What is talent?
Although ‘talent’ can be used as a generic term in HR for those that the organisation is trying to recruit, talent can also sometimes refer to those people that possess a combination of skills, knowledge, cognitive ability and potential to drive overall business performance. Such high-performing employees are often seen as having future leadership capability to help the organisation achieve its strategic objectives.
Talent can also be used by HR professionals in more specific ways. These include recruitment, which is identifying and hiring candidates with the right competencies and cultural fit, and talent management, meaning strategically developing and retaining high-potential employees.
Things to know
- Whether an organisation uses the noun ‘talent’ to refer to all employees being valued or to refer to their elite performers, it should be used consistently
- Recruiting and retaining the right talent — whether high-flyers or the entire workforce — is essential to an organisation’s success
- HR teams also sometimes refer to ‘talent pools’ which are sources of promising candidates, such as those who’ve applied for a job and passed early screening
- Talent encompasses innate, natural abilities (those we’re born with) and learned skills we develop through our lives and work — both are key for business success
- The word ‘talent’ has also found its way into the relevant functional job titles, so an executive who used to be known as HR or Personnel Director might now be called Chief Talent Officer
FAQs
What does talent mean in HR terms?
The word talent can be used as a generic term to describe the whole workforce, for people the organisation is trying to recruit or for those employees that possess the potential to drive overall business performance.
What is recruitment?
This means recruiting and retaining suitably capable employees.
What is meant by talent management?
This is the process of retaining and developing those high-potential employees with the right innate and learned capabilities to deliver the organisation’s goals.
How can a business acquire the right talent?
When recruiting, be specific about the talents sought, look beyond the usual role requirements, ask talent-related questions at interview, identify candidates’ mental strengths, then nurture and reward those talented individuals you do recruit.
