What is “talent operations”?

As talent professionals, we are often so busy fighting fires and jumping from one role to another that the Talent function itself has been overlooked. We have historically been poor at taking a step back to look at strategy, process, and our own operations.

This is where “Talent Operations” comes in.

This role doesn’t involve any headhunting. Instead, it is the role of Talent Ops to build world-class talent teams that can hire at scale, in any sector and in any location.

Our embedded consultancy model supports in-house talent teams to build out that function from scratch or enhance the capability, from the inside.

So what is important to Talent Ops?

1. Data

Underpins everything in a world class talent team. Data driven decision making needs to be culturally embedded into the function.

2. Process

Is what allows you to build consistency and a high standard across every element of the talent lifecycle. How many talent functions have you worked in that have documented, developed, and refined a process consistently so it can be replicated at scale?

3. Automation

Is the key to driving the capacity and scalability of a function. A good Talent Ops professional should be looking to automate as much as possible to free more time, resource and power for headhunting and talent partnering in the function.

4. Tech

Underpins a slick talent function. HR Systems, ATS, LinkedIn, Calendly, DocuSign, Slack, Teams, Zoom. The list can go on forever. Selecting the right systems, integrating them well and optimising the stack is crucial. It is important to ensure that any tech is implemented well, involving the team… sounds obvious but it has to be user friendly.

5. EVP

Is the foundation all good talent functions are built on. The value prop needs to be powerful and modern to give your talent team something to engage their audience with. This needs to be reviewed consistently and formalised. It’s an essential part of your employer brand.

Great tech businesses are beginning to adopt the Talent Ops role as an integral part of their talent function, however the majority still haven’t. Hiring a dedicated Talent Ops Professional who doesn’t headhunt and is solely focused on optimising the function adds a huge amount of value driving exceptional standards.