Has Your Talent Strategy “Jumped the Shark”?
by Lois Melbourne
First, what does “jump the shark” mean? It was a term coined in Hollywood for the episode of a TV show where you knew the show was past its prime and it started doing crazy, stupid stuff, off on a mission to get ratings back. It started with the Happy Days ™ (© 2009 CBS Studios Inc. All rights reserved.) episode where Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler in leather jacket and swim trunks, jumped over a shark while on water skis. Diminishing returns ensued.
Are you measuring various elements of your talent strategy and trying anything to desperately put a kick into the numbers to get them to go in the right direction? Or, worse yet, are you not measuring at all, but continually reinventing projects to improve engagement, increase retention, or some other initiative?
You have to start with the corporate strategies and the business goals in place that will support them. Then, you look at what talent strategies will help achieve those goals. From there, you build the projects and initiatives to improve your employee base. If you look at talent strategically, you’re a lot less likely to make wild and nonsensical choices that will “jump the shark” and send your department’s credibility into the equivalent of a Neilsen (© The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.) ratings slide.
Once your solid talent strategy is in place, you can then look at the systems, processes, and technologies that can help you support those plans. You don’t want to buy any type of human resource system that forces you to follow rigid methodologies or processes. Technology is an enabler. You must be the one to define what you want to do. The technology should be flexible. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy smart technology, but it should not be a crutch for not doing your own talent strategy and process building. If you did that – you might just become the guy in a leather jacket who doesn’t look so cool anymore on water skis.
Cheers,
Lois
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