Abstract
Talent management is recognized as a vital human resource practice that is essential in organizations. With current changes in the global environment, talent management is vital when it comes to the development of strategies that help organizations advance with market trends. Being a company that specializes in the manufacture of networking hardware, equipment of telecommunication, and provision of high-technology products and services, Cisco Systems needs the most efficient talent practices, which will enable the company to achieve its desired goals. In the innovative environment, Cisco needs to have effective talent management practices that encompass talent acquisition and workforce planning, talent programs and retention policies, performance management, leadership development, training, career management, competency-based policies, and total rewards. An operational design of the talent management practices is vital to enable the company nature skills and ensure quality production of work among the employees.
Introduction
Most organizations today recognize in their policy statements that people are most important asset in their organization, whether these organizations behave or act in a manner that puts their employees as their most important asset and how they manage their talent is the greatest concern. Cisco Systems (hereafter Cisco) is a multinational company specializing in the manufacture of equipment’s of telecommunication and networking hardware requires the best talent management practices to enable the company to achieve its desired goals. With its mission being to change the world through innovation, Cisco focusses on its core values to maintain a standardized talent management program (Chen, 2017). However, the company needs to invest more on its employees through different kind of human resources strategies, highly qualified backup, and allocation of resources because of the changing global trends that need in the market.
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According to Noe et al. (2017), talent management practices of organizations are their game changers as human resource, and business shareholders understand the connection between achieving the best results and keeping the best talent. Cisco needs to align its talent management practices it is with business practices to nature the potential employees since the right experiences, competencies, and skills contribute to the corporation’s competitiveness and accomplishment in the global market. Talent management is therefore crucial right from the recruitment process by the human resource. Cascio & Boudreau (2016) argue that the competency framework is based grounded in the realization that the contemporary world of work is radically different from the industrialized economy and so the profile of the workforce is needed. Mensa (2015), found out that talent management practices are becoming of great importance, and they should be made a human resource in any business organization. Therefore, the talent management practices of Cisco should focus more on the retention and development of workers by attracting and hiring an individual with the most suitable competencies.
Talent Management Practices
Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning.
Workforce planning and talent acquisition are some of the main aspects that the Cisco has to employ to ensure the continuity of effective and qualified workforce (Meyer & Xin, 2018). The human resource ensures that there is a continuum of professionals maintained by developing a culture of identifying and grouping workers based on the talents and competencies. According to Meyer and Xin (2018), workforce planning entails having the most appropriate employees with the right skills and competencies. It involves the development of an understanding of the makeup of the current workforce necessary skills, the working environment, and the aptitudes and capabilities needed to accomplish the objectives of a company in the ever-changing environment. The human resource department is responsible for ensuring that the right requirements and actions are developed to ensure the best employees are hired according to their competencies. For operational workforce planning, a perfect comprehension of what talents are currently in place as well as cultivating employees who have demonstrated superior performances are needed to enhance superior performances.
The organization should ensure that there are receivers of talented personnel who have been trained and exposed to the procedures of organizations frequently. Talented, qualified backups who are systematically and gradually inculcated into the company’s system are also essential to ensure an even distribution of the workforce, even in the absence of the regular employees. Mensah (2015) alludes that effective workforce plan and recruitment can be powerful tools in finding the best employees for the company. Therefore, it is also important for the Cisco to also follow a talent pool strategy during its recruitment process. This done through the institution of systems that identify the high-potential candidates according to their capabilities and leadership. As such, it is significant for human resource to develop a talent-oriented culture that will enable the employees to be aware of their responsibilities in cross-functional projects, development, and seeking out challenging assignments.
Talent Programs and Retention Policies
Seeking of talent in the declining global talent pool has been a major problem, and many corporations including Cisco have become uncertain of the talent attraction as well as retention decision they have to make (Noe et al., 2017). The personnel orientation is one of the talent management programs at Cisco Systems that define its competencies and assessment processes. The competencies shape the talent management programs of the company with expectations of skill, behaviors, and values which are essential for the success of every worker and the organization at large. However, the company needs to select the most appropriate competencies and train competent its most competent and most committed workers who are known for their exceptional work.
Noe et al. (2017) further argue that the programs and policies define the methods that ensure organizations get and retain the most appropriate talents. Retention strategies are developed to ensure the employees are dedicated to the success of the company. The result of the policies is the flow of talent that creates and maintains talent pool an organization seeks, to ensure that all workers who have been hired will make positive contributions and perform well during their stay in the company. Therefore, retention of the main staff has been the main element of talent management and any retention strategy is essential in making sure that the human resource finds out information as to why employees leave the organization. Cisco company has a developed retention program which classifies its employees based on their qualifications and capabilities. Most companies have developed a policy of turning away candidates who do not meet the requirements needed. However, the Cisco has a policy of adopting the unqualified candidates, then train them further. The practice of talent management has centered on the belief that the company’s super keepers are developed from contemporary solid citizens (Berger & Berger, 2018). Despite that bold move of Cisco, there is a need for the company to consider retaining its best candidates as a way of enhancing talent and building the careers of the employees.
Interpersonal skills are another core aspect used by the talent management program to engage the employees productively and effectively (Meyer & Xin, 2018). Interpersonal skills are essential in the development of the organization because it builds trust, credibility, and confidence among the employees. A study carried out by Di Fabio (2017), shows that many organizations, especially in the United States, lack interpersonal skills that enable motivation among the employees. This attributed to unproductive employee commitment, low tenure, and unpleasant retention schemes. Interpersonal communications within a company start with mutual interactions between the management, employees, superiors, subordinates, and external parties. Therefore, it is important for Cisco Systems, to cultivate a working environment that enables effective interpersonal skills among the employees. This will ensure effective deliver and give the workers opportunities to enhance their skills and abilities.
Performance Management and Capacity Development
As talent management continues to become a central point for success, many organizations have to redefine their performance management based on their needs to find, nature, and keep talent (Casio & Boudreau, 2016). Hence, attaining a sustainable performance in organizations by developing potential personnel, lies in the heart of every talent management. Nevertheless, the absence of responsibilities in producing talent for the employees along with lack of capabilities to develop talent by the managers, are the main tussle for most companies. Performance management procedures enables companies to build relationships with people and develop that help in the development of talent possessed by the workers. It also means increasing employee motivation and engagement through the provision of positive recognition and feedback.
Cisco can improve its performance management by ensuring that the employees have opportunities for development. This can be done by improving the performances of employees and developing their team capabilities. Di Fabio (2017) studied predictions and trends for the company’s performance management and found out that companies that revisit their goals regularly dramatically outperform those that create annual cascading goal programs. It was also found out that the managers’ abilities to be coaches are the main driver to organizational success. Further, it is important for companies, including Cisco, to realize that they should coach their employees to perform better and move them into better roles while they continue weeding out low performances and driving execution.
Training the employees is a major capability development action that is essential to ensure that the employees possess the most appropriate skills for their work (Noe et al.,2017). In Cisco, the capability development training is codified into the human resource management calendar and are also enforced by the department with support from administration. The rationale of the training programs is developing holistic individuals who will be able to represent the company in different parts of the world. However, due to globalization and the changing trends, especially in the technology industry, it is crucial for Cisco to redesign its development programs to ensure the best talent are developed among the employees. This will help in equipping the employees with knowledge and skills that will enable them to perform efficiently and enable the company to achieve its goals in the competitive market.
Leadership Development
Leadership is becoming more crucial than ever before, especially in the contemporary uncertain business environment. The ability of an organization to nature potential leaders who can face future challenges effectively is critical to enable the success of the company. As such, many companies have realized that the only approach to ensure a strong flow of leadership is by developing it themselves. It is important for the Cisco Systems to create programs that focus on helping the high potential leaders grow. There are several factors that the organization can look into to effectively finance talent leadership program, including established mentoring programs, job stretch experience, executive engagement, and involved managers. According to a survey carried out by (Mensah, 2015), the three crucial areas to focus on leadership development include improvement of leaders’ skills, enabling the strategic development goals of the organization and development of high potential employees.
Cisco Systems can enhance its leadership development process by establishing learning campuses and art training centers, work with educational service providers, and use the latest leadership development technologies and tools. The company should also set aside adequate funds for developing knowledge and expertise among its workforce. Corporate management strategies of most organizations include talent management among their employees, which enables them to build their leaders (Meyer & Xin, 2018). Therefore, it is important for the Cisco company to invest in resources that develop talent management and find the most suitable talent practices which are profitable. Leaders should be committed to developing the workers and learn how to boost consistency, alignment, and integration of talent programs within the organization.
Innovation, Training, and Learning
Innovation, training, and Learning are crucial policies in the development of the talent process and ensuring employees enhance their competencies and skills (Di Fabio, 2017). In Cisco, company innovation is one aspect that is highly valued. Employees are encouraged to listen to customers and build their confidence making the company increase its profits and gain customer satisfaction and trust in the brand. One major element of innovation is through teamwork competency, which enables Cisco system to know how and when to develop, attract, reward, and utilize groups to improve results. Through teamwork, conflicts within the company are resolved to create, which helps in creating a high-performance team. However, Cisco needs to encourage employees who demonstrate strong technical proficiencies in a particular area of expertise, thereby showing knowledge of the company business.
Through learning and development, managers will be able to gain commitment and engagement of the skilled staff by presenting them with openings to enable them to develop their talents (Cascio & Boudreau, 2016). The human resource needs to continue training and developing high performing employees to find new roles and knowledge gaps. This will enable them to implement the necessary strategies for enhancing employee competencies as well as ensuring their retention. Additionally, commitment and loyalty are no longer important concerns in human resource management, but personal growth, knowledge, and career development are becoming more significant. This can be done through training and coaching of employees to enable the company to distribute more of its culture and talents across the world. Cisco can adapt training to develop talent by mapping the roles of the employee, along with their abilities to meet the needs of the customers. Adoption of e-learning is another mechanism of training that uses technology, making it easier for employees to learn new skills. Therefore, it is important for Cisco to reexamine its training and learning techniques in order to enhance innovation and employees’ skills.
Career Management
Provision of opportunities to employees for developing and progressing their careers is what career management entails, which also ensures that the company has all the talent programs needed (Noe et al., 2017). It also consists of the processes planning successions. The employees want to align their skills, training, and development to enable them to have a successful career. On the other hand, the employer would want to incorporate the same functions as a way of ensuring that their corporate talent is used most appropriately. Management and succession planning ensures that there is continuity in leadership by cultivating skills in the company and developing innovative activities. With the current trend in the technological industry, Cisco needs to develop effective career management along with succession planning to enable the company to have successful careers for its employees.
There are five strategies for effective, succession planning which includes;
Supporting the business strategy with succession planning
Evaluating potential leaders according to the 3Cs of fit- Competency, culture, and connection
Incorporating skills in the succession planning process
Considering the use of several experiences outside coaching
Using successors to draw their potential wider.
Cisco needs to enhance its practices of career management by employing staff workshops, job enrichment, and job rotation and ladders of career progression. The company can also promote career identity through provision of rich opportunities to enable personal development and growth among the employee. This will not only contribute to commitment but also other positive aspects among the employees.
Competency-based Compensation
Competency-based compensation is integral in talent development for the organization. Successful companies such as Cisco Systems can determine the actual potential of every employee in the organization and branches worldwide, and their capabilities for adding value to the organization, this is because of the strengths of the program that it has adopted. The program has enabled the organization to maximize their contribution through appropriate training of employees and their personal and skills development. Poor allocation of resources and unfair treatment and compensation leads to lack of trust and unwanted turnover and morale of employees due to lack of motivation (Noe at al., 2017; Kontoghiorghes, 2016). Therefore, the company’s program is profitable to the organization in several ways, including competency, which is a stable characteristic of the organization, creates a measurable increase in the level of performance. Competencies create economic value to the organization in several ways. Building competencies in the organization requires reliable measures, which means two or more independent methods which have a high correlation that is they agree statistically. Competencies add economic value to the organization by focusing on the right innovations and valuable opportunities.
Total Rewards and Motivation
For any organization to ensure that their employees remain competent and motivated, the practice of fair rewards is vital. This includes direct, indirect, intrinsic, and extrinsic rewards. It also encompasses all the things that workers value in their jobs, including compensation, relationship, benefits, work environment, and development (Meyer & Xin, 2018). Total reward also has four main components which incorporate an encouraging place of work, total pay, convincing future, and individual growth. Cisco Systems should address the individual needs of the employees as well as their preferences in terms of pay for the company to attract and retain their most crucial workers. If the company applies these methods, it will be able to anticipate enormous concentrations, especially in non-monetary aspects of rewards.
Cisco has developed an employee compensation strategy that values the work output of all employees and encourages improved performance among the staff (Chen, 2017). The compensation programs for some organizations are based on a threshold value with gradual increments over time. While this system might be viewed as equitable and fair, it may culminate in plummeting productivity among the employees. Cisco acknowledges the efforts of the employees, and compensation is based on individual compensation rather than a threshold value. However, the company needs to the company needs to provide its employees with both nonfinancial and financial rewards, which will contribute to the commitment and engagement of talented employees. Despite money being an important reward, much more is needed to ensure recruitment and retention of high-quality employees. Therefore, the Cisco company needs to develop new strategies for rewarding their employees based on their talents to enhance motivation and a comfortable working environment.
Conclusion
There is a need for best talent management strategies that will enable the Cisco Systems to grow and enhance the skills of their employees. Talent acquisition and workforce planning are among the major practices needed to enhance the competencies and capabilities of the workers. Other than workforce planning, there are other practices including; talent programs and retention policies, performance management, leadership development, training, career management, competency-based policies, and total rewards. Through these practices, employees will be able to grow and expand their skills within the organization. Cisco needs to invest in talent management practices as a part of the management strategy to achieve excellence and enable the company to grow in the competitive technology industry. This is also necessary to ensure the accomplishment of tasks and considerations of problems caused by mistakes in the learning process is always considered. Therefore, Cisco needs to reevaluate its strategies and consider the trends of the ever-growing global market by ensuring they have the best talent practices for them to reap more benefits.
References
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