A racting, Hiring and Retaining HighAchievers Through Data

Written by Norbert Mörtl

From my experience of working with high performance organisations over the past 25 years, companies need to have the right person for the right job in order to achieve continuous organisational growth and success. Retaining them and continuously developing and motivating them is paramount for a company’s longterm success. This means that organisations need to understand that their most valuable assets are their employees, especially since more and more companies are becoming knowledge intensive.

This article explores researched-backed and data-driven strategies for identifying and developing top talent, conducting effective training and development programs, and creating a motivating work environment that fosters high performance.

The Value of Talent

Every organisation is the sum of its talented and skilled individuals. As companies become increasingly knowledge-intensive, attracting, and hiring highachievers whose abilities and behaviours align with job criteria becomes crucial. However, the reality is that a significant number of new hires fail within 18 months. This emphasizes the need for a structured and informed approach to hiring, retaining, and motivating talent. You need to be able to clearly establish success criteria for each position in the form of key personality traits and abilities such as logical and analytical reasoning and motivation. One way of doing this is to use BIG DATA. The reality, however, is that many companies do not have the time, the resources, the expertise or the data available, or perhaps these processes are not yet part of their daily business activities. This notion is clearly backed up by research carried out by Bersin/Deloite, which revealed that only 4% of companies have achieved the capability to perform “predictive analytics” about their workforce.

Hiring for fit

To hire the best candidates for a company, organisations need to clearly establish success criteria for each position. By identifying crucial behaviour traits and abilities necessary for job success, companies can use data-driven approaches to make informed hiring decisions. Utilising modern HR assessment platforms and integrating existing HR data intelligently enables organisations to create predictive success profiles for different roles. Data from your best performers can then be used to create a predictive success profile (Criteria) with the needed, proven characteristics for each job role. This data can be used in a SMART way to help in the selection of future employees or candidates for talent development. Knowing what you’re looking for will help you to match and identify the right candidate for the right job. Matching employee potential and job complexity will help you conduct quality interviews with relevant potential employees, thus saving time and money.

Training for RoI

Training and development (T&D) plays a pivotal role in equipping companies with a competitive advantage by improving performance and creating differentiation. However, T&D is often seen as a cost rather than an investment. If T&D is considered a cost, then this is one of the first things that a company might save on. If T&D is to be seen as an investment, then there must be ample proof or security that there will be a return on investment in the form of improved productivity or results for the company. According to Silverman (2012), the first step in doing training is to do a training-needs analysis, figuring out who needs training and what kind.

Training thus need to be informed by data and effectiveness to be measured to gauge return on investment (RoI). Secondly, a conducive environment and a learning culture need to be created in the company: 90% of what is learned may be lost within the first few weeks if it is not anchored, reinforced and transferred to the workplace. For T&D to be effective it needs to be aligned with the company’s strategy, as Josh Bersin (2014) said, “Today’s corporate training organisations must be highly aligned with their business’ immediate and urgent corporate priorities, while also building long term capabilities for the future”.

Motivating for retention

It is a fact that companies with engaged and motivated employees are 20% more productive and profitable than their competitors. Engaged and motivated employees are crucial for an organisation’s success. To increase performance and profitability, companies must focus on retaining their top talent while keeping them motivated. Leaders play a vital role in creating an environment that fosters motivation. Intrinsic factors such as relationships, meaning, growth opportunities, and empowerment have proven to be significant motivators. The focus on motivation must be on a broad basis rather than single factors. In two major studies (385 and 300 employees) it was proven that performance will increase when several drivers or emotions are satisfied and triggered. Nohria N. and Groysberg B. (2008) created the 4 Drive model based on newer findings in neuroscience, which identifies four drives namely: acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend, that underlie motivation and can be levered by leaders to increase in motivation. Additionally, leaders must eliminate demotivators and create a fair and embracing culture that allows employees to thrive.

In the pursuit of organisational success, companies must recognise that their employees are their most valuable assets. Maximising talent potential is not just a goal; it is a strategic imperative for companies aiming to thrive in today’s dynamic business landscape.