Talent is Fluid

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

If Talent is a measurement, it is also fluid as there is no real start and stop to the candidate hiring process. While the recruiting process begins when you post for the position, job seekers do not begin searching and sourcing for positions at the same time.  This is why talent is a fluid process and by creating doorways into engagement with those interested parties through a talent network, you can create a more fluid recruitment and talent process for everyone involved. 

Talent Management is defined as the “ongoing process of analyzing, developing, and effectively utilizing talent to meet business needs.” The most important part of this definition is that it is the ongoing process. Even before you post a job online you’ve already started the process. Cultivating job requirements, defining specific duties, and creating a strategy on when and where to post the job are all parts of the actual recruitment strategy. Most companies take job applications prior to opening a specific job to have an ongoing candidate resource pool.

This process should be looked at as an ongoing cycle rather than the isolated event of posting a job online. This is even more crucial when your company relies on networking and employee referral efforts that have historically resulted in hiring a higher quality of candidates. Talent acquisition starts before you post your first job. In order to higher quality candidates you must start networking and engaging in potential recruits to build a talent pool.

Creating a more fluid talent pool is essential in an economy on the rise. Finding and recruiting top talent is the #1 priority of all recruiters and hr professionals. The quality of talent is a reflection of how well the HR department tracks, trains, and recruits. If recruiters are looking to keep top talent and increase the performance of their workforce, it’s essential to understand that talent is measured beyond the traditional concept and that in order to be successful you must always be recruiting and networking with top talent.

Is your talent fluid? What are you doing to keep it more fluid in your workplace?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @blogging4jobs. 

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Looking Back & Moving Forward: The History of Talent

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

The History of Talent 

Talent for human resources and organizational leaders refers to human capital.  It’s the people that make the business and drive the organization through what we call talent.  Talent can be stolen.  It is coveted and much debate is how, why, and in which way talent can be measured. 

Measuring & Defining Talent

The word "talent” is derived from the Greek word “talanton,” which means "balance, sum, weight," was an unit of weight, in gold and silver, which was used as a form of legal tender for purchase or trade during that era. Talent' entered into the Hebrew language and translated meant the word Kikar' (loaf or cake) suggests that the shape of the talent was circular like the bread of those times.  In the modern day area the process of hiring, recruiting, and retaining talent remains circular.  It is ongoing, never-ending, and has increasingly become a focus for human resource professionals who specialize in human capital as well as senior business executives who understand how valuable talent is to the success of their organization.  A 2012 study conducted by IBM titled, “Leading with Connections” found that 75% CEO’s identifying and cultivating talent as critical to the success of their organization. 

Interestingly enough that same study identified four critical traits were key for successful employees: collaborative, communicative, creative, and flexible.  These talent qualities are considered soft and thus, hard to be measured. It’s ironic given that talent was originally considered a unit of measure. 

Understanding the War for Talent

The concept of talent for human capital often referred to as talent management occurred in the 1997 with the book, The War for Talent. It first discussed the battle of recruiting, hiring, and retention when it comes to employees.  McKinsey and Company, the organization who authored the aforementioned book has continued their focus on talent in a white paper published in 2001 summing up the continued importance of talent as a unit of measurement but in a different way than the Greek’s had intended.

“In today’s competitive knowledge-based world, the caliber of a company’s

talent increasingly determines success in the marketplace. At the same time, attracting and retaining great talent is becoming more difficult, as demand for highly skilled people outstrips supply.”

So maybe the Greeks weren’t wrong after all.  Talent is a unit of measure driving the success of an organization where profit margins and quarterly earnings indicate how valuable talent truly is to an organization who embraces a company’s most intangible asset.  And while the history of talent is rooted in HR Metrics and measurement, how you measure talent is up to you. 

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter  @blogging4jobs . 

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