Our client organisation adopted a talent management framework to deal with competitive reality in this raging war for talent. In spite of these efforts, the organisation had experienced high turnover amongst their management cadre. Consequently, the client commissioned an independent study to understand these turnover reasons and to generate action plans to mitigate this human capital risk.

Our locally validated employee engagement model provided a framework for the collection and analysis of data. The employee engagement survey was structured to elicit a thorough understanding of the management talent challenges and formed the basis for developing the Talent Engagement Strategy and Implementation Plan. At the heart of talent management is the employee value proposition (EVP). Focus groups were conducted to uncover the elements of EVP to attract, commit and retain management talent.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The on-line electronic survey was a 5 point Likert type rating scale from 5 (highest = strongly agree) to 1 (lowest = strongly disagree). The on-line electronic survey consisted of 60 items. The survey was conducted during May 2009 and 75 responses were received by 29th May 2009. Comparisons were made with national benchmark survey conducted in April 2009 (sample size = 767). Focus group sessions of approximately 4 hours each were conducted in Johannesburg and Cape Town regions. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted.

The client employee engagement survey results showed generally strong levels of engagement amongst the management cadre, especially meaningfulness of work, resourcefulness and self-awareness. However, lower levels of engagement were recorded with respect to teamwork, job engagement, supervision and organisational outcomes. The majority of managers surveyed valued their own personal growth more highly than loyalty to their jobs and commitment to the client organisation. These results may have been a reflection of the current turbulent times, where employees have been pressured to look for greater meaning and ways to be more resourceful in their work. This implied that more emphasis should be placed on personal dimension of engagement for talent attraction and retention.

At the heart of talent management is the employee value proposition (EVP). From the focus group the following elements of EVP were identified to attract, commit and retain management talent: great company to work for, great and meaningful jobs, great career opportunities and great leadership. This EVP informed the way the client needed to brand and the bundle of people management processes to engage talent in and outside the organisation. The following signature processes were recommended to improve retention and performance, namely make employee engagement part of the “way things are done”, build trust the within management team, co-workers and superiors; create meaning by aligning performance goals and appraisal with strategic goals; emphasise career development; and engage managers through creative communication and branding.

Line managers have a key role to play in retaining valued management cadre (i.e. talent) within the client organisation. Line managers therefore needed to change the way they manage their people towards an empowering relationship that facilitated the creation of meaningful, challenging work which tests peoples’ resourcefulness and reinforces strong self awareness.

The future expected value-add of the initiative were an the integrated talent retention framework and engagement tools to act on talent related challenges; the direct line of sight between the HR Function and Line Management due to the improved levels of talent conversations within the organisation, and the demonstration of the value-adding contribution of the HR Function to business sustainability.