Phase 1: Attracting new talent

With top talent so scarce at present, attracting the right people is becoming increasingly difficult. A key issue in overcoming this difficulty is building your organisation's reputation as an employer of choice. This is a pure PR task.

For example, visiting universities on their open days or building strategic alliances with particular institutions is a great way to bolster your image and build a talent pipeline. This exposes students to your organisation and what it has to offer them in terms of career prospects. However, you must ensure that these potential hires see your company as attractive and a place in which they would feel comfortable working. To do this, find out exactly what they are looking for so you can tailor your strategy accordingly. Always, though, ensure you maintain your integrity. Don't slip into ‘salesman' mode by stretching the truth. Many of the newest generation of potential employees are more and more concerned with factors related to your organisation's Corporate Social Responsibility policy.

Phase 2: Engaging talent

Once you have your high potential candidates on-board and in the right role, it is vital you build a platform for engagement. Opening their line of sight and providing training and development opportunities will go a long way towards significantly motivating your newly acquired talent.

Kung-Fu legend Bruce Lee once said that running water never grows stale. This metaphor can be applied to your organisation's talent management as well. Employees that are stuck in a rut with no opportunity for personal development grow cynical and will lose their motivation. This is of concern to you and your organisation because - as we discussed earlier - your greatest resource is your people. When we discuss organisational development, we are actually discussing personnel development, which is all about personal development. For this reason, a high-performance organisation is a constantly evolving organisation. By providing sufficient training and learning opportunities and by exposing your team to new ideas and methodologies, you will help you to nurture your people and to fully engage your employees.

Another vital engagement factor is recognition. People enjoy being recognised for the hard work they put in, so it stands to reason that it should play a key role in engaging your staff. Recognition of contributions made and the celebration of an employee's success will help you work towards your ultimate objective of keeping your top talent.

Phase 3: Retaining top talent

This is the task that has been giving HR managers across China some serious headaches. However, by completing phases 1 and 2, by bringing in the right people and engaging them, this task becomes much easier. A motivated and engaged workforce will stay with your organisation and will drive your organisation forward.

The Bottom Line

When we analyse what it takes to drive Phase 1 and Phase 2 of a complete talent management process, we see that there is no mention of payroll, MPF calculations, or annual leave records - there is no sign of what I call the ‘old HR model'. Instead, the two phases are made up almost exclusively of PR ability. PR is the bridge that takes HR from the ‘old model' to the new.

About the Author

Helen Cheng works for Brain Tonic Communications, a public relations firm. She is also the creator of and program planner for BiliBa, an interest-based social network in which she organizes social events for people from different walks of life and different cultural backgrounds to meet and mingle. For more information about Brain Tonic Communications or Biliba, email Helen at 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