Solution
Introduction
The employment market challenges are the foundation of companies investing in total talent strategy. According to Cave (2022), the current talent management approach critically considers the workforce expectations. These include talent mobility, new aspects in attention, and external hiring among other elements. However, a holistic strategy to talent management is challenging. This is attributed to the external factors affecting the company, including the diverse employees’ needs and demographics. It is therefore important to assess the future of practice and strategy in resourcing and talent management, which is the foundation of the discussion below. The discussion is further centred on the retail industry.
Recruitment and Selection
In contemporary organisations, among the key developments is conducting a comprehensive job analysis, which helps in understanding the job’s roles and responsibilities. It entails a wide range of aspects, including the conditions under which the job is performed. An important aspect in understanding job analysis, as described by Strah and Rupp (2022) is that it differs from person specification. During the job analysis process, the HR has to collected sufficient information, numerical or narrative from the incumbents. Part of the developments in job analysis is to distinguish the job from others and the HR demonstrating competence in data management to collect sufficient information about the job for informed decision-making process. Another development is the consideration of various approaches in conducting the job analysis. Previously, the focus was more on observation and direct engagement with the individual doing the job. Recent developments have seen the introduction of automation and artificial intelligence to understand the job and how it is being executed (Pan and Zhang, 2021). Also, the information collected during the job analysis includes the work behaviours and activities, internal and external interactions, performance standards, equipment used, working conditions, supervision, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required.
During the job design process, the significance is to optimise, coordinate, and create value through maximising the performance. Job design as described by CIPD is mainly used to create good work that benefit the employers and the workers. The developments in job design can be dated back to the 1900s, specifically Taylor’s scientific management principles, which were applied to evaluate the human inputs, alongside the machinery to promote working efficiency (CIPD, 2021). This resulted in the emergence of two concepts, including work measurement and method study. Presently, other key aspects that are essential in job design are autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Notably, these aspects are important during the talent planning process. Another theory related to the transformations in the job design process is the job characteristics’ theory by Hackman and Oldham. Factors added from this theory include the feedback on performance and task significance. Presently, among the core concepts characterising job design are the high performance working process and flexible working. The main challenge with these concepts is that they increase the complexity of understanding jobs and require more focus on other elements, including opportunity, ability, and motivation.
Changes in the competence frameworks reflect on the consideration of several aspects besides achieving the organisational performance and results. According to Mills et al. (2020), competency framework broadly defines the performance excellence in a company. This further entails the various competencies applied to various occupational roles within the company. Part of the developments in competency frameworks is the consideration of various elements. These include the values, core competencies, and the financial competencies. The values entails the principles influencing people’s choices and actions. In contemporary organisations, the values are the ethical standards of conduct by the employees (CIPD, 2021b). The core competencies are also diverse and can be categorised into planning, recruitment, employee development, and performance management. For the functional competencies, they are specific to the job meaning that they narrow down to the job functions. In most jobs, the functional competencies are similar and may include analytical thinking, leading and supervising, decision-making, resilience, influencing and persuasion, and scientific credibility.
Effective Recruitment, Selection, and Induction Methods
There are continuous debates surrounding the effective recruitment, selection, and induction methods. One aspect that is agreed in contemporary organisations is that the recruitment and selection process has significantly changed although there is a paradox in these dynamics. On the one hand, the role of technology has been recognised in conducting an effective recruitment and selection process. As described by Lahti (2020), the importance of technology in conducting the recruitment and selection process is that it reaches a wide pool of potential candidates, including the dormant ones. On the other hand, there are concerns about the data, security, and effectiveness of applying the social media and other digital technologies in the recruitment and selection process.
The premise of these debates is that the right recruitment and selection process is dependent on the company and the situation. For instance, when a family business needs to maintain the company’s culture, structure, and values, the most suitable recruitment and selection process is succession and talent pools. This experience is different for the global companies that are driven by the need to maintain competitive advantage. These companies are continuously innovating recruitment and selection methods and among the considerations is talent pools. A key factor that influences companies to consider an innovative talent management process is that costs incurred during the recruitment and induction process. In case there are strategies that companies can apply to avert these costs, the HR is tasked with identifying them.
An aspect that is agreed upon by the debaters on the effective recruitment, selection, and induction process is that they are all aimed at meeting the company’s needs both in the present and the future. In addition, the recruited individuals should be acclimatised to the working environment, which is the purpose of a rigorous induction process. In an effective recruitment and selection process, it is imperative for the company to conduct a comprehensive job design and analysis. This is aimed at understanding the roles and responsibilities of a specific position, the required criteria, and the desirable aspects. In effective recruitment and selection, it involves a combination of strategies (Zhuang et al., 2019). Although information and communication technology is applied in making the advertisements for the positions and reaching out to a wider audience, it is also important for the people practice professionals to conduct interviews and tests, such as aptitude to evaluate the candidates’ competence in various dimensions.
In an effective induction process, it involves getting the new individuals acquainted with the company and assisting them to settle in the company. The employees are provided with sufficient information and guide to become important team members. The procedure depends on the company although the basic elements should be reflected, which include meeting the colleagues, touring the workplace, focusing on health and safety, sorting all the relevant documents, performance management accompanied by training to address the individual’s weaknesses, and grips with the firm’s policies. In an effective induction program, as described by Viljanen (2018), it is essential to clearly outline the activities and track them to ensure they are achieved. However, the induction process poses various risks and threats. Primarily, the process is expensive and if the induction is not accompanied by other aspects, including adequate rewards, the process may not be beneficial to the company. Also, the company should be careful not to waste resources and time to conduct the induction.
Workforce Planning and Employee Retention
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