Conventional HR systems and processes have been investing money, time and effort in Learning & Development (L&D) of their employees over the years to develop talent. An annual L&D Calendar is drawn up at the onset of every year based on the identified training needs. A training schedule is then created and shared with the Business Leaders so that they could plan for releasing and making their team members available for the training programs.

However, this approach doesn’t solve a lot of issues. This approach is riddled with problems and it is at best ad-hoc and randomly allocates resources for something as important as Talent Development.

In an article written in Harvard Business Review, ‘How Employers Can Help Solve The Skills Gap’ by David Smith, Senior Managing Director of Talent & Organization group in Accenture Strategy, mentions that

"there is a pervasive anxiety among managers who have trouble finding people for skilled positions, no matter what industry or region. At the same time, employees are just as stressed about the growing skills gap, Accenture research shows, and most of them are unclear about which skills they need to advance their careers."

Further he notes that the mismatch between the skills that companies need and the capabilities of people can result in delays in product releases, lower customer satisfaction, and loss of revenue. For instance, at one U.S. medical-device maker, a planned new heart defibrillator had to be scrapped after five years of expensive effort because the company’s quality engineers did not meet federal requirements — due to their inadequate knowledge and skills.

While employees take the responsibility to develop their own skills, they’re not getting good guidance from employers about exactly which skills would be most beneficial. As a result, they tend to focus narrowly on technology skills, the Accenture survey reports. Few people have updated other in-demand skills such as problem-solving or analytics.”

I believe the solution to the ‘Talent Conundrum’ lies in a methodical approach, which I call as the Career Plan. I have explained the concept of a Career Plan in another post, Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?

One of the obvious beneficiaries of a Career Plan is the employee himself, but dig a little deeper and you will see that the Employer is a bigger beneficiary. A Career Plan can be co-created by the employee and the employer, as both of them stand to gain in the short as well as the long run. Allow me to explain:

Better Engagement & Retention:  An employee whose Career Plan involves active participation of the Employer will have better visibility of how he will grow in the organization over time and will take active ownership of his self development and not just go through the motions of Training and Workshops. He sees a future for himself in the organization, feels engaged and is highly likely to stay longer with the organization. Attrition rates can be successful combated using a robust Career Planning process for each and every employee of the organization.

Strategic Diversification:  An employer playing custodian of the Career Plan of its employees will have a dynamic inventory of the skills available at any given point of time. Basis these skills, the organization can draw up strategies for diversifying into new lines of businesses, launch new products, foray into new markets and have an edge over competitors.

Higher Productivity: An employee who is eminently aware of his Career Plan will be able to upgrade his skills for the upcoming requirements of his organization and will be more productive when meeting demanding customers’ requirements as against not being able to deliver as per expectations (exemplified above in the case of a medical-device maker in US)

Better Returns on L&D dollars: With a Career Plan in place, instead of planning for Training Programs as a mandate, the HR team can sharply focus on areas that need to be addressed depending upon the skill gaps and interests that need to be polished into strategic strengths to meet the changing needs of the organization.

In a world disrupted by start-up ideas, for organizations employees are its key assets and a Career Plan can be an effective weapon in its arsenal to attract and hold on to these key assets. The organizations need to become future forward and take up Career Planning for its employees in a concerted way. It’s time employers and HR Leaders took note of this and incorporate the process of Career Planning as a non-negotiable element in their L&D and talent strategy.