1. “The Talent Conundrum”
Presenter: Clayton Timms
Director
Symerge & People Software
•Trends / Research
•Methodology
•Solutions

2. Jun 11, 2015
Agenda
1. What is Talent?
2. International Commentary / Research
 Boston Consulting Group
 EOWA & Hays
 Henley Management College
 U.S. Department of Labour
 Symerge Consultants
3. The Model
4. The Process
5. Software / Systems Solutions

3. Jun 11, 2015
What is Talent?
“Talent is what you are looking for. That is not the
same as saying that it is in the “eye of the beholder”,
like beauty. It is not an abstract, general concept.
It is a statement of the proven qualities (Attributes),
know-how (Knowledge / Skills) and achievements
(Performance) that are in your specification (Job
Profile).
The specification is your botanist’s box. Talent is specific, and it is
to do with a high level of competence.”
Borrowed & Adapted from Penryhn International

4. Jun 11, 2015
Boston Consulting Group Research – 04/2008

5. Jun 11, 2015
Generation F Research
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) & Hays
 Generation F already constitute more than half of Australia’s population and
nearly 45% of the nation’s total labour force, a more substantial proportion
than the Generation Y population.
 EOWA & Hays research indicates that Generation F are not only discerning;
they are highly mobile and will seek an alternative workplace if their employer
fails to identify and address their communicated needs and issues.

6. Jun 11, 2015
Generation F & Y Workplace Needs

7. Jun 11, 2015
The Henley Management College survey found that:
 Managers will stay if they want to stay – commitment to an
organisation is chiefly driven by emotional attachment.
 Experienced managers rate their self-esteem in very positive terms
and attach great importance to achieving self-fulfilment, a sense of
accomplishment, fun and enjoyment at work.
 The traditional psychological contract – long-term employment for
employee loyalty – has been replaced by a more complex mix.
 The right mix of values, attitudes, terms and benefits is key. Where this
exists managers will commit to and apply their talents in the interests
of the organisation.
These findings are ratified by actions currently being undertaken by global
companies to ensure they are attracting and retaining the best talent.

8. Jun 11, 2015
Our Observations (22 Years in 40 Organizations)
 Talent is usually defined differently in various parts of the organization
i.e. there is often no common definition / language
 There is a Absence / Lack of Criteria & Measurement of what defines
Job Value versus Person Value
 Job and Pay Streams too restrictive
 Attributes are Key i.e. the Cognitive, Personality & Aptitude
requirements for Success
 Not an Integrated Business Approach i.e. it is too often Driven &
“owned” solely by HR
 Over – emphasis of resources on Recruitment as opposed to a
balance with Engaging & Retention
 Not always measured in terms of business factors
 Treated as an Intervention not a Process Issue

9. Jun 11, 2015
A Holistic Model
ATTRACTATTRACT
ENGAGEENGAGERETAINRETAIN

10. Jun 11, 2015
Where are your Efforts (Money, Resources) Focused?
Attract
Engage
Retain

11. Jun 11, 2015
Attraction Factors
(some of the factors which should be part of your
assessment)
Organisations that wish to Attract their talent should:
 Be creating an employment brand
 Be using Job profiles (competency sets) to underpin recruitment,
selection, development, retention, performance management, and
career management
 Make use of multiple selection points i.e. Cognitive Assessments,
Personality Assessments, Aptitude Assessments, Reference Checking
etc when selecting Talent
 Have a keen sense of who they are looking for i.e. our search is based
on predefined talent (Competence) Profiles.
 Measure recruiting success with the same rigor that they apply to
growth targets or market share.
 Use the work environment (‘Best Company’ lists, for example) as a
potential differentiator.

12. Jun 11, 2015
Recruitment & Selection Effectiveness
Hiring Method Used Hire Accuracy
Interviews Only 14%
Reference Checks + Interviews 26%
Personality Assessments + Reference Checks + Interviews 38%
Ability + Personality Assessments + Reference
Checks + Interviews
54%
Interests + Abilities + Personality Assessments +
Reference Checks + Interviews
66%
Job Matching (Benchmarking) + All of the Above 75%
#Our own research & database over the last 12 years shows
that where selected Cognitive AssessmentsCognitive Assessments (e.g.(e.g.
CPA/CPP)CPA/CPP) are part of the Selection process your success
rate exceeds
90% +90% +

13. Jun 11, 2015
Engaging Factors
(some of the factors which should be part of your assessment)
Organisations that wish to Engage their talent should:
 Know who their current star talent is
 Have a Holistic "strategic" plan for talent
 Have enough Non conformists and Rebels with a Cause
 Provide their talent with opportunities to take personal control of their
careers and their growth
 Be paying their Top Talent what they are truly worth
 Maximize the value of high potentials - Talented individuals who have
the potential to make an ever-increasing contribution to organizational
success are identified early and provided with accelerated
development.
 Manage Performance - Are your talented high performers provided with
challenge, regarding goal achievement? Are they told how well they
are doing so that they can self correct?
 Have comprehensive descriptions (Job Profiles) of competencies
(knowledge, skills and attributes) for critical roles or clusters of roles
 Be innovative for talent about compensation, benefits, non-financial
rewards, responsibilities and recognition.

14. Jun 11, 2015
Retention Factors
(some of the factors which should be part of your assessment)
Organisations that wish to Retain their talent should:
 Offer a Great company –Two aspects of culture are critical: a strong
emphasis on performance and an environment that is open and trusting.
 Offer Wealth and Reward – people want to make money that is
commensurate with the value they create and with their other options. Invest
Publicly i.e. ‘We recognize your potential, we will develop you
 Provide Individuals with structures and tools for diagnosing their own
development needs and identifying/creating/managing career plans
 Invest in talent according to potential and performance of individuals.
 Based on your corporate values; would you (and your friends) want to work
for this organization
 Have a winning Employee Value Proposition (EVP) i.e. the EVP answers the
question, “Why would a talented person want to continue working here?"
 Offer Exciting work

15. Jun 11, 2015
A Process Solution to the Talent Conundrum
Step 1 -You (group of key stakeholders) should be Assessing your
organization against a holistic range of questions / statements in the
following 3 areas:
– Attracting Talent
– Engage Talent
– Retaining Talent
NB This list should be a Best Practice one
Step 2 – After the Assessment there should be a number of Gaps to be
addresses in each of the 3 Areas above.
Step 3 – Collate the above into a Strategic Planning Template and then set
Priorities, Interventions needed, Accountability, Timing
The result of this is a Holistic Talent Management Strategy which will
ensure that you do not fall into the “interventions trap” i.e. spending all
your time and money recruiting people only for them to leave shortly
thereafter due to their “needs/expectations” not being addressed
Step 4 – Implement Software, Process, Interventions per your Talent
Management Plan Priorities

16. Jun 11, 2015
Referenced Sources
 U.S. Department of Labor, “Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures”, (E.E.O.C., 1978). Part 60-3.
 John E. Hunter, Ronda F Hunter, “Validity and Utility of Alternative Predictors of
Job Performance”, (Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 96, No.1, 1984) p.90.
 Boston Consulting Website
http://www.bcg.com/about_bcg/news.jsp?yearpub=2008
 The Learning Factor Website
http://www.learningfactor.com.au/GENERATIONF.pdf
 Henley Business School Website http://www.henley.reading.ac.uk/
 Symerge www.symerge.com.au

17. Jun 11, 2015
Contact Details
 Clayton Timms
 clayton@symerge.com.auclayton@symerge.com.au
 M 0422557463
 www.symerge.com.auwww.symerge.com.au