Talent Identification

Talent identification and management consists of the ways by which an organization attracts recruits, retains, identifies and develops talent. There are four steps in this process of talent identification:

• Assessing talent pool needs: During this step, the capabilities of current members of the organization have to be assessed, and the future (and current) capabilities needed are gauged. The gap between the two (if any) is the new talent that is required.
• Spot talent: people with leadership and/or management potential have to be identified, as well as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and key knowledge holders.
• Develop talent: Plans for developing talent within the organization (either existing or acquired) must be established in order to prepare for future needs. As well, opportunities for job rotation should be identified, in order to expose talent to new experiences.
• Retain talent: Once a talent base has been created, it needs to be retained. In order to do so, recognition plans and reward schemes can be put into place.

Talent identification and management is very important for a business in identifying the talent within their business, retaining that talent, and putting that talent to good use. It is important for a business to have a system in place for many different reasons. Thus, each organization will have a different resourcing requirement for its current and future talent pipeline, as well as different issues concerning how best to meet these requirements. These are the building blocks around which the company must build its talent identification strategy. All leaders within the company must be involved in the talent management process in that they can present ideas regarding how to develop the talent pool within the company. Effective talent identification can make an employee feel wanted and place them where they really belong in the company as those positions need filled. This can result in more satisfied employees, better work efficiency, and increased profitability because important positions are filled with the right talent.