The Secret to Winning the Talent War (Spoiler: It’s Data)

Writers are sometimes guilty of what’s called burying the lede.* I’m not going to do that here. And if you want a spoiler warning, consider this one.

There will be no suspense in this post. No drama. No hullabaloo, no ballyhoo. (OK. Perhaps a bit of ballyhoo somewhere along the way.)

There’s a formula to winning the aptly named “War for Talent,” and here it is: (1) create and nurture a healthy culture, (2) build a bold, unique brand, and (3) for the love of kick-ass data software, invest in robust data management strategies and tools. We’re going to zero in on that last one today and explain why data—and by extension data engineers, data analysts, and data scientists, as well as the tools they use—is the key to winning the war for talent. 

*To “bury the lede” refers to hiding the most important and relevant pieces of a story within other distracting information. The spelling of lede is allegedly so as to not confuse it with lead (/led/) which referred to the strip of metal that would separate lines of type.

AN INITIAL PROBLEM TO OVERCOME

I’ll level with you right here at the jump. Part of the trouble with this particular conversation (It’s just you and me talking now, right?) is that often when I’ve seen different versions of the conversation happen, it goes something like this (and this is an obviously tongue-in-cheek recounting):

Team HR/People Ops: Hiiii!!!* 

*I’m typically anti-multiple-exclamation points. But they’re often quite excited about…something. And settle down, HR/People Ops folks, I come from that world and still hang out there from time to time. I have the battle scars to prove it.

Team Data/Tech: Hello

Team HR/People Ops: Geeeeeez, sooomebody woke up grumpy today. 

Team Data/Tech:

Team HR/People Ops: Looooook, our boss wanted us to come ask for some data to help with recruiting, soooooo…

Team Data/Tech: …

Team HR/People Ops: …

Team Data/Tech: Well, um, okay. Maybe you could help us understand a little bit more about your overall strategy. You know, what you’re trying to accomplish—

Team HR/People Ops: We’re trying to recruit people.

Team Data/Tech: Sure, but—

Team HR/People Ops: {Sighing} We just need data to help us with recruiting. 

Team Data/Tech: Right. Ok, can we run through a quick process we do with internal stakeholders? It’ll help us uncover exactly what your data needs are so we can be sure we get you what you need as efficiently as possible. 

Team HR/People Ops: {Another sigh} I guess? I mean, well, can you just send us what you think we would need? We don’t really have time to go through a big process right now. We’re so busy trying to fill all these open reqs and oh my god you wouldn’t believe the pressure we’re under to get everything done—

Team Data/Tech: Yeah, we wouldn’t know anything about that.

See what’s happening? 

There’s sometimes—not always, but sometimes—this almost-but-not-quite-a-barrier between HR, People Ops, Talent, etc., and Data, Tech, etc. 

It’s a culture thing, really. 

It’s often a we-haven’t-figured-out-how-we’re-going-work-and-collaborate-together-well thing. 

It’s often a we’re-so-caught-up-in-our-own-stuff-that-we-forget-to-be-human-with-each-other thing.

What I'm saying is this: when Talent/HR/People Ops and Data/Tech can get together and see each other first as humans, then as teammates and invaluable allies, amazing work can be done. 

WHY DATA MANAGEMENT MATTERS IN THE TALENT WAR

The above said, let's assume for the sake of our conversation here that most of us agree that keeping pace with the ongoing digital/data transformation—and therefore data management of some kind—as well as having the teams to do it are essential elements for businesses looking to thrive in today’s markets. That’s true in a general sense, and it's especially true when we start to zoom in and discuss things like winning the war for talent and keeping pace with evolutions and iterations in particular technology spaces.

For example, within data management, the ability to collect, store, organize, and maintain information so that you can make informed decisions and drive better business outcomes is crucial.  One such outcome? Talent.

In short, today's business landscape continues to change rapidly, and attracting and retaining top talent is more important than ever.

The war for talent is brutal and intense (battle scars, remember?), and the stakes are high. Investing in data management can give you a competitive edge. Here's how:

DATA MANAGEMENT RESULTS IN FEWER DUMB TALENT ACQUISITION DECISIONS

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS CAN HELP PREDICT POTENTIAL JOB FIT

We’ve all been there. You thought you had it. But then…if only you’d had some way to predict, right?

Having a robust data team equipped with the tools they need allows the talent team to utilize predictive analytics. You can learn from data on hand about your existing team to predict with increasing accuracy candidates' potential fit for a role. This leads to better decision-making processes, which can help you attract and retain not only top talent, but also the right talent.

With better data management tools, you can ensure that your data is accurate, up-to-date, and free of errors. This helps you make informed decisions about not only your talent, but also your performance management.

DATA MANAGEMENT AIDS IN ACCURATE DATA ANALYSIS & TEAM PERFORMANCE

DATA UNLEASHES PERFORMANCE & UNLOCKS UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE

Accurate data analysis can help you gain a better understanding of your team members' performance and potential. 

For example, you could do something like this. Conduct a high-performer job task analyses on a particular role. Then combine that with a quantitative gap analysis to determine the knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or outcomes that may be lacking elsewhere in that role.  

Something else you could try here is helping a high performer discover their unconscious competence area (or areas!). These are areas where those high performers should likely:

• be made aware of their high competency (if they're not already) and urged to pursue even higher levels of learning, performance, etc.
• focus at least a chunk of their work (assuming they find some level of fulfillment there) in those areas
• coach, teach, and mentor others 
• work with the talent team on future job descriptions, interview questions, and position profiles
• collaborate with the learning & growth team on learning experiences, tools, and career paths

There are, of course, a nearly endless list of things you could do and try; but these should get your mind going. HR, Talent, and People Ops folks, if you get with your Data/IT teams and walk them through what you're trying to solve for, chances are they have a better way of getting there. (At least that's been my experience on the Culture/HR/Talent/Learning side of the house, as I've been fortunate to partner with some extremely talented Tech and Data folks who could decipher where I was trying to go and, more often than not, chart a better course for getting there than I initially had in my mind.)

DATA MANAGEMENT CAN PROVIDE A COMPETITIVE EDGE

Investing in data management can give you a significant advantage over your competition. 

COMPETITIVE EDGE, COURTESY OF DATA MANAGEMENT DONE WELL: IMPROVED INSIGHTS AND PROCESSES

Data management helps you improve your recruitment processes. What good is it if everyone is busy, busy, busy; but you're not actually getting more done?

It can help by providing better insights into the job market, current trends, and skill requirements. 

After all, without data, you're just...guessing?

COMPETITIVE EDGE, COURTESY OF DATA MANAGEMENT DONE WELL: EFFICIENT RESOURCE ALLOCATION

This information can help you optimize your resource allocation and find the best candidates for the job.

In other words, when you're about to drop oodles of money on job ads, but you need to know where and how to do it, is it going to be up to your gut*?

Or maybe what worked well last time?

Or what So-And-So in Finance thinks?

Or perhaps it should be what some Big Name Blogger says?

But then what if there's Another Big Name Blogger who says something different?

And then what if your CMO wants something different too?

And then, after you're about to hit "enter" on that, your CEO pings you and makes a "suggestion" for where to allocate everything?

You've got to have some sort of reasoning for that spend, and at least part of that has to be grounded in data. 

*I actually don't have an issue with people using their intuition. Studies have shown that intuition is more that some hocus-pocus thing, after all. What you need along with it, though, is—you guessed it—research. Data.

DATA MANAGEMENT DONE WELL HELPS YOU Find the right people

The right people. You know, the ones who will love working there and who your folks won’t think you’re crazy for hiring. 

(They may continue to think you're crazy for other reasons. That, however, is outside the scope of this post.)

Now before you think this section is a repeat from above, it's not. That was about job fit. This is about overall fit. 

What matters to people who work there? How do you identify and measure it? How do you identify employee trends and other factors that impact their work? 

Now, how do you identify and measure those same things with people who are working their way through the application process? 

DATA MANAGEMENT HELPS YOU ENGAGE AND KEEP GREAT TEAM MEMBERS

The overly formal way of saying that, of course, is that data management, done well, will help you in your employee engagement and employee retention efforts. But it's not just those things that can happen if you use the data well. 

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

Data management enables you to personalize employee development, which is essential for employee engagement and retention. Unless one size fits all?

Well OK, then. Moving right along.

CUSTOMIZED DEVELOPMENT

With data management, you can create customized development plans for each employee, based on their unique strengths and career goals. 

You can increase employee satisfaction and engagement by providing employees with a clear path for growth and development, especially if that path focuses on the aforementioned unique strengths of your team members. 

When we think about what makes people feel happy and fulfilled at work, research tells us that it's less about ping-pong tables and free beer and more about things like them (1) feeling seen, known, and understood as humans; (2) knowing how the work they're doing every day matters in a real, human way; and (3) understanding what success in their role looks like, both now and in the future. 

COST SAVINGS

When people are happy and fulfilled, they are less likely to leave an organization, which saves you time and money in the long run. Lots of it. 

And to be clear, by "lots," we're talking lots. Depending which data—there it is again—you want to dig into, replacing just one person can cost your company one to two times that person's annual salary. For technical and C-level positions, that number is even higher. 

THAT'S A LOT OF GOOD STUFF—WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

Glad you asked.

The thing is, the key to being able to take advantage of all of the above lies in what we talked about in the opening paragraphs. It's about making intentional, consistent, and ongoing investments in your data strategy, tools, and teams. Without any one of those three elements, you're very much out of luck.

AN EXAMPLE: YOUR KID OR GRANDKID

It's like when our kiddos watch TV, see their favorite professional athlete—say, Messi, for example (#sorrynotsorry, Ronaldo fans)—playing football/soccer in that way that only he can. Our kids are rightly mesmerized by what he does.

If your kids are anything like mine, maybe they say something like, "Oh my gosh, that's freaking amazing! I wish I could play like that." (I'm paraphrasing, obviously.)

Well, if you've played or coached—or heck even just been around—football/soccer (or any sport) for any amount of time, you likely understand that it takes more than simply saying out loud, "I want to play like that." 

It takes a kid (and their parents/support system) investing time, money, energy, etc., into making that desire go from something they want in the abstract, to something they're making progress toward achieving in reality. 

It takes having a development strategy. It means giving them the tools necessary to grow and develop as a player. It involves ensuring that they're in the right kind of team culture—one that's conducive to their growth, development, and continued progression toward their ultimate goal(s). 

The same is true here. 

If you want the end results we've talked about, it doesn't make any sense to essentially just sort of click your heels together...

and hope the results manifest via dumb luck. It doesn't work that way. 

It takes investment in your data team. It means having a coherent data management strategy; one that's proactive rather than reactive. And if the data management tools you're making your data engineers, data scientists, and data analysts work with are so antiquated that it's akin to you having to get through your work day on a Tandy 1000...

...then perhaps it's time to having real conversations with those teams about what it would take to not just catch up, but get ahead of the curve. 

SO WHAT NOW?

Investing in data management is crucial to winning the war for talent. Data management helps you make informed decisions, improves your competitive edge, and enhances employee engagement and retention.

Secure the future success of your organization and win the war for talent by investing in your data management. Start for free today.