Talent management in high tech – Part 1: Talent acquisition, rewards and performance

 

Source: Bersin & Associates

 

Bersin and Associates just released their new framework for talent management. In my opinion, it’s an excellent illustration of what’s involved in building a high performing workforce. You start with the workforce strategy. You attract the right talent that fits your plan. You manage performance, select the rewards that fit your strategy, and develop your employees. You create the right environment to engage your employees. You develop managers and groom leaders. You shape your culture to win. When you optimize each building block, just listen to your organization humming. Each industry has its own challenges and advantages. In today’s and next week’s blog I will examine high tech.

High tech is characterized by its highly skilled workforce. Often the entry level expectation is at least a bachelor’s degree. In engineering, there is fierce competition for some specialized talent, whether it is a certain engineering field, or a rare combination of software language skills. In marketing and sales, the companies are looking for the sweet spot of technical background and functional expertise, trying to find the right balance between the two. In many instances, a complex sales process is involved, which requires business acumen, seasoned opportunity management and the account management skills of the sales people. As in many other industries, if the high tech company manufactures it products, its logistics function, support staff and managers must be increasingly familiar with outsourcing and off shoring. As the applicants are tech savvy, more and more recruiters are turning to social media to source the candidates.

As the applicants are screened, a high IQ is just table stakes. What differentiates candidates is their EQ – emotional intelligence. High tech companies develop new products in a team based environment with tight schedules. Hitting the market window is critical for revenue and profit targets. The employees must be collaborative and able to adapt to change and a fast pace.

When it comes to rewards, most high tech companies’ reward philosophy is pay for performance. Merit increases, bonuses and equity are distributed based on the performance levels of the employees. This creates some requirements on the performance management process and management skills. The stakes are higher for a fair performance evaluation, when the employee’s compensation is linked to the manager’s assessment. Many companies use some type of forced or guided distribution to be able to manage their rewards budget – not everyone can get the highest rating and richest reward package. Manager training and guidance on consistent performance standards is another way to get the ratings closer to a normal curve. When forced distribution processes are not managed and communicated well, they pose challenges in creating a competitive culture and a perception of internal politics, and some high tech companies have faced employee lash out on this practice.

Next week: Talent management in high tech – Part 2: Management development, succession planning, culture

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