Talent management could help companies to hold on to their more skilled employees, one expert has suggested.
Associate director for the Work Foundation Stephen Overell said there is "good evidence" many staff members are unsatisfied they are being underutilised in their current roles.
"These days, something like 30 per cent of all workers say that they are overqualified for the kind of work that they are asked to do," he explained.
According to Mr Overell, a lack of proper training for different types of personnel is a "perennial problem" in Britain, with businesses and the government not spending enough money in this area.
Organisations that fail to implement a good talent management strategy could risk their employees looking for new jobs, he claimed.
His comments followed a survey published last month by chrysaliscourses.co.uk that found one-third of people feel ‘completely unappreciated’, with a further 63 per cent wanting to change their careers altogether.
By Hayley Edwards
As a current HR Consultant and an ex-Management Trainer, I can concur that we often do insufficient training. However, quantity and quality do not always go hand in hand. Many of the 60%+ who do change jobs when things pick up are going to find that “the grass is brown on the other side too”. To resolve this issue, we have to select and/or develop managers who can manage in a contemporary environment – that requires fundamentally different skills to those trained on most management and leadership programs. Managers need to be able to (a) diagnose VERY QUICKLY each individual employee’s engagement/mostivation needs, (b) respond and take action to address those as best as possible, (c) conduct hundreds of “conversations with a purpose” with employees rather than relying on infrequent formal performance reviews and ad hoc ‘relationship building chats’, (d) understand and provide the appropriate blend of leadership and management, (e) tap into and utilize the inevitable electronic communications and SN’ing. Employees also need to be provided with development that enables them to (a) FEEL the new reality – “lots for free” and “I deserve it” are no longer part of that, (b) understand that the grass is probably not greener over there, and (c) manage their own reality. Truly good performers don’t whine about their state; they do something about it; they don’t complain that their skills are not being used – they find a way to use them. Of course, there are those with bad bosses and bad situations but we really can educate employees how to optimise the use of their talents. Such a bottom and top down approach can be effective.
Clinton Wingrove, Pilat HR Solutions