Keeping track of your top talent: how your HRMS can help

The old saying goes, people are your biggest asset, and while that may not always be true in pure monetary worth or cost, they are almost certainly your hardest-to-manage asset. So, when you have a star employee, you want to keep them.

How to define a star performer though? What makes the difference? Is it loyalty, performance, earnings, a team-player who motivates everyone else…? Whatever the ‘X factor’ is, it may be that nobody is indispensable but there’s probably at least one or more people on your team that you would hate to be without. Can your HRMS’ talent management solutions help you keep them on board?

Are you rewarding them appropriately?

If you use your HRMS to manage your reward and remuneration packages, you can track a the allocation of tangible rewards across the workforce and for individuals. Equality isn’t about treating everybody the same regardless of performance and you would expect to see a star performer receiving more reward. Use the reporting functions to take a snapshot of reward and remuneration across the workforce – does it match up with performance levels?

Recommended reading: make sure your next HRMS has all the talent management solutions you need using our HRMS selection checklist.

Compare their performance

As well as comparing your star’s performance against that of their colleagues, an HRMS performance management module may help you monitor individuals. Use it to track their milestones, their progress against performance objectives, and even their contributions to corporate KPIs. If their results stay at a high level then reward them. If they begin to tail off, it could be an early indicator of dissatisfaction and you may need to take action if you want them to stay on the team.

Provide the right training

If you see training as being for new hires and underperformers then you’re missing a trick. Employee development opportunities can be a major motivator and retainer of high-performing staff. Use your HRMS’ learning management functionality to check when your star turn last had a skills boost. It’s not just about what knowledge and skills they need for the job – consider what they might need for the next job or role, or simply what might be of interest to them,on the grounds that people interested in their job and working environment tend to be more likely to stay.

Do you offer a career?

To take the training point one step further… in these millennial times, the average employee needs more than an interesting job to do- they’re also looking for a career path and they’re not shy about jumping ship to pursue that path once they find it.

The answer is to look for opportunities to provide further development and opportunities. At the very least, an HRMS with the capability to map out a career ladder tells them that you’re the kind of employer who takes employee development seriously. What’s more, it gives you the tools and framework to manage their opportunities too.

Finally, ask yourself whether they really are a star performer? Some people are great at managing their ‘brand’ but less good at actually delivering results. Personality goes a long way, but as the above points imply, you can use the hard data in your HRMS to check reality of the situation. Before you devise a retention strategy, make sure you’re applying to someone you really want to retain…