5 Biggest Talent Management Mistakes to Avoid and Retain Your Employees

Talent management is one of the topics that many HR professionals neglect until it’s too late. According to People Managing People, 70% of employees stated that their sense of purpose is defined by the work they do professionally. With 86% of recruiters stating that recruitment has now become akin to online marketing, it’s no wonder why many employees quit their jobs to find better full-time placements.

Additional reports indicate that over 80% of HR professionals believe that they’ve nailed down the so-called “employee experience”, or talent management as it is colloquially referred to. With over 30% of businesses rethinking their learning and recruitment tools, opting to use jobs listings platforms like Jobs OneGlobe, now’s the time to rethink your recruitment pipeline.

Moreover, you need to rethink how to approach management so that valuable, talented employees don’t leave your company for the proverbial greener pastures. Let’s discuss the intricacies of talent management and the critical mistakes you should avoid making to retain your employees in 2022.

How Smart Talent Management Can Help You Retain Employees

What’s the philosophy behind talent management? As its name might suggest, it’s the process of “managing talent” inside your company or addressing the pain points of your employees so they can do their jobs more easily. According to Gallup’s findings, about 20% of employees worldwide feel engaged in their work, with 74% of employees either looking for new employment or keeping their eyes open for employment offers.

This means that many managers fail to recognize the needs of their employees and lack basic talent management. There are several important benefits to managing the talent in your company accordingly so that your employees appreciate the professional life in your company:

• Ability to retain talented employees for longer
• Improved staff productivity and motivation
• Better client and customer servicing
• Improved brand authority and reputation
• Easier and faster hiring and onboarding of new talent

“Train people well enough so they can leave,
treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – Richard Branson

Critical Talent Management Pitfalls to Keep in Mind

1. Needlessly Extending the Hiring Process

One of the most critical faults of many employers and recruiters looking to hire talent is that they rarely have the process planned out from day one. Many candidates simply give up on applying for work with a company if the process of selection takes too long. According to BBC reports, an average interview process can take up to 23 days, and with many candidates applying for several job listings, it’s no wonder employers have a tough time hiring talent.

It’s important for you as an employer to be more decisive and reactive when it comes to selecting and hiring candidates. Don’t let talented employees pass you by because of a slow hiring process. Find ways to streamline your hiring by rethinking your shortlisting strategy, preparing a list of interview questions, and screening your candidates more proactively once they apply.

2. Assuming Employees Will Never Leave You

It’s always possible for your employees to leave the company and do so under various circumstances. Just because you’ve hired an employee and hit it off on the right foot doesn’t mean that they won’t stop looking for better opportunities. Many of your employees will be family people, people from abroad, or people who need more stable employment. You should approach your talent management efforts with this in mind and talk to your employees periodically.

It’s essential that you are professional toward them and not put them in a tough position where you’ll outright ask whether they plan to leave or not. Instead, do your best to provide them with ample employment benefits and growth opportunities. Give your employees good reasons to stay with your company instead of relying on guilt or legal threats and insinuations. Becoming better at talent management means becoming better at reading what your employees need – this alone will stop them from leaving your company.

3. Failing to Listen to Employee Feedback

As someone looking into talent management, you should be on the lookout for any concerns or feedback your employees might want to share with you. Managers often turn a blind eye to any issues which are unrelated to professional problems, leading to employee dissatisfaction. Staff diversity and interpersonal tolerance and acceptance are major issues in today’s corporate world. Given that you’re likely to hire international talent at some point, it’s important for your staff to be aware and accepting of this.

How will you address potential issues with discrimination or intolerance in your company? These issues can quickly seep out and find their way into your brand image, raising concerns with future job candidates. Always be on the lookout for feedback, comments, concerns, and suggestion from your staff. By tackling talent management from this perspective, you’ll be able to proactively address any issues within your staff and lead to everyone feeling more content with their position in the company.

“In most cases being a good boss means
hiring talented people and then getting out of their way.” – Tina Fey

4. Lack of Professional Development Opportunities

Some HR professionals will lead you to believe that talent management is all about making sure that employees “don’t leave”. However, ensuring that your employees are content with their jobs is equally important as it will directly affect their productivity and engagement. According to McKinsey data, reskilling can increase employee productivity by 6-12%, with retraining being important to 77% of business leaders out there.

Whether you operate in hospitality, healthcare, IT, or retail, your employees will still want to develop competitive new skills and competencies. These will not only contribute to their productivity within your company but enrich their experience beyond simply “working”. Approaching talent management from the perspective of facilitating professional development will be seen as a pro-employee move, adding to your company’s employee retention.

5. Micromanagement and Lack of Employee Agency

Whether you predominantly hire junior or senior staff, no one likes to be micromanaged. Micromanaging your staff inherently means that you don’t trust them to do their jobs correctly. While some measure of oversight is necessary during training and onboarding, you should refrain from micromanaging your staff in the long term. Instead, assume a managerial role and be available for any assistance your staff may need.

Tend to your tasks as a project manager, department head, or CEO of your company instead of tending to tasks such as designing posters or writing blog posts – tasks which you hired your employees for. This will prove to be a big step up in your talent management efforts, as employees will quickly realize that they have autonomy and agency in your company. It will greatly contribute to their willingness to stay employed with you instead of looking for jobs elsewhere.

“I hire people brighter than me and I get out of their way.” – Lee Iacocca

Hiring Great Employees with Jobs OneGlobe

Smart talent management is all about recognizing what your employees need to do their jobs well. These simple yet critical mistakes can lead to your employees looking for professional opportunities elsewhere should you leave them unaddressed.

You can use Jobs OneGlobe to publish your job listings and find amazing talent both locally and abroad. However, once you do hire these individuals, you’ll need to ensure that your management efforts are up to the task. Keep your employees happy with the work they’re doing and they’re very likely to stay with you for the foreseeable future.