Public sector HR professionals need to create the urgency for designing a talent management strategy within their organizations by developing a business case that demonstrates the importance of recruiting, retaining, and rewarding talent for the present and the future. By creating a sense of urgency among agency leadership for talent management, the public sector can avoid trailing the private sector in the search for top talent. 

Deloitte researchers offered a comprehensive approach to talents in their paper called “Do You Know Where Your Talent Is?” According to them, recruiting and retaining strategies do not work unless organizations have methods and programs that engage employees and help them develop knowledge, skills, and competencies for success. Deloitte stressed the importance of developing talent in traditional and non-traditional ways beyond classroom and online learning programs. It is important for HR professionals to assist managers in helping their employees develop by giving them stretch opportunities, on-the-job cross-training, and networking experiences with the goal of connecting employees to the greater mission of the organization and increasing workforce engagement. 

See also: How Chatbot Helps HR Build & Maintain Talent Pipeline

Areas and actions to consider 

Organizations need to foster a culture of learning and engagement so that employees are empowered to make the workforce alive. Public sector leaders are responsible for developing and retaining top talent by building a continuous learning culture that equips employees, supervisors, and leaders with the tools needed to excel in their roles to achieve strategic business goals and objectives while serving the society with efficiency and effectiveness. 

Here are some considerations for actions and areas of emphasis in developing a talent management strategy: 

• Public sector HR must educate themselves not only on what is talent management but also the urgency for implementing talent management strategies within the organizational culture.
• Revisit and revise antiquated employment rules, policies, as well as procedures to address the needs and expectations of a changing workforce and demands of a diverse customer base in order to be recognized as an employer of choice.
• Understand the roles and responsibilities of executive leaders, senior-level leaders, and employees in the talent management process, referencing the Roles and Responsibilities Talent Management Tool.
• Create a culture that focuses on employee engagement and organizational values by emphasizing the importance of leadership development, and workforce and succession planning to build bench strength and grow and prepare leaders for the future.
• Revisit and revise policies and practices around classification and compensation. Make adjustments that do not result in adverse consequences to employees moving laterally within the organization. This adjustment includes not only compensation but minimum qualifications. 

Technology 

Technology plays a critical and foundational role in providing human resource services. Technology, more than any other factor, is driving the speed of change and employees, clients and constituents are educated enough to demand that technology is used to optimize work processes and that data is delivered with more accuracy, speed, transparency and relevance. Technology is a key driver in creating potential opportunities and success as HR prepares organizations to deliver services and respond to the challenges of the future. 

Issues with data will continue to be at the forefront. Organizations will require more accurate, transparent, current and relevant data to drive business decisions. Tech-savvy employees will demand the ability to manipulate that data through more intuitive and user-centric platforms. There will be pressure to use data to drive predictive analytics rather than lagging measures. Data security, including the protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will be paramount. Data Integrity, including the identification and correction of errors in Human Resources databases, will continue to be problematic until systematic approaches to data quality management are incorporated into business processes.

Communication 

Communication touches every area of business and every employee. The importance of messaging – both in content and frequency, is key to any successful initiative and program. HR professionals should be sure to include a communication strategy and planning with all change initiatives and programs and validate that the messages have been received and understood. 

Communication is rapidly changing in messaging, frequency and the manner in which the message is transmitted in order to be effective. The proliferation of communication channels, along with the changing dynamics of the workforce, requires organizations to be innovative in developing communication strategies that reach all employees in all locations. Specifically, HR has a leading role in ensuring employees are well informed and communication gaps are minimized throughout the organization.

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