GROWTH

CASE STUDY / Talent Review

Using a Talent Review as Strategic Leverage for Future Workforce Success

The success of an organization’s endeavors relies heavily on the talent they employ.

With constant technology advancements and shifts in industry landscapes, it’s imperative for organizations to assess their in-house talent and identify the expertise needed for future growth. Yet many underutilize the competitive advantage that a strategic talent assessment provides.

One global financial company was in need of a talent review to determine if their workforce of today was capable of meeting their objectives of tomorrow.

This review not only provided them pivotal answers, but unveiled multiple, mission-critical blindspots that, left unaddressed, could have jeopardized the organization’s entire talent strategy.

+ Risk Analysis, Transformation & Change Management, Organizational Design & Development

At a Glance

THE PROBLEM

A global financial organization faced a pressing technological advancements, leaving their workforce at risk of being obsolete. This posed a significant challenge as outdated skills would lead to stagnation and decline in the face of market changes.

THE MISSING PIECE

A comprehensive examination of the current workforce's skills and capabilities was needed, as well as a clear vision of the talent required for future success. Without these insights, the organization lacked the foundation for effective strategic planning.

THE SOLUTION

A strategic talent review was conducted. The results of this review exposed multiple, mission-critical blindspots and revealed the necessary steps of the most effective talent strategy. A strategy map was crafted from this insight, paving the way for the highest transformational success.

OBSERVED CHALLENGE

-

In support of a division within a global financial organization, a strategic talent review became a critical advantage as technology developments were rapidly emerging, and the existing workforce faced the risk of becoming obsolete. The organization recognized that relying on antiquated skills might lead to stagnation and decline in the face of rapid changes in the market.

The organization was uncertain whether their current workforce could meet these burgeoning technical demands or if a new talent profile was necessary. However, the nature of this profile remained elusive.

A talent review — an integral yet under-leveraged part of strategic people operations planning — was needed to yield a comprehensive assessment of the existing talent pool and identify gaps, if any, in the talent required for the organization’s future workforce success.

SMARTWORK APPROACH

-

DETERMINE OBJECTIVE INDICATORS | In reviewing the organization’s talent, it was imperative to think about it as a snapshot in time. Understanding where the organization currently was with their talent’s ability — and systematically determining gaps in an objective way — allowed for the needed vantage point in creating their future workforce.

A comprehensive review of objective factors allowed us to determine whether the organization was successfully set up to accomplish its goals. Examples of metrics included location, profile, skills, tenure, compensation, promotional history and growth potential. Simultaneously, we evaluated the future workforce needs, considering factors such as availability, assessment abilities, and leadership potential.

CONDUCT SUBJECTIVE + INCLUSIVE REVIEW | A talent review should never happen in a vacuum. Relying only on system information without gathering additional practical and subjective feedback can leave even the best strategic initiatives open to glaring blindspots.

As a result, various levels of leadership were brought in alongside select subject matter expert (SME) individual contributors, providing a holistic and comprehensive view of the workforce and weighing in on what was critical to the successful achievement of the organization’s objectives. The inclusion of varying team levels was intentionally designed to allow team members to become more receptive to potential future changes.

DETAIL THE FUTURE | A critical element to success in this organization’s talent review — and every subsequent talent map — is the detailed state of the future workforce. Without insight into how to appropriately organize your people, there is an immense risk of performing the large scale undertaking of a talent review and organizational transformation only to have these changes affect the team and leadership dynamics or crumble retention rates as the new workforce design is implemented.

There will always be primary impacts of your decisions; success comes through determining the secondary and tertiary impacts as well.

USE DATA TO MITIGATE RISK | A crucial step in leveraging a strategic talent review lies in harnessing the data to enhance your risk awareness, a fundamental element in an effective talent strategy. This includes mapping:

  • IDENTIFIED KNOWLEDGE: Also referred to as “Known Knowns”, this is knowledge we are aware of and understand

  • IDENTIFIED RISKS: Also referred to as “Known Unknowns”, these are risks we are aware of but do not yet understand

  • UNIDENTIFIED KNOWLEDGE: Also referred to as “Unknown Knowns”, this is knowledge we think we are aware of, but as it turns out do not actually understand. (Ex. Biases)

  • UNIDENTIFIED RISKS: Also referred to as “Unknown Unknowns”, these are risks that we are neither aware of nor understand. Because these vulnerabilities are never on our radar, they are often the most costly.

A comprehensive talent review helps to verify identified knowledge, solve for identified risks, expose unintentional biases, and uncover and proactively solve for previously unidentified risks.

Findings from the organization’s talent review are listed below:

This insight was then leveraged to craft an optimal talent strategy map.

DEVELOP EFFECTIVE TALENT STRATEGY MAP | A talent strategy map is a visual representation of an organization's current and future workforce, along with the strategic approach needed for successful transformation. It outlines roles, team sizes, leadership structure, and growth opportunities. It is ideally designed upon completion of a talent review, whether the review is small or expansive.

In this organization's case, the success of their talent map hinged on proactive strategies derived from identified and unidentified risks in their talent review. These mission-critical blindspots, if unattended, could have jeopardized the organization's entire talent strategy and future workforce viability.

OUTCOME

-

1

2

3

4

5

Once an in-depth analysis of the current workforce was complete, insights obtained drove the pathways in which the organization transformed their workforce to meet their future objectives. A subsequent need for the creation of new talent profiles and how those new profiles would impact the dynamics of the organization’s tenured workforce was developed as a strategic advantage in the transformation process.

A critical element to success in this organization’s talent strategy map was the proactive strategies developed from the identified risks and the proactive initiatives developed as a result of the unveiling of unidentified risks that surfaced during the talent review.

In this case, the existing workforce had essential skills and knowledge needed to support both ongoing operations and the transition to the future. Specific high potential and subject matter experts were identified — those that would be key foundational pieces needed to make the future state of the workforce successful. These individuals were able to be strategically leveraged in the organization’s new transformational plan, as the talent review revealed three main challenges:

Without leveraging a strategic talent assessment, the organization would have faced significant risks in their rapidly evolving business landscape, including:

  • Heightened risk of workforce obsolescence

  • Talent gaps in their inability to identify high-potential individuals and subject matter experts critical for future success

  • Risks of leadership and recruiting inadequacy in staffing for roles without a clear talent strategy

In this organization’s case, going deep with qualifiers and wide with sources of information allowed us to obtain the most comprehensive picture on talent and transformation, paving the way for an advantageous strategy map and fostering adaptability and long-term sustainability in the organization’s rapidly changing market.

The completed talent review not only yielded a comprehensive assessment of the existing talent pool and identification of the talent profile required for future success, but identified three additional mission-critical challenges:

  1. The current leadership team did not possess the necessary knowledge to effectively manage the new profiles that were identified as necessary for the company’s future. Decisions needed to be made on how to upskill the current leadership team, hire in new talent and reorganize the leadership structure.

  2. The current recruiting team was unequipped to successfully hire for the new profiles. Similarly to the lack of ability within the leadership team to support the new roles, recruiters needed to be upskilled or supplemented.

  3. A new team model had to be created which effectively integrated the new hires while leveraging the current high potential employees and subject matter experts. The risk of losing existing employees through the changes to the workforce remained high and there was a need to keep the organization’s retention rates strong to avoid loss of key knowledge within their teams.

A talent review, whether minimal or extensive, is one of the most valuable strategic decisions that an evolving organization can invest in.

When there’s an ability to make organizational changes, it’s paramount to reach a level of depth that ensures the highest quality decision-making, ultimately steering you toward the best operational outcomes.

Visual Summary

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Understanding Your Current Talent Determines Your Future Success

In order to create the most effective workforce possible, it was necessary to understand what the capability of current team. Only then was the organization able to determine what pathways they had forward regarding their workforce to meet their new objectives.

Your Recruiting & Leadership Strategy Matters Just as Much as Your New Talent

The talent review revealed critical future challenges that the organization was quickly going to face in how they were going to recruit and lead the new talent. When developing new talent attraction and leadership plans, it’s necessary to understand every recruiting and leadership capabilities. Success depends on what each profile is looking for and how they are supported so you can adapt to remain competitive in new environments.

Assumptions Rarely Stay the Same as the Situation is Examined

Without the insight gained from this talent review, the organization may have set themselves up for failure when they decided to move their objectives in a new direction. It was generally assumed that the new objectives and strategies could be carried out with existing workforce, but it became obvious as the talent review went on that this was not the case.

CASE RESULTS