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Creating a Talent Management Strategy for Your Business

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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

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Reviewed by Brendan Sullivan, Indeed Recruiter
4+ years of experience, 150+ roles filled

If you work in a human resources department or managerial role, it’s crucial to understand talent management. Learn about talent management, the best practices for managers and answers to related questions.

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What is talent management?

Talent management refers to the process of recruiting, developingand retaining an organization’s best talent. When a vacant position is available, hiring managers find a candidate. These employee’s skills are developedfor their advancement and the achievement of company goals.

If you’re hiring, ensure that you let employees know they’ll have the opportunity to advance their skills within the company. Career development is crucial to many professionals and will liken their odds for accepting a position and staying within a company.

Related:What Is Talent Acquisition?

Why is talent management important?

A successful talent management strategy ensures that employees help their employers achieve growth, profit andsuccess. Talent management is also important because not only can it help companies achieve their goals, but it helps employees develop their own skills while feeling valued by their employer. Employees want to know that their work is meaningful and that they had some part in their company’s success.

Related:5 Steps to Creating an Effective Training and Development Program

Talent management best practices for managers

Though the human resources department is responsible for hiring new employees, a large part of talent management falls on managers since they’re the ones directly supervising their employees on a day-to-day basis:

  1. Set clear expectations
  2. Determine organizational goals
  3. Provide feedback
  4. Provide the opportunity for growth

1. Set clear expectations

In order for your talent management strategy to be successful, it’s important to set clear expectations for your employees. They should understand what’s expected of them in order to achieve success through your company’s standards. This includes knowing what their duties are, what goals they should be working toward, how their achievements can contribute to the company’s success and more.

2. Determine organizational goals

It’s also important for you to understand what the company wants to achieve. Determine what goals need to be met for a certain period and relay that to your employees. If a goal changes, they should be notified so they can shift gears and work toward the new goal.

3. Provide feedback

You should also provide helpful feedback to your employees through performance reviews and support. A performance review allows for the discussion of past achievements, ongoing challenges and the discussion of company goals that need to be met. In addition, it allows you to hear what career aspirations and goals your employees have for themselves. If there are performance gaps, a review will allow you to discuss a way to remedy the gap.

Managers should also provide their employees with timely feedback through support and mentoring. This will allow them to determine where they can improve.

4. Provide the opportunity for growth

As a manager, it’s important to provide employees with the opportunity for advancement. This involves helping them develop their skills. A succession plan should also be put in place should a crucial role within the organization become vacant.

Related:How to Hire Employees: A Step-by-Step Guide

Talent management FAQs

Here are some common FAQs in regards to talent management:

  • What is the difference between talent management and performance management?
  • How do I attract and retain employees?
  • Why is a succession plan important?

What is the difference between talent management and performance management?

Talent management is a broader term than performance management. Performance management focuses on employee performance whereas talent management is used by hiring managers to recruit, develop and retain employees. The latter is more focused on operational growth.

How do I attract and retain employees?

If you work in human resources or in a managerial role, there are several ways to attract and retain employees in your company or organization. Along with a competitive salary and good benefits, you should also offer the opportunity for growth. Employees want to know that they’ll be given the chance to grow their skills.

In addition, managers should provide their employees with useful feedback that can help them become a better employee. Assigning meaningful and significant work will also help employees feel valued and appreciated at their workplace. Once these things are met, your company will have a better chance of these employees staying on at the company and contributing to its success.

Why is a succession plan important?

When there’s a vacancy in a company, it’s important to have a succession plan in place. This is because when someone vital to an organization leaves, a successful succession plan ensures a smooth transition with minimal disruptions to company operations. When creating a succession plan, it’s important to consider whether the company will pursue internal or external recruitment, who will be backups to the incumbent and more. The more thorough the succession plan is, the more it will be able to ease the process.


Brendan Sullivan is an Indeed recruiter based in Austin, TX with 4+ years of experience. You can usually find him enjoying one of the several amazing coffee shops in Austin or organizing his record collection.

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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.