Building Talent Portfolios: Executives' Options for Enhancing Workforce - Essay Example

Introduction

Today, enterprises require the right talent to boost the organization towards realizing their goals, especially during this period of COVID-19 disruption. Additionally, as an organization grows, it needs to develop a plan to build its talent portfolio to support its goals (Cappelli, 2008). Executives have a variety of options such as building, buying or borrowing talent to reinforce their workforce. Each choice has its strengths and weaknesses; therefore, managers must choose a decision depending on various factors related to the company’s needs (Cappelli, 2008). The selection of an inappropriate strategy may have devastating effects on an organization’s culture, employee engagement, or work satisfaction.

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Building Talent

Building talent involves preparing existing employees for the organization’s future and equipping them with the skills, capabilities, and knowledge they require to perform specific tasks. In this case, internal candidates are given greater challenges and responsibilities to boost their capabilities (Khatri et al., 2010). Noticeably, managers or executives have to identify suitable candidates for the processes long before the need arises. For instance, if an employee is about to retire at the end of the year, the organization may identify a suitable replacement who is conversant with the upcoming vacancy (Cappelli, 2008). The selection of the individual can be done through merit, or promotion, where the highest performing or an assistant is groomed for the job. (Khatri et al., 2010). In this case, the potential candidates may be required to undertake several courses or induction training to be more conversant with the position. Training can be done internally or externally depending on the complexities of the job.

Noticeably, talent building works well for an organization whose goals permit long term-development pans. For example, if a company knows that it will shift its objectives or priorities from A to Z in the next 10 years, it can take the time to identify its employees’ skills and potentials and groom them for the change (Cappelli, 2008). The building strategy also works well where an organization has a culture with clear learning opportunities and deliberate growth for employees. The situation creates a growth-oriented and inclusive culture that enhances employee job satisfaction and retention. Nobody wants to train workers so that they can leave; therefore, developing carriers encourage workers to stay.

Buying Talent

When a company has no skills to upgrade, it can fill the gap through buying talent. Buying talent involves hiring new employees to fill in vacant positions in an organization. While buying talent the organization must be precise in the skills and capabilities they want. The talent pool is constantly changing and growing to provide a variety of individuals with whom a venture can utilize to fill the demand (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). Several factors such as when a company wants to introduce a new line of product or feels like bringing a new talent would bring fresh energy may contribute to hiring (Khatri et al., 2010). Additionally, developing some skull set might be costly for a company prompting it to hire qualified and experienced candidates who can hit the ground running.

Buying talent is a process that starts with a form identifying its needs and communicating with potential candidates through advertisement or direct inquiries (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). Directly targeting potential candidates is common in top jobs that require a high level of expertise, experience, and decision making such as a general manager or chief operating officers. For example, a company might get a manager from another firm since they are aware of the individual’s portfolio. Alternatively, hiring can be done on a competitive basis through recruitment and selection. In this case, businesses advertise vacancies for potential candidates who meet the minimum requirements for specific jobs to apply. The candidates are selected based on their qualifications and expertise.

Strengths of Building Talent

Firstly, building talent enhances job satisfaction, which enhances employee retention and reduces turnovers. Most companies struggle with high turnover rates which rob them of vital employees “assets,” derailing the overall organizational goals. Unfortunately, companies with poor human resource management do not realize the problem and its impact on overall company performance (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). If employees are not satisfied with their work or feel they lack development and growth, they are likely o search for new opportunities and challenges elsewhere. However, when workers get promoted or inducted to perform greater challenges, they appreciated and valued, which improves their loyalty and productivity (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). Additionally, building talent minimizes time wastage or disruption that may be experienced during succession as new employees get assimilated to a new organizational culture.

Weaknesses of Building Talent

On the downside, building talent might take time since the skills an organization wants to develop are not quick to grasp. Noticeably, most businesses operate in highly competitive industries, where they cannot be able to identify what talent they will need in the next six months. Notably, developing talents might lead employees to other firms. Some industries are competitive and one way of increasing the competitive edge is through talent poaching (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). In this case, trained employees might be snatched or enticed from a company, robbing it of essential persons and time used to develop them. Moreover, retention of bad habits or a dysfunctional culture can occur leading to a lack of innovativeness.

Strengths of Buying Talent

Buying talent is important since it helps employers to acquire skills and experience that are not available in their organization. For instance, if a company is starting a new line of business or product, hiring a professional with experience in the field is indispensable (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). Additionally, new hires bring in new energy that reinforces the existing workforce to build work towards company goals. In most cases, businesses may realize sluggish growth due to a lack of innovation, rigidity, and lack of new ideas (Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2008). For example, when an executive is unable to make strategic goals to steer rapid growth or improve competitiveness. In this case, bringing an individual with new set ideas or leadership styles may influence change in the right direction. Moreover, it is the reality that individuals who took a company to where it is might not be the ones who move it to the next phase. In such situations, external hires are necessary to institute change and maneuver new challenges in the future.

Weaknesses of Buying Talent

On the downside, hiring externally is costly to a business. Organizations have some unwritten rules and culture that new employees might take time to master (Khatri et al., 2010). Additionally, the processes of advertising, recruiting, selecting, and inducting new hires require more resources and additional costs especially when a company has to cater to a candidate’s accommodation (Hills, 2009). In the process, they might be engaged in conflicts that may hinder their performance. Additionally, external hires might demotivate existing employees, especially when there are people with similar capabilities as the hired workers.

Challenges for Human Resource Managers

The main challenge for human resource managers in identifying the right mix between build or buy talent. Sometimes upskilling employees leads them to a path outside a company's door while hiring from outside demotivates existing ones (Khatri et al., 2010). Notably, there is a need to invest in both the strategies to satisfy talent demand at different stages of an organization’s growth (Hills, 2009). Developing and retaining internal talent is vital for long-term sustainability and growth while buying talent with specialized skills has an immediate impact on short-term agendas. Time and resources play an important role in the selection of a suitable strategy (Khatri et al., 2010). Therefore, leaders need to have a vision of how their future workforce will look like and formulate strategies to get there.

Explanation on Whether to Build or Buy Talent

After watching the video about Zappos’ hiring and recruiting processes, I think would prefer building talent as well as buying externally. The video shows huge energy and cost that Zappos company utilizes to search for new talents, which might not be realistic or possible for startup businesses (Zappos Family Careers, 2010). For instance, the recruiting and selection process costs more time and resources that might overwhelm the human resource department. In Zappos, the company tries to reply to more than 80, 000 applications, which is time-consuming; however, it is important to maintain a proper employer branding (Zappos Family Careers, 2010). Moreover, recruiting and selecting one candidate out of such a huge number is cumbersome. Holding interviews for several candidates is not only time consuming but also requires resources to cater for their accommodation and transport.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hiring externally, places an organization at the risk of employing an individual who does not fit the organizational culture. Notably, building talent would be time-saving and minimize the cost associated with processing interviews, accommodating the candidates, and holding the interviews. Developing talents also ensures that the organizational culture is consistent unless the management wants a change.

References

Cappelli, P. (2008). Talent on Demand: Managing talent in an uncertain age. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Retrieved from https://www2.staffingindustry.com/site/content/download/155394/6073975/Thurs_0900_CappelliPeter_IslandB_cwssr13.pdf

Hills, A. (2009). Succession planning – or smart talent management? Industrial and Commercial Training, 41(1), pp. 3-8.
https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850910927697

Khatri, P., Gupta, S., Gulati, K., & Chauhan, S. (2010). Talent management in HR. Journal of management and strategy, 1(1), 39.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1026.6885&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Srivastava, P. and Bhatnagar, J. (2008), "Talent acquisition due diligence leading to high employee engagement: case of Motorola India MDB", Industrial and Commercial Training, 40(5), pp. 253-260.
https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850810886496

Zappos Family Careers. (2010, Oct 25). What to expect when interviewing with The Zappos Family of Companies. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W2rwXjaMrY&feature=youtu.be