The markets were recently shocked by the death of David Walton, a member of the Bank of Englandís Monetary Policy Committee at the age of 43, illustrating how one person can really make a difference to a business and to the actual market sector as a whole.
According to Deborah Cooper, director at independent search and selection company, Warren Partners: ìBusinesses should never underestimate the impact of talented people, as the loss of key individuals can be devastating to businesses. It is vital that businesses talent map to make sure that they have experts in place in the event of losing an individual for whatever reason.î
ìTheir removal, whether through resignation or ill health, can be devastating to a business and as a result, complex reward systems have become even more intricate. Although it is vital to retain existing employees, simply throwing money at them is not the answer.
ìIt is important therefore, that businesses address succession planning, so that they can minimise their chances of being left deprived of important people. An effective way of doing this is by mapping talent. Headhunters will proactively identify talented executives within specific functions or sectors and the client specifies what type of talent is needed, which may currently exist within their direct competitors or market leading organisations.
ìResearchers will then map a function in order to produce an organisation chart, which gives context to how an individual sits in the organisation. Following this, the researcher or consultant will contact key individuals to assess the executiveís general background and aspirations. This personal approach does not rely on networks and databases, but adds an extra knowledge of the market to existing currency, as talent mapping can be used to benchmark internally and externally, assisting the succession planning process where business critical roles are involved.
Concluding she says: ìTalent mapping is successful if relationships are cultivated as it can take years for an executive to be prised from an organisation. Tracking talent is just as essentail as mapping it.î
Donít underestimate the importance of talented people
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