When managing an enterprise, you will certainly encounter several challenges as you try to maximize employee output and enhance the performance of your organisation. Below are a few;

i.How to link day to day actions to strategy and see the “Big Picture”
In an organisation, there are many daily activities that keep employees busy some of which are habitual. There are regular departmental meetings, meetings with clients, reports to be done, surveys undertaken etc . the key headache for managers here is how to keep employees focused on the “big picture” amidst daily activities that seem necessary to be done but may not add value to what the company intends to achieve in the long run.
If you ask employees why they are doing what they are doing, you will hear responses like “That’s what I found been done here” and the like. Stephen Covey put it more clearly that “People and their Managers are working so hard to be sure things are done right, that they hardly have time to decide if they are doing the right things”

ii.How to get information from your data so as to focus on key issues?
Every day, lots of data is churned in our offices. From customer surveys, staff satisfaction surveys, base line surveys, financial reports, cash flow statements, etc… How do you ensure you focus on the key relevant issues revealed by all that data?

iii.How to easily interpret what is reported? Understanding what caused the problems? How to reduce reliance on ad-hoc reporting?
There is a tendency for ad-hoc reporting in many organisations. Once a problem occurs, we hurriedly blame it on the whatever changes have been previously made as causing the problems. How do you delve into the reports and find out what really caused the problems?

iv.Recruiting and Retaining Top Talents
This is one of the largest headaches for HR managers today. At a recent LYP meeting, Dr. Laila Macharia, the Chairperson of Kenya Private Developers Association, said “Everyday I hear Kenyans complaining there are no jobs but whenever we meet as employers, we are always asking ourselves where we will get good honest employees”. This statement clearly shows that managers are always agonizing on how to attract the best talents who are self-motivated and honest. Thus, linking talent management practices with a company’s business, vision and strategy is a top issue for managers and one, which needs to be advanced even in a slow economy.

Marc Effron, a top Talent Management Consultant recently undertook a survey of top American companies and found out the following;

18% of companies claim to be winning the war for talent.
72% portrayed it as an endless struggle in which they were neither gaining nor losing ground.
10% declared that the war for talent was winding down in defeat for their enterprise
In Effron’s surveys, more than 20% of talent-management specialists conceded that their tools for succession planning, executive coaching and identifying high-potential employees are widely regarded within their own companies as not being simple or easy to use.

So how do you ensure your talent management plans are working and delivering results?

For answers to this and other questions on enhancing the performance of your organisations, contact us.