91-7709992257 We shall be happy to help.