The greater the investment in planning, specification, assessment and development of human capital, the greater the likelihood of avoiding crippling staff shortages and costly recruitment challenges in the future. Organisations are making all the right noises about the importance of their staff but not genuinely backing this up with their actions.

People are the most valuable and only truly unique asset of any business. The right people are hard to find, complex to develop and reward, and need the right environment in which to flourish.

By enhancing the performance of its talent, an organisation can shape the environment, its services and customers around them. The result is enhanced organisational performance.

Without good succession planning, the loss of a senior executive can be deadly for a company. Pre-selecting and preparing successors creates a smooth transition that assures continued business success. Succession planning involves business needs and assessment together with management development tools and performance appraisal systems.

Are you managing your organisation's human talent, is your strategic succession planning in place, are you managing your own career development? Will the resourcing need of your organisation be determined by a knee-jerk reaction when your business is responding to the growing demands of the market when deadlines are imminent? When the need arises to complement your team with additional talent, this can be a challenging time and it requires an objective management review, evaluation of your current human resource and careful planning.

What resource do you need and how quickly? A reality check is vital - recruitment of a new individual can take three months (or even longer, depending on notice periods). Are you developing your internal resource - who is being groomed, is anyone ready for career development and this next stage? Ideally, you have to know what skills you require, what experience you would like to add to your team and the 'fit' of this individual. Skills are relatively easy to identify but 'fit' with your organisation requires a deal of attention - personality, culture, chemistry - what is your current profile, would you like to augment, develop or change it?

How will organisations meet these demands? Change or revolution in working practices, technology, social institutions, social relationships and perceptions is continuous. Thorough examination of the business, its goals, aspirations and capabilities is vital. Each organisation must find its own way. Developing a corporate religion that employees understand, believe in and will therefore commit to is essential. Continuous business analysis is vital to keep abreast of the market and its developing challenges and most importantly, examination of the competition.

Businesses must be focused towards differentiation. Organisations must continuously upgrade knowledge and skills, and develop new human resource structures to confront the future with confidence.

Retention and development of human talent is often overlooked. Factors governing retention include the ageing population, high levels of employment and great numbers of alternative opportunities on a worldwide basis. The drive for efficiency and flexibility has left organisations with fewer people as the norm.

Business leaders should identify internal and external candidates who show potential for growth. These candidates should be trained, mentored and given increasing responsibilities to improve the potential of their success.

Many organisations still have weak people management systems, resulting in poor retention of staff, making hiring new staff a critical priority. Solutions for the future are required. Having examined the organisation and refocused its direction, it is essential to evaluate and benchmark the human capability. Strategic assessment processes are created to meet the exact requirements of defined business goals. Preparation for the human capability assessment is paramount - it must be tailored to the business, focused and measured.

With the human assessment process completed, a competency framework for the organisation can be created, detailing the human talent, how the ongoing management and development of the individuals will proceed. Programmes for personal development, coaching and leadership must be implemented to keep pace with the momentum of the process. Retention of talent will be significantly easier when individuals are measured and their achievements recognised. Coaching and mentoring complement existing forms of management development providing a bespoke approach to self-development and genuine action learning. Inevitably, there may also be departures. The review process may well highlight individuals who do not 'fit' with the future business agenda and the requirements. Exit strategies must be implemented to minimise disruption.

With the foundations and measuring tools in place, strategic recruitment may well be implemented, and the criteria devised for the organisation's assessment processes utilised as part of the specification and interview programme.

If recruitment is the appropriate solution, how do you sell your organisation to dynamic, intellectually challenging individuals? Planning the resourcing process is fundamental to success. A prudently constructed skills and experience matrix supported by a realistic role profile is essential. How will you attract individuals to your organisation who will meet your criteria? What are your organisation's unique characteristics - are these well-known, are you prepared to offer a market salary with appropriate corporate benefits, career prospects, personal development and rewards for reaching specific targets e.g. financial close? You must also consider how you will retain and continuously enthuse this new talent - of course, not forgetting your existing, loyal team.

Networking within the FM arena is strong, however, moving talent around may not necessarily be the right solution or provide the unique corporate differential you desire. Where should you search for suitable candidates? Consideration must also be given to looking outside the 'typical' domain - personal and corporate networking can be valuable - the right people are hard to find and complex to develop and it may be that you require external assistance to seek out this exceptional talent. The choice of external advisor should be based upon their experience and understanding of your needs and organisation. Their exposure to the FM arena and ability to think and work laterally on your behalf are essential. The appropriate resourcing methodology may well include executive search (successful individuals with a heavy project workload do not review recruitment advertisements), advertising (traditional and Web-based for proactive response), together with networking and exposure to the marketplace on a broad basis.

Whatever the resourcing routes, the benefits of the client organisation must be at the forefront of the campaign - this is an excellent public relations opportunity in addition to the recruitment process itself. Once sourced, candidates must be screened and interviewed professionally, without delay. The employing organisation should be in a position to move quickly - attracting talent requires momentum throughout the process - a well-motivated and positive commitment must be evident. Interesting candidates with exceptional talent may come forward at this time - they will have been captivated by the opportunity and the organisation; however, their skills and experience may not be appropriate for current needs but they may well be useful in the future or in another division of the business - keep in contact with them.

When the ideal candidate has been identified and both parties have agreed terms, the momentum must be maintained throughout what may be a long notice period. Continuous communication, team introductions and meetings, together with appropriate involvement in the new organisation are essential to maintain vital interest and excitement.

Organisations must face up to the fact that to achieve business success, a total review of all business functions and their human talent is critical. It is only through a continuous process of examination, appraisal and ongoing management that organisations can face the future, leading to even greater business success, supporting their aim to become an employer of choice.

Succession planning is not an instant solution. Creating the bespoke model, instigating the appropriate processes and developing a continuous improvement practice for each business is vital: however, this must be undertaken in parallel with the relentless changes and developments in the market, together with the evolving strategic direction of the organisation, to create the strategic planning success.

People are the most valuable and only truly unique asset of any business.

Further Information
Please contact:
Joanna Lloyd-Davies and Lucy Brown
Metzger Search and Selection
Moorbridge Court
29-41 Moorbridge Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire SL6 8LT
Tel: 01628 81 71 00
Fax: 01628 81 71 39
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.metzger.co.uk