Good people management is directly linked to good communication of the goals, behaviours and competencies that employees need to cultivate and work towards. Employees who feel significant and have clear targets and expectations are ultimately the ones who will be the most productive.

I have worked in the people space for the last 15 years and have been amazed at how often our people practices work against one another. When we operate in silo’s we can never fully impact our environment positively. Those involved in people management are under even greater pressure today to prove their value-add to the business and to position themselves strategically in the business. I believe that the key to this lies in their ability to integrate their people processes.

In my mind, integration reflects an incorporation of the diverse components of people management into a clear and simple range of tools for the business to use. The key to this integration lies in the structuring of the people practices to meet the business strategy.

The first question that I may ask you, is do you have a clear business strategy for the next five years? Secondly, I would ask if this strategy has been clearly communicated to your employees. It is critical that every employee can easily recognize how they personally contribute to where the company is going. This in itself will directly impact the degree of engagement within your workforce.

Sun Systems in Singapore found that there seemed to be a large number of talented employees leaving their organisation. They sought to understand why people were leaving. They found three core reasons for this movement: Reason No.3 – Better Pay. Reason No. 2 – More developmental opportunities and interestingly enough, the No. 1 reason people were leaving their companies lay in this statement: “I could not see how my personal contribution to the company made any difference.” Once again, people want the safety of knowing where they are going and what their role is in getting the organisation there.

Once the business strategy is clear and has been clearly communicated to the team it is imperative that the people practices align themselves to this strategy. This includes the following: how you structure the business, and how you recruit, induct, performance manage, train, recognize, remunerate and promote your people. These strategies and practices cannot be developed in isolation; one constantly needs to be asking the question – “How will this impact on…?”

The organisations that I have seen do this well have been those organizations that have a clear picture of what behaviours guarantee success. They ask themselves the question, “What behaviours will reinforce and guarantee that we reach our business goals?” They then take these behaviours and ensure that they evaluate performance against these behaviours. These behaviours are clearly articulated against the various levels in the business and measures are both quantitative and qualitative. Their recruitment practices not only focus on technical competency but behavioural competency too. They train and develop their people actively and recognise people who reflect these behaviours consistently in the business.

Other companies that have done well are those that recognise the importance of planning and developing for succession. This does not just involve the executive team, but rather there is a culture within the organisation of planning for the future. One of my clients has included their succession planning templates as a key component of their “Manager’s Survival Pack.” Companies who have not taken the time to identify their critical positions and possible successors to these roles may experience costs as high as 150% of the position’s annual package in trying to replace this role because they have not planned appropriately.

You can imagine how important it is to ensure that your business leaders are equipped to have meaningful and objective conversations with their teams around their careers, deliverables and workplace behaviours. My most satisfying training sessions have been when a manager who thought himself unable to communicate effectively with his team has a breakthrough and recognises the influence he can have by listening to and challenging his team.

Communication remains an integral component of implementing an integrated talent management solution. I have coined the phrase “soft but critical”. Many of these behaviours may be sidelined, with the notion that they are soft skills; however, in my experience when we get this right, we find ourselves accomplishing our business goals with a motivated team at our side.

About the author: Rachel van Doorene is an Account Manager at Avocado Vision, a company that specialises in training and development. For more information please contact Rachel at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.avovision.co.za

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