Talent Management – What HR Should Have Done

By Michelle Malay Carter on September 23, 2008 

HR Redo - Erase that last thing. In last week’s post, Performance Evaluations, Rating Scales and Fraud, I discussed a manager who had a performance review returned to him from HR. He was told by HR to lower the ratings he gave his stellar employee because, “You can?t rate every line item a 5 out of 5”.?

In other words, he was expected to commit an organizationally-sanctioned form of fraud.? If you’re confused about when to commit fraud, ask HR.

Within a requisite system, the note that came back from HR would have read something like this:

Dear Diligent Manager,

We are pleased to see that you have such a stellar employee in Jane Doe!? When we see employees receiving all 5 ratings on a 5 point scale, we take the opportunity to remind managers and managers-once-removed of some of their accountabilities in the talent management realm.

Turnover Risk and Untapped Resource
When?an employee receives all 5 ratings, it is a strong indication that the employee is capable to perform work at the next higher work level.? Employees working at a level below their current potential capability pose both a great turnover risk and they represent an untapped talent resource.

Two Tier Accountability – Managers and Managers-Once-Removed (MoR)
Because managers-once-removed are accountable for the long term career development of their direct reports once removed, we will be reminding your manager that she is accountable to be informed of Jane Does’ current potential capability, expected career progression, and her career aspirations.?

Annual Mentoring Discussion Built into the System
We understand that Jane is relatively new to the organization.? If?MoR Susie has not yet had a career mentoring discussion with Jane Doe, as is required at least annually, this review should trigger one because we want to see that Jane remains engaged.

MoR Susie is accountable to see that Jane receives the training and experiences she needs to be able to progress at a pace equal to her expected capability progression.? It appears that Jane may be underutilized, and it is imperative for us to know whether she is voluntarily underemployed or whether she is open to promotion.? If she is open to promotion, steps should be taken to prepare her for this by bringing her current applied capability (see glossary) as close to her current potential capability (see glossary) as possible.

Requisite, Reliable, Integrated People Systems Aimed at Fully Tapping Potential
Jane is a valuable resource to this organization, and we are pleased to offer all employees and managers reliable systems and processes to align employee capabilities, gifts, and interests with the work that needs to be done.

HR’s Role – Helping Managers Lead, NOT Doing Managerial Leadership Work
Diligent Manager, if you need coaching or training on the purpose or processes of our organization’s people systems, HR would be happy to provide you with that, as we are only as good as our organizations’ managers’ ability to lead.

Sincerely,

Your HR Team

A girl can dream, can’t she?? I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.?

Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels

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