One of the most repeated concepts in the corporate space is that of human resources being the most valuable resource within the organisation.
Sometimes it is just said to placate employees and in certain instances, it is very well meant.
Organisations that truly believe that employees are the most instrumental resource go to great lengths to actualise all important schools of thought about human resource management and development.
Actions always speak louder than words for strategies are a dime dozen.
Talent acquisition can be fairly easy, while competency maintenance is where the rubber meets the road. Execution is the king of management.
As a matter of fact, transformational leadership is how one elects to attract, assess and retain the bravest, the most competent, the most brilliant and the most innovative of all employees.
The war on talent is the number one competitive advantage.
Creating a culture of excellence in the entire establishment is definitely one of the pillars of talent sustainability.
In most instances, employees depart because of a poor and toxic work culture.
The leaders of the organisation, therefore, have to continuously promote collaboration, camaraderie, innovation, and business etiquette and embed high standards of performance that are measurable and adequately rewarded.
Phenomenal organisations inculcate effective and inclusive communication, active listening, transformational leadership, zero tolerance for toxicity and cultural fitness.
In sum, such great culture leads to well-engaged employees and happier customers.
Resentful stakeholders will definitely transmit negative vibes to prospective customers.
An excellent employee experience will include deliberate recognition of excellence, authentic employee voice, creating genuine synergies and meticulous onboarding policies.
We can also add that great companies are sticklers for employment jurisprudence. Organisations that don’t have the right application of employment legislation will not survive the onslaught of employee separations.
That is why these organisations have certified human resources practitioners or employment advocates so as to avoid unnecessary litigations which are very exorbitant, stressful and time wasters.
Too much employment litigation is a sure sign of unprofessionalism. That is an avenue of talent flight.
Naturally, the other strategic consideration for profitable, efficient and productive companies is meritocratic compensation and reward policies.
The demerits of equitable compensation include inspired and enthusiastic employees, triggering staff engagement consequently increasing productivity and profitability, it lowers turnover and absenteeism, it elevates company culture and it seduces superstars and making them stay for longer.
Recruitment and selection are expensive and time-consuming assignments.
One way of the ways in which marvellous organisations retain competency is through elaborate learning and development policies, procedures and programmes.
A culture of deliberate and systematic employee development through new skills acquisition can be the roadmap for loyalty and total engagement. Career progression can be a great attractor.
Highly performing organisations put lots of effort into making sure that their employee strategies are up to scratch.
How do phenomenal companies excel in retaining their top-grade employees? The other side of this question is how do top-performing organisations attract their employees? They recognise and reward exemplary performance.
Emotionally intelligent chief executives and other corner suite occupants have a knack for immediate positive feedback for top-performing stars. Words can be transformationally powerful.
They can do this through email or hand-written notes, dashboards, newsletters employee of the month pictures at the lobby. This public acknowledgement can be a source of inspiration, motivation, discipline and exceptionalism.
Performance management conversations are better than performance appraisals which post mortems. Some organizations are quite stingy on this dimension of promoting employee excellence. The problem with this it can quickly degenerate into disengagement. Which is catastrophic poison to performance.
Disengagement can definitely lead to talent flight. A culture of employee recognition does marvellous things for employee and employer relationships. This will orient the employee towards outcomes and behaviours. Being recognized and rewarded can be quite uplifting since one of the most prevalent complaints in surveys is the deficiency of employee recognition.
For recognition to work, it has to be timely and specific. There is an old adage that says that what can’t be measured can’t be achieved. This is why data and its attendant analytics have become a major prime mover of organizational excellence.
In the era of Big Data, data scientists are hotcakes.
Great organizations work towards removing toxicity. Some talents exit because of bullying, abusive supervisors, being ostracized, stigmatization, passive-aggressive inclinations, lack of clarity, gaslighting, burnout, and little work-life integration.
Phenomenal organizations boost positive vibes through inspiring messaging which can be gleaned from their value system, employee engagement, big dreams, great synergies, open communication, transparency, meritocracy and transformational leadership.
We all call organizations where we work as our second homes. That is why the wellness strategy becomes an integral part of sustainable talent management and rewarding. The wellness strategy promotes optimal performance.
The wellbeing principles constitute financial empowerment, intellectual stimulation, purposefulness, social capital enlargement, nutritional literacy, emotional intelligence, environmental awareness and physical wellbeing.
In closing, psychologists have provided ample evidence to buttress the fact that we all want to be valued, appreciated, congratulated, recognized, rewarded, stimulated, and treated with courtesy and respect.
It is placed where all these ideals are actualized that we stay longer and become more high performing, productive, efficient and effective. Lack of gratitude from the owners of the means of production can cause irreparable damage to their establishments.
