b'INTRODUCTIONSet a Goal to Become aTALENT FOCUSED Organization this Year!By Beth SunshineSenior Vice President - Talent Services, The Center for Sales Strategy and Up Your CultureIn todays competitive business landscape, the mostSo how can you become a Talent Focused successful companies understand the importance ofOrganization? Here are a few steps you their people. They recognize that their employees arecan take:their greatest asset, and leverage that understanding by hiring people with the potential for excellence in1 Maintain a consistent focus on recruitment (365 every role and then developing them to reach theirdays a year) and build a strong and diverse talent full potential. We call those companies Talent Focusedbank you can pull from when jobs become avail-Organizations.able. Human beings are complex and each of us is wired2.Commit to using a talent selection instrument very differently. We have natural strengths that leadbuilt specifically for each job role you fill so you to rapid growth and feelings of satisfaction when wecan always align talent to task. This will help you use them. We also have weaknesses that can get inidentify the specific strengths required for each the way of our success and cause frustration if we usejob and hire individuals who have the innate tal-them too often. For instance, someone may have anents that lead to success. innate talent for crunching numbers and working with spreadsheets while another person may struggle with3.Invest in your employees by giving them a clear mistakes and quickly feel depleted. Luckily, while somepicture of their top talents and helping them to jobs require that specific talent, many dont.develop their strengths and improve their perfor-When leaders have clear insight into the strengths thatmance. This will help you grow each individual in are necessary for excellence in every job role, they arethe organization which simultaneously grows the better able to determine whether a job candidate is theorganization. right fit or not. They can better set their employees up4 Buildastrongcompanyculturethatfosters for success.employee engagement. When your employees are Much like the shape sorter we played with as kids, whenengaged, productivity, communication and collab-you align the right person with the right job, everythingoration will improve, your business will thrive, and works. Trying to fit a blue triangle into the spot thatyou will attract more talented people who want to calls for a yellow circle will only cause frustration. be part of your success. 20 Set a Goal to Become a Talent Focused Organization this Year!'