Paul Tooth, General Manager of HR and Payroll at Sage UK advises how people are the beating heart of business

The economic downturn over the past few years has presented new challenges to businesses, having a lasting impact on the way organisations structure and manage their internal operations. Yet whilst the challenging environment has naturally impacted revenues, margins and cash flow, the positive news is that it has also turned the spotlight onto the importance of managing talent and fostering employee engagement. Now more than ever organisations are increasingly placing people, rather than simply products or processes, at the heart of their operations.

With products and services coming to market faster than ever before, both technology and economies of scale have been widely exploited by firms as areas of differentiation. Yet in a commoditised and competitive market, relying solely on product USPs and feature sets is a short-sighted source of competitive advantage. Businesses are placing increased importance the role that human talent plays in facilitating long-term business success. After all, people are the lifeblood of any organisation. A company comprised of talented individuals who are highly motivated to give their best, inevitably leads to tangible benefits for both the employer and the individual. Firms are now acknowledging the benefit of having a healthy, engaged workforce to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.

People Potential

Nurturing talent and maximising staff welfare has fast become a ‘hot topic’ for all organisations, with many looking to improve internal collaboration, better manage their processes and boost morale amongst their workforce. Yet it’s a fallacy that talent management is simply about focusing on the ‘best’ people within an organisation. This approach appears to suggest there are people in the organisation that should not be considered talented. A more holistic view sees talent management as a process that encompasses every stage of an individual’s relationship with their employer, with the aim of helping every employee achieve their full potential. It’s about getting to know your employees and their need and wants in order to get the best from them. Ultimately, talented employees are attracted to organisations that demonstrate they care about an individual’s development and can match their career goals, so it’s those businesses that provide clear progression and talent management that are seen as god places to work and most likely to prosper.

Success in attracting and retaining the ‘Millenial’ generation for example will come from innovative development and reward packages that are tailored to general trends in attitudes and values. With many ‘Generation Y’ employees driven by a desire to create a lifestyle and career path that suits them - rather than trying to fit their life around the organisation for which they work - employers need to be in the position to offer more than just a job. Organisational ethics, corporate social responsibility and providing clear progression opportunities are all of interest to employees, particularly when it comes to attracting Generation Y employees who bring with them a whole new set of expectations and demands.

Managing Leadership Talent

An effective talent management strategy should always aim to identify and nurture those individuals with unique potential within an organisation. Talent management and succession planning should go hand in hand as a proper strategy: it’s not only about looking at people for key roles, but also about spotting talent wherever it may exist.

Managing human talent is about setting employees on a journey that is designed to give them a range of experiences across the business and includes having a mentor or coach to guide them on that journey. As an example of this in practice, Sage has created its own leadership journey comprising of three levels. The first, referred to as Aspire, is about giving people the tools to do the job they are currently in. This is followed by Enable, a week long course that focuses on developing the leadership skills of the individual, and finally Inspire, which is the final preparation for taking on the responsibility of leadership. This strategy is designed to create a pipeline of internal talent that both assures people they are on a well-structured career-path and reduces the costs and risks associated with recruiting externally for strategic roles.

Looking forward

At Sage we’ve been encouraged to see businesses placing new emphasis on forging happier workers that, in turn, will translate to more efficient working practices company-wide. Scalable software that can manage an entire employee lifecycle, from candidate to leaver, supports this by helping to remove the administrative burden on HR but also enables more proactive decision making through better access to accurate and real time information. This can all provide intelligence that feeds into the overall talent management strategy of a business and will deliver long term benefit.

It is time for organisations to take action and focus their efforts toward re-evaluating HR and talent management processes and making the necessary investments to become more streamlined, improve employee engagement and cultivate talent. Making these changes today will not only improve competitiveness and provide the operational clarity required to maximise corporate performance, but will also help to retain talented employees and prepare the organisation to exploit future economic growth.