the story of intelligent talent management

The Story of

INTELLIGENTTALENT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1

What It Is and Why It Matters

It seems like just about everything is changing

about the way we work.

– 1 –

New and disruptive technologies

play a big part...

– 2 –

As does the new generation of workers…

– 3 –

And a global business arena where

market forces align, shift, and then realign…

– 4 –

... so quickly that we can’t keep up, using the tools

and processes of just a few years ago.

– 5 –

How does all this affect the workplace?

Research paints a troubling picture:

– 6 –

More employees than ever are feeling disengaged.

– 7 –

Leaders are in short supply.

– 8 –

Workers are changing employers every few years.

– 9 –

Emerging specialties require brand-new skill sets.

– 10 –

And the incoming deluge of business data never stops.

– 11 –

Is it any wonder that employees feel

OVERWHELMED?!

– 12 –

Line-of-business managers, for instance,

are pulled in all directions..

– 13 –

And every day,

HR faces a dizzying array of challenges.

– 14 –

It’s all too much to deal with. Even the most skilled

multitasker can’t stay on top of everything.

No human being possibly can.

– 15 –

But new technologies absolutely can.

In fact, that’s why they were invented:

to quickly digest enormous quantities of

information, learn from it, and

use these insights to improve

people’s experience.

– 16 –

We already take this for granted in our personal lives.

Think how the consumer Web has transformed

the way we search, shop, share, find entertainment,

and get from place to place.

– 17 –

Intelligent technology makes all of this faster

and easier. But that’s not all…

– 18 –

It also shows us new ideas and options.

Valuable opportunities we didn’t even know existed.

Now that’s revolutionary!

– 19 –

Couldn’t smart technology do the same for HR

professionals, to help them better meet the

needs of a changing workplace?

– 20 –

Picture an HR system that does more

than just collect and store information:

– 21 –

A very, very brainy system that analyzes and evaluates

“Big Data” about people. Turning it into:

– 22 –

…which it then serves up to you—like an Amazon or

Netflix—without your having to even ask.

– 23 –

This “what if” HR system has a name:

Intelligent Talent Management. And here’s the best part:

It’s not just a theory. It’s entirely real.

– 24 –

Right now, in companies all over the world, Intelligent Talent

Management is delivering personalized, evidence-based

recommendations to managers and employees alike...

– 25 –

Helping each and every one of them to work faster.

Work smarter. Collaborate more smoothly.

And make better decisions... in every facet of their job.

– 26 –

Want to see how?

or

– 27 –

CHAPTER 2

Intelligent Talent Management at Work

1

eet Sarah, a hardworking marketing manager:

well-liked, highly respected, but to her chagrin, sorely

underpaid. Jason, her manager, sees Sarah’s promise

but doesn’t know she feels under-compensated.

With a full plate, 12 direct reports, and Sarah’s annual

review 8 months away, Jason doesn’t have time,

nor perceives a need, to give Sarah’s situation special

attention. But outside recruiters have. Sarah has been

o�ered a more lucrative job somewhere else, and just

gave notice. Now Jason and HR are scrambling to

craft an enticing counter-o�er. In their haste, they’re

going on hunches rather than reasoned analysis. The

o�er is too little and too late. Sarah is gone, and it will

take months of recruiting to �nd her replacement.

Not exactly the best outcome. But with Intelligent Talent

Management, the story could go quite di�erently:

You’ll remember from Chapter 1 that Intelligent Talent

Management has a built-in brain—which we call TIM for

short. TIM does far more than just collect

and store data. While Sarah was

feeling blue and her boss

going about cheerfully

clueless, TIM was on the job,

evaluating, comparing, and correlating

all its data and interactions about Sarah.

2

TIM’s assessment? Sarah is a high performer with

leadership potential, well worth developing,

but at risk to leave because she’s underpaid.

TIM alerts Jason and HR to all this—long

before Sarah is contacted by outside recruiters.

TIM’s alert includes a rundown of industry-standard

packages for Sarah’s position, dollar-amount incentive

recommendations to retain her, and a comparison of the

cost of retention vs. replacement.

Now aware of the problem, and with decision-critical data in

hand, Jason and HR take steps to pre-empt the departure of a

valuable employee. How’s that for a happy ending!

3

oe is a �nancial analyst itching for a new challenge.

He wants to work with people as well as numbers,

and he has the skills. With no clear in-company

program or resources for exploring a career change,

John does what any self-respecting millennial would

do: he takes his quest online—talking with friends on

Facebook. Reading relevant articles and blogs.

Setting up informational e-chats with LinkedIn

connections. And so on. Joe is on his way to

uncovering new opportunities. And none of them

will be with his present employer.

4

Were that employer using Saba’s Intelligent Talent Management

Suite, Joe could start and conclude his journey without looking

elsewhere. First, he would take advantage of Saba’s

built-in personal career planning tool, using its

gamification and modeling features to create

what-if scenarios and options, and explore how

they could be realized internally.

This activity would be noted by TIM, the system’s

machine-learning brain, which would go on to correlate

it with everything else it knows about Joe: his recent

completion of courses in Leadership and Problem-Solving...

the colleagues in HR he follows on Saba’s social platform...

and his pro�le notation of strong communications skills

and a college internship in HR.

5

In true proactive form, TIM would take action, messaging Joe with

the names of three company HR executives whose backgrounds

show some analytics experience. TIM also alerts Joe to a new

e-learning course, “Getting the Most out of your HRIS.”

None of this would preclude Joe from simultaneously delving

into other possibilities—product marketing, for example. The

career tool would guide Joe with alerts to marketing-related skills

he needs to develop, together with suggestions for relevant

courses, content, and in-company experts to follow.

Meanwhile, TIM would surface Joe’s career explorations to

HR and Product Marketing, both of which would start monitoring

his progress and keep him in mind for future positions. Joe is now

on track to changing careers—without having to change

employers. Thanks to Intelligent Talent Management.

6

A company business unit needs a marketing

manager for a new product in the line. HR and the

team’s Director review obvious internal

candidates: marketing managers for other

products in the same group. Of course, none of

them may be interested. If one of them does get

chosen, their current position will need to be

�lled, most likely by recruiting from outside.

7

Here too, Intelligent Talent Management could make a decisive di�erence.

When HR posts the job request, TIM would surface not just the obvious

internal candidates, but others who are anything but obvious:

Colin, a software engineer who has taken courses in product marketing

on the Saba Learning platform, and exchanged ideas with

marketing managers Eric and Melanie, with whom he worked

on a cross-functional team. Both have cited Colin

on the social platform for original ideas and

initiative—a notation TIM includes in his alert to HR.

Through their own activity on the Saba system,

Melanie in Production and Joe in Finance (from the previous

story) have also shown interest and aptitude for a product marketing

manager role. TIM surfaces them to the hiring team as well.

8

Ordinarily, the new position and these 3 employees’ career ambitions

would play out on totally separate tracks, passing each

other like ships in a fog. But Intelligent Talent

Management brings them together. The decision

makers are alerted to 3 promising internal candidates

they wouldn’t have otherwise known about—nor

could have been expected to. Odds are the position will

be �lled without the delay, e�ort, and expense of a protracted

recruiting cycle. That’s a win for everyone.

9

To put it all together. Intelligent Talent Management is a leap beyond what conventional talent systems can do. It is:

Evaluates

new data

continuously

Alerts you

to issues before

they become

problems

Gives you

tailored

recommendations

So helpful

that employees

keep coming

back for more

THE END

www.saba.com/us/intelligent-talent-management/

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