HRM textbook

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 19
LinkedIn, bookmark web sites and news stories of interest, comment on company
blogs, contribute to wikis, share files, and gain knowledge from white papers, videos,
and podcasts. 56
They Take an Integrated, Talent Management Approach
to Managing Human Resources
Next, with employers competing for talent, no one wants to lose any high-potential
employees, or to fail to attract or fully utilize top-caliber ones. 57 One survey of human
resource executives found that talent management issues were among the most
pressing ones they faced. 58 Human resource managers are therefore emphasizing
talent management.
WHAT IS TALENT MANAGEMENT? Talent management is the goal-oriented
and integrated process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating
employees. 59 It involves instituting a coordinated process for identifying, recruiting,
hiring, and developing high-potential employees.
What does this mean in practice? For one thing, talent management means being
more focused in how you manage your company s talent. For example, IBM segmented
its employees into three groups. Now it can fine-tune the way it serves the employees in
each segment. As another example, many employers are segmenting out their most
mission-critical employees, and managing their development and rewards separately
from the firms other employees. We ll look more closely at talent management
techniques starting in Chapter 4.
They Manage Ethics
We ll see in Chapter 14 (Ethics) that 6 of the 10 most serious workplace ethical
issues workplace safety, security of employee records, employee theft, affirmative
action, comparable work, and employee privacy rights were human resource
management related. 60 Ethics means the standards someone uses to decide what his
or her conduct should be. For example, prosecutors filed criminal charges against
several Iowa meatpacking plant human resource managers who allegedly violated
employment law by hiring children younger than 16. 61 Every human resource
manager (and line manager) needs to understand the ethical implications of his
or her employee-related decisions.
They Manage Employee Engagement
In today s challenging environment, no employer can afford to have its employees
physically present but checked out mentally. The Institute for Corporate
Productivity defines engaged employees as those who are mentally and emotionally
invested in their work and in contributing to an employer s success. Unfortunately,
studies suggest that less than one-third of the U.S. workforce is engaged. 62 One
Gallup study estimated that $350 billion is lost annually in the United States alone
on damage done by disengaged workers. 63 Today s human resource managers need
the skills to foster and manage employee engagement.
They Measure HR Performance and Results
In today s performance-based environment, employers expect their human resource
managers to take action based on measurable performance-based criteria. For example,
IBM s Randall MacDonald needed $100 million from IBM to reorganize its HR
talent management
The goal-oriented and integrated process of
planning, recruiting, developing, managing,
and compensating employees.