Role of Talent Management in Business Continuity

Abstract

Talent Management plays a crucial role to support the business continuity and empower the most important asset for the company – its people. The role that Talent Management has played was highlighted in different aspects across the organization, starting from developing competent HR team and HR department structure that can influence company culture by taking an active approach in this regard. The journey started by working with the executives and stakeholders across the business to evaluate the current company culture, assess potential gaps or opportunities, and create a strategic plan to align the organization's culture with its values and goals. Moreover, a deliberate building of core and supplementary HR systems serving the business strategy while respecting culture readiness has taken place. This started off with developing leadership development programs, conducting a competency management system for better training and skills development, relying on assessment tools in recruitment and using these tools in the on-boarding, knowledge sharing approach, creating a performance management culture and working on continuous development and improvement. The Leadership Development Program was achieved on 3 phases: Assessment phase, Development phase and re-assessment phase. One of the main objectives that we tried to focus on while implementing the leadership development program was to find employees who are potential leaders and nurture them early enough. In addition, it was crucial to identify a Leadership Competency Profile to have a clear, compelling vision of how the skills we were building in the leadership development program connect to the leadership road map in the company. In addition, and in the light of Covid-19 and the absence of Employee Training in 2020, the HR department came out with an initiative to carry out internal knowledge sharing workshops across the company. These workshops aimed at increasing employees’ awareness with the different functions across the company in addition to increasing the level of engagement, communication, and presentation skills for employees. There is always a need to measure where we are and the progress done so far to know where we want to be and adjust the process accordingly. Therefore throughout all of these processes and programs, different feedback surveys were conducted to take necessary action plans. This helped in getting all employees onboard with us. Ultimately the alignment that was made between the Talent Management and the overall company's business strategy resulted in the company's ability to maintain a competitive advantage. A huge progress was made but the process continues to sustain this role.