Articles & White PapersWinning the war for Talent: to outsource or not to outsource?
September 5, 2010
Over the next 10-15 years, the market for high performance employee talent is going to change. Baby Boomers will soon be retiring in droves, to be replaced by fewer young employees entering the workforce. This imbalance will create a "sellers" market for high value employees and leave employers engaged in an all out war for talent.
This situation is not a surprise; we’ve seen it coming for several years now. In fact, many organizations are already experiencing this problem – potential and existing employees are being "poached" by competitors offering more attractive compensation packages.
The winners in this war will be the organizations that win the Battle for Employee Retention. Most organizations have enough talent already onboard to last them well into the future. The question is how do you keep them engaged and innoculate them against competing offers?
Developing High Potential Talent
High potential talent can either be groomed from within or "bought" from the street. Either way, your ability to engage and develop high potential people once you’ve got them on board will be key to winning the talent war. While salary will always play a significant factor in an employee’s loyalty, other non-compensable factors play an equally important role in the achievement of career success.
Our research tells us that senior level employees, who see your organization is prepared to invest in their professional development, feel a stronger sense of corporate commitment. Seems perfectly obvious… so why aren’t more organizations "walking the talk" with respect to executive development?
Perhaps it’s because many organizations believe they’re doing a good job at this already. Many companies have programs with catchy titles that suggest they’re "doing" executive development. However, when inspired employees ask specific questions about the program – such as "how do I become tagged as high potential?" or "what does it mean to be high potential?" or "how does the program work?" – these programs often begin to seem less concrete.
One of the greatest challenges in developing high potential employees is the simple fact that few managers have the time or specialized training to effectively develop new talent while managing their day-to-day responsibilities.
Yet, most market leading companies recognize, at the executive and board level, that developing the next generation of leaders and key performers is critical to their long term success. So, what’s the solution?
To Outsource or not to Outsource…
Outsourcing has rapidly become the best way for organizations to take care of the critical "stuff" that doesn’t directly relate to their tightly-focused mission expertise: functions like legal advice, payroll, benefits administration, etc. were the first outsourcing success stories.
The same holds true for developing high potential talent. Specific skills related to training, development and coaching/counselling are essential to the success of any talent development program. In addition, dedicated resources are required to ensure the program is managed effectively and efficiently. Yet, these skills may not be integral to your specific mission strategy – and it may be too expensive to devote internal resources to program management.
The benefits of Outsourcing
The most efficient way to achieve the positive results of an effective talent development program while avoiding the administrative burden may be to outsource program management and delivery to a specialized business partner whose focus is providing exactly that type of service.
Felix has developed a proven coaching methodology and built a highly experienced team of executive coaches with a proven track record of results. Our talent development programs ensure your high potential employees receive professional counselling from experienced executive coaches, using a consistent methodology and nation-wide delivery platform. Our programs provide unbiased external validation of high potential attributes using scientifically valid assessment instruments and standardized coaching evaluations.
Our company is focused on being the best in the world at what you do. So are we – and developing and managing talent is what we do.
Your organization needs its high potential talent to remain actively and profitably engaged for the long term. By investing smartly, and providing world-leading talent development support for these high value employees, your business will reap the rewards of a sustainable, competitive workforce and emerge victorious from the war on talent.
Carol R. Ferguson is VP, Client Services at Felix. A certified HR professional, she has over 20 years experience in corporate business and HR management.
This situation is not a surprise; we’ve seen it coming for several years now. In fact, many organizations are already experiencing this problem – potential and existing employees are being "poached" by competitors offering more attractive compensation packages.
The winners in this war will be the organizations that win the Battle for Employee Retention. Most organizations have enough talent already onboard to last them well into the future. The question is how do you keep them engaged and innoculate them against competing offers?
Developing High Potential Talent
High potential talent can either be groomed from within or "bought" from the street. Either way, your ability to engage and develop high potential people once you’ve got them on board will be key to winning the talent war. While salary will always play a significant factor in an employee’s loyalty, other non-compensable factors play an equally important role in the achievement of career success.
Our research tells us that senior level employees, who see your organization is prepared to invest in their professional development, feel a stronger sense of corporate commitment. Seems perfectly obvious… so why aren’t more organizations "walking the talk" with respect to executive development?
Perhaps it’s because many organizations believe they’re doing a good job at this already. Many companies have programs with catchy titles that suggest they’re "doing" executive development. However, when inspired employees ask specific questions about the program – such as "how do I become tagged as high potential?" or "what does it mean to be high potential?" or "how does the program work?" – these programs often begin to seem less concrete.
One of the greatest challenges in developing high potential employees is the simple fact that few managers have the time or specialized training to effectively develop new talent while managing their day-to-day responsibilities.
Yet, most market leading companies recognize, at the executive and board level, that developing the next generation of leaders and key performers is critical to their long term success. So, what’s the solution?
To Outsource or not to Outsource…
Outsourcing has rapidly become the best way for organizations to take care of the critical "stuff" that doesn’t directly relate to their tightly-focused mission expertise: functions like legal advice, payroll, benefits administration, etc. were the first outsourcing success stories.
The same holds true for developing high potential talent. Specific skills related to training, development and coaching/counselling are essential to the success of any talent development program. In addition, dedicated resources are required to ensure the program is managed effectively and efficiently. Yet, these skills may not be integral to your specific mission strategy – and it may be too expensive to devote internal resources to program management.
The benefits of Outsourcing
The most efficient way to achieve the positive results of an effective talent development program while avoiding the administrative burden may be to outsource program management and delivery to a specialized business partner whose focus is providing exactly that type of service.
Felix has developed a proven coaching methodology and built a highly experienced team of executive coaches with a proven track record of results. Our talent development programs ensure your high potential employees receive professional counselling from experienced executive coaches, using a consistent methodology and nation-wide delivery platform. Our programs provide unbiased external validation of high potential attributes using scientifically valid assessment instruments and standardized coaching evaluations.
Our company is focused on being the best in the world at what you do. So are we – and developing and managing talent is what we do.
Your organization needs its high potential talent to remain actively and profitably engaged for the long term. By investing smartly, and providing world-leading talent development support for these high value employees, your business will reap the rewards of a sustainable, competitive workforce and emerge victorious from the war on talent.
Carol R. Ferguson is VP, Client Services at Felix. A certified HR professional, she has over 20 years experience in corporate business and HR management.