Building A Competitive Talent Organization

To build a competitive talent organization, the talent leader needs to be closely aligned with other senior managers in organization. Here are five ways that senior managers can contribute to your organization's talent goals:

Plan vigorously.

Senior managers should partner with the talent leader and hiring managers in their division to create a written plan for how they will meet your current and long-term talent needs. Planning for the talent agenda should be as thorough and as vigorous as any other planning in the company (for instance, strategic, annual operating, material, and financial planning).

Be accessible.

Senior managers should schedule regular meetings with their talent organization counterpart and be available and responsive when the talent leader contacts them. All senior managers should be accessible to meet prospective talent anywhere and anytime.

Sell.

With a plan in place, senior managers are responsible for "selling" the plan within their division. How will the talent plan help the division succeed? How should people participate? How will they be measured and rewarded for their participation? Senior managers need to emphasize the importance of Key Talent and back up their words with concrete plans and metrics. They also need to always wear their "selling shoes" when talking and meeting with prospective talent. If a hiring manager or other employee cannot sell his own company to a candidate, then leave that person off of the interview or meeting schedule.


Benchmarking.

Know how effective your talent efforts are today and continue to measure these efforts using the metrics outlined next to gauge your efforts over time. Are they working? Also, continuously benchmark internal and external talent. The grass is hardly as green on the other side as you want to believe. Still, knowing who is out there, what they are doing, and how your internal talent stacks up is an essential element of strategic talent planning.

Make movement happen.

Don't let open positions stagnate while hiring managers churn through reams of resumes from unqualified candidates. The framework provided in this book shows you how to be proactive in assessing and meeting your talent needs. Put the time and resources behind this framework to make it happen in your organization. And be willing to open up positions and make churn happen within the organization to accommodate new candidates and grow existing talent. Keeping the place moving will add the extra adrenaline needed for all talent to see a future in front of them in the current organization.

What interviewers look for?

The persons who interview candidates collectively are form the interview panel. Normally, the panel consists of three interviewers. However, there could be more than three. The logic given for interviewers in selection at B-schools may more or less applicable for executive jobs in business and industry as well.

The duration of an interview varies between five minutes and 45 minutes. However, the duration of an interview has no bearing on the final outcome; what matters is the quality of interaction that you have with the panel. Most interview panels comprise professors who work full time in case of B-school interviews and top managers from industry for business interviews.. Sometimes, the panel; of interviewers could also include a psychologist. Of late, some top B-schools are also including an alumnus/industry person to their interview panel.

Interviewers chiefly look for students who are suitable to pursue a management course at their institute and whether the have the potential to go on to become effective managers in the future. Candidates who have clear, breadth and depth of knowledge, and the ability to look at things in a balanced manner are sought. Interviewers also look at the moral and ethical value system of the individual concerned, and how the candidates will be able to contribute to the to the industry and the society at large.

Types of Questions asked in an interview:

The job of an interview panel is to determine whether you are a suitable candidate for a particular B-school. In this regard, they may put any questions under the sun to you and you are expected to answer such a question. On being asked personal questions, you are expected to answer in a mature manner, and not say. “This is a personal matter and I cannot answer this question”. You are not expected to give flippant answers to seemingly innocuous questions. Every questions is asked with a sense of purpose. Make sure that you answer with sincerity so as not jeopardize your selection prospects.

The questions that you could be asked in an interview fall under the following categories:
Questions related to your personal background
Questions related to your personality (strengths/weaknesses)
Subject / academic based questions
Questions on career planning
Questions on hobbies / extra curricular activities.
Questions on job profile ad other organization-related matters (for those with work experience)

Two important questions that are asked in most interviews at top B-schools are:

(a)Why do you want to do an MBA? (b)Tell us something about yourself.

The question at (b) is almost certain while recruiting business executives mostly in case of candidates with relevant experience.

Since such questions are more or less certainly, you should prepare for them well in advance, having a ready made answer to these kinds of questions will not help you as you could easily falter in the interview. What you would be better off doing is have broad reasons, which could form the basis for your responses in the interview. This would make your answer more natural rather than rote.

Most of the top B-schools ask a large number of questions on the subjects you have studied during your +2 and your graduation. These questions are essentially conceptual in nature. However, it is seen that students are unable to answers these questions successfully. By answering these questions correctly, you are sending out a message to the interview panel that you have taken the right amount of care to prepare thoroughly for the interview. Excuses such as “I studied this a long time ago,” will not be appreciated by the panel. You could be asked questions on career planning such as, where do you see yourself five years from now? You could also be asked questions on current affairs / general knowledge and the hobbies that you pursue. Answers to questions from these categories would be reflections of what you do in your leisure.

Ref: CiteHR

ROLE OF TOP MANAGEMENT IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Total Quality coupled with Continuous improvement is a mindset. Identifying problems is half solving the problems which again linked with a mindset. Total Quality management has its seeds in cultural change. Cultural change for Total Quality means creating an atmosphere of improvement free from blame and fear, where individuals can concentrate on applying their minds towards continuous beneficial changes.

Almost every company finds a scapegoat—their own culture, when they begin to lose established markets or their profitability and turnover graphs look down. Cultures cannot be changed with slogans and the good intentions of management. It requires individuals to expose the weakness in their own department and sections at the cost of ridicule, and look upon these weaknesses as problems needing creative solutions. This cannot be the act of a few individuals, but each and every member of management must necessarily go through this process.

A core group of professionals called ‘Facilitators’ belonging to various functional areas of the organization are formed to propel the activity for achieving Total Quality Management. The facilitators take the risks accept the ridicule, and the pressures of traditional organizations, including politicization, as a part of the process of meaningful change. A manual from each department is prepared which is called ‘Process of eliminating losses’ (PEL). This manual reflects the act of courage of individuals to expose their weaknesses and use this as a reference point for improvement and growth. Top management cannot ignore these cases which can amount to a few million dollars for some organizations. PEL gives the basis on which to act and bring beneficial changes. While traditional Accounting system have stood the test of time as instrument of financial control, they have not been able to unearth the costs of not doing the right things right the first time. But the accounting system will continue to play tits role in holding onto the gains, once achieved.

To sustain and add fuel to the process of continuous improvement, management must take policy decisions to reward the Right Behavior. Management must be alert in identifying the wrong behavior and taking necessary action if such behavior is detrimental for total quality management.

Human Resources are the catalyst for Modern Business

Sweeping changes continue to reshape the workplace. Today’s HR professional needs to be more than simply an expert on personnel issues. He/she also needs to be an informed and skilled businessperson since HR professionals must play a key role in helping their organization remain competitive in the marketplace.

HR professionals need to use their sense of commitment, inter-personal skills and training to help make their company a success. The environment of constant change means that they must pay particular attention to cultivating competencies in communications and decision-making skills. They must be able to present the vision of their company clearly. Within this, they must also have a clear and functional perception of the operational management needs. They need to examine and review existing procedures to ensure that improved solutions can be designed and built. They need to emphasize the importance of continuous progress and managing change through goal setting. And finally, they must ensure that the resulting organization is populated and driven by empowered employees.