Best practices for strategic talent management in manufacturing organizations

JP Guay , Halogen Software
Tags: talent management, business management, manufacturing

Increasingly CEOs, boards and other executives are asking human resources leaders to help achieve corporate goals by addressing a number of talent management challenges. Within the manufacturing sector, many organizations have implemented programs such as the ISO 9001 quality management system in an effort to drive profitability and competitiveness.

ISO standards require organizations to be able to identify skill sets and competencies for each job in order to maintain certification.

According to ISO 9001 expert, Lorri Hunt[i], “Meeting these requirements can be complex for organizations as HR is often disconnected from the quality management process, and likely has a number of siloed systems in place, such as Learning Management Systems, which simply track information on employee’s training. To fully comply with 2008 Clause 6.2.2, organizations need to ensure that HR has the integrated systems and tools in place to evaluate employee performance and competencies on an ongoing basis.”

Without a solid talent management strategy, it can be difficult for HR teams to map required competencies for each position, and to link skill gaps with required training.

Establishing Effective Talent Management Strategies and Systems
A strategy that puts employee performance appraisals at the centre of talent management enables manufacturing organizations to measure key areas such as product quality, demonstrate certifications are up to date, and prove that employees are competent and so on.

This performance-centric approach also enables manufacturing organizations to create a logical workflow and process map that supports ISO, and can subsequently be used to support lean or Six Sigma initiatives. 

To effectively meet ISO HR requirements and prepare for audits manufacturing organizations can use a Web-based talent management system to:

With an automated system that provides development history reports and training effectiveness metrics, manufacturers can also centralize all the documentation needed to demonstrate to ISO auditors that they are meeting HR and training program requirements. For organizations focused on lean, the elimination of time consuming and expensive manual processes for HR and the organization as a whole, is particularly compelling.

Implementing the Right Talent Management System
Here are some best practices for selecting, justifying and implementing an automated talent management system for a manufacturing organization:

Summary
Talent management has a critical role to play in manufacturing organizations, particularly those who have implemented quality management systems including ISO.  The inclusion of a talent management strategy along with the appropriate technology enables organization to create and automate the workflow around their process map, ensure all employees have the skills and competencies in place, and document compliance with quality standards.

 

Sidebar
When selecting a talent management solution, an evaluation checklist helps to clearly identify “must-have” items. For manufacturing organizations, several key requirements as they a related to Clause 6.2.2 include being able to:

About the author:
JP Guay is a regional manager with Halogen Software. He focuses on helping HR leaders and senior management in manufacturing organizations optimize their talent management practices. He can be reached at jguay@halogensoftware.com.

 


[i]Hunt, Lorri. Understanding the Requirements of ISO 9001:2008 6.2.2 Competence, Training and Awareness. June 2009.