To remain competitive and efficient, every company must have an effective tool for talent management. This is a system that allows organisations to offer their employees a consistent experience.
From the recruitment process to succession management, through training and performance evaluation, this software plays a crucial role in personnel administration.
That said, what is its real utility in talent management? What does it concretely bring to companies? To answer these questions, this article presents, amongst other things, the functionalities and advantages of an HR tool.
What is talent management in a company?
Before discussing the functions and benefits of an effective HR tool, it is important to understand the concept of talent management in a company.
Definition
Talent management is a strategic approach that involves identifying, recruiting, developing, and retaining the most likely individuals to contribute to the company’s success.
In other words, it mainly aims to value and develop the talents of employees who present a strong added value to the organisation.
The implementation of this approach involves continuous training of the detected talents, planning their careers, and developing engagement programs.
Talent management thus allows the creation of an environment conducive to the professional and personal development of each employee.
Objectives
Talent management aims for several objectives, including:
- Identifying the most competent and qualified employees of the company and developing their potential;
- Detecting the skills the organisation needs and devising strategies to acquire them;
- Anticipating future training needs, internal promotion and hiring, to improve its recruitment rate and have human resources adapted to the company’s long-term strategy;
- Preventing the organisation’s best talents from moving to a competitor by creating favourable conditions for retention;
- Creating a work environment that encourages employees to take initiatives and innovate, thus allowing them to reveal their hidden talents.
What are the main functionalities of an HR management software?
HR management software is among the necessary tools for good talent management within an organisation.
They come in a multitude of models, each offering various functionalities depending on the HR needs of companies. Here are some functionalities that can be found in the majority of these tools.
Personnel file management
An HR tool allows the compilation of files containing all the useful data on each employee. In other words, the company’s HR management software centralises all the information concerning the staff members.
Thanks to the functionalities of the HR software, it is possible to consult the files of all the collaborators. By centralising all the employees’ data, this tool makes it easy to find them in just a few clicks.
Management of onboarding and integration processes
An HR tool also allows knowing the retained integration steps and precisely determining the employees who must supervise the new recruits.
It facilitates the monitoring of the integration progress and allows collecting feedback to improve the process.
Moreover, it provides visibility on the resources needed for welcoming and integrating, whether in terms of training, equipment, or logistical support. Thus, this tool is an essential pillar to ensure successful integration of new employees into the company.
Monitoring KPIs
Through an HR tool, it is possible to have a clear overview of the different Key Performance Indicators (KPI) related to human resources management, such as:
- The number of active or inactive employees;
- The absenteeism rate;
- The voluntary departure rate;
- The employee retention rate;
- The number of years of seniority.
Monitoring of skill development
With an HR management solution, the company can consult information related to the continuous training followed by each employee. It can enter the dates of the various training courses attended by the employees as well as the objectives achieved.
Similarly, based on the training calendar established by the management, the human resources department can schedule and automate reminders.
Leave requests management
The HR tool proves to be very useful for managing leave and absences. With this software, it is possible to efficiently manage leave requests from employees by noting reasons as well as the start and end dates.
The human resources software also allows for the creation of a schedule of leave and absences for each company employee. This facilitates the processing of leave requests as well as the management of staff availability.
The various advantages of an HR tool for talent management
The advantages of a talent management software are numerous due to the many functionalities it offers.
Automation of HR processes
The main advantage of an HR tool is that it allows for the automation of various processes within the organisation. It therefore serves to optimise the management of all the company’s services.
With this software, it is possible to simplify the execution of time-consuming and repetitive tasks related to human resources management. Thus, it allows for more time to be spent on the daily management of employees.
Moreover, the HR tool eliminates the risk of errors and helps the company to optimise and standardise its HR processes.
Identification of talented candidates
Using an HR tool for talent management makes it easy and quick to identify employees who have high potential.
This performance management software allows for the cross-referencing of personal and professional data of employees. It therefore helps to easily detect the best people to be placed in different positions within the company.
The HR tool is thus very useful for an efficient selection of candidates and in particular for internal mobility. Thanks to this tool, HR managers can identify the most competent employees capable of evolving within the organisation in order to appoint them to appropriate positions.
Improvement of recruitment
The optimisation of recruitment is one of the main advantages of an HR tool. Integrating various relevant metrics and a candidate tracking mechanism, this software reduces the risk of errors for more effective recruitment.
Metrics displayed by the HR tool can provide insights into which areas of the organisation need strengthening through the hiring of additional talent.
This allows the human resources department to evaluate the skills the organisation requires to improve its performance, then determine recruitment KPIs to achieve its objectives.
In addition, the HR recruitment software facilitates the identification of profiles to be recruited by ensuring the centralisation of data.
Evaluation of employees
Evaluating employees through a precise monitoring mechanism and defining HR performance indicators helps detect hidden gems within the company.
Thanks to the functionalities of an HR talent management tool, not only is this performance monitoring possible, but it is also easy.
The tool can often create evaluation grids, organise performance and annual reviews, monitor objectives, and organise career assessments.
These are significant advantages for the human resources department, as the HR tool offers the possibility to follow – in real time – the evolution of employees’ skills.
Skills development
Talent management with the HR tool is not limited to managing employees based on their skills and performance. This software is also very useful for the development of employee skills.
Indeed, the HR tool assists the employer in organising and managing occasional or continuous training to enable employees to develop their professional skills.
For each of these training courses, the human resources department can follow the different stages and proceed with the selection of skills to be improved.
Criteria for choosing an effective HR tool
The effectiveness of a company’s talent management system depends on the quality of the HR tool chosen. For this reason, when choosing the software, it is necessary to take into account the following criteria:
- The functionalities: in addition to the main functionalities mentioned above, the HR tool must present the options that the company needs. For this, before choosing the software, the employer must make a list of its needs;
- Computer compatibility: the primary function of an HR tool is the centralisation of employee data. Therefore, it is important to choose software that is compatible with the organisation’s IT arsenal. Thus, thanks to an API, it will be able to import quickly and easily the data it needs;
- Ease of use: the handling of the HR software must be easy. This will simplify the transition for the human resources department. In addition, it is essential that the HR application be accessible at all times to all employees;
- The design of the interface: far from being a secondary criterion, the design of the interface of the HR tool must be taken into account. It plays a crucial role in the engagement of employees. Indeed, software with a good design offers flexible and simple processes. It is therefore advantageous to have an HR tool with a neat design and offering customisation options;
- The price: there are many talent management softwares on the market. Playing the competition can help to get a better price. However, it is not only the price that should be considered. The quality/price ratio must also be taken into account in the choice of HR software. Cloud-based HR software is to be preferred, as they do not incur additional costs;
- Security: the HR tool collects and exploits sensitive employee data. Consequently, it is vital for the company that this solution offers the highest possible level of security. It must comply with all computer security standards and be in compliance with the GDPR.
Talent management: The essentials to remember about the benefits of an HR tool
In a highly competitive market, talent management is a central component of any organisation’s strategy. To succeed, companies must have an effective HR software.
This tool allows the automation of HR processes to save time, evaluate employees and identify the most aligned candidates to place in the most relevant positions.
It also helps the employer improve its recruitment approach, retain its employees and develop skills.
The HR tool is therefore the best ally of any company that wishes to value, develop and retain its best hires.
