What is the Difference Between Human Resources Management and Talent Management?
Last Updated May 19, 2022
Many people are familiar with human resources management and its role in hiring (and, yes, firing) an organization’s employees. However, the term “talent management” may not be as familiar, or may thought to be a newer, more creative way to refer to the tried-and-true HR department and its functions. After all, both play a role in recruiting, hiring and managing employees (or talent) to drive an organization’s success.
The importance of human capital in this success has led many organizations to increasingly recognize that their approach to human resources management needs to be both administrative and strategic. This has resulted in a greater emphasis on talent management within human resources departments.
While human resources management and talent management are dependent upon each other to achieve an organization’s people goals, there are key differences that influence the role they play within an organization and how professionals in both areas approach their responsibilities.
What Is Human Resources Management?
Human resources management is the administrative arm, delivering on core HR needs and services to the organization. These responsibilities include not only the day-to-day operations of the HR department but often the processes and procedures that dictate the day-to-day of every employee within the organization.
Every employee is touched by human resources at some point. This includes the interview phase, onboarding, training and for any personnel issues that arise while they are on the job. Those who work in human resources have a vital role in the success of the organization.
What are the Responsibilities of Human Resources Management?
Human resources managers hold the supervisory responsibilities in the HR team or department, and increasingly they work with other departments to identify their personnel needs, allowing them to better target the right candidates for job openings.
Human resources specialists within the HR department may focus on the administration and execution of certain areas, such as developing compensation packages for employees, benefits administration, maintaining compliance and safety policies, appropriate employee data management, overseeing career training designed to maximize the talents of each employee, handling and tracking any complaints filed by employees and owning company communications with employees.
Depending on the size of the organization, job titles may go beyond human resources manager and human resources specialist to reflect these focused responsibilities held by members of the HR department, including:
- Recruitment and retention specialist/manger
- Training and development specialist/manager
- Compensation and benefits specialist/manager
What is Talent Management?
As defined in Michigan State University’s course on Human Resource Talent Strategy, talent management is the “systemic, planned effort to attract, retain, develop and motivate highly skilled employees and managers.”
This “systemic, planned effort” is a long-term strategy for building an organization’s employee talent by cultivating “a stable (but dynamic) workforce that thrives in your organization’s value system, while simultaneously filling gaps with new perspectives and skills.”
Many different strategies come together to reach this goal. Talent management first works to build a strong brand for the organization that will attract strong job candidates. This goes beyond working with (and within) the human resources department to working with executive leadership on overall strategic planning that aligns the recruitment, hiring and development of talent with the organization’s direction and goals.
In many organizations, this starts at the top with the chief people officer. The rise of this C-suite position has elevated the strategic importance of human resources and talent management, as organizations recognize the need to gain a competitive advantage by attracting top talent, retaining the best candidates for each position and enabling employees to develop their skills and talents for their own benefit and that of the company.
What are the Key Components of a Talent Management Strategy?
In developing a talent management strategy, leaders should look to build on four pillars:
- Recruitment: Building a recruitment network that leads to the discovery and hiring of new talent, particularly employees from diverse backgrounds.
- Performance Management: Ensuring employees perform at a high standard through a review process that measures and improves performance.
- Learning and Development: Establishing effective training and coaching programs that help to further develop the critical skills employees need to meet their performance goals.
- Retention: Keeping high-performing talent within the company by developing succession plans that govern how organizations grow a talented team of employees.
Depending on the organization’s size and strategic goals, those HR managers and specialists in recruitment, retention, training and development may be aligned under talent management to develop and execute on the overall strategy.
Bringing Human Resources and Talent Management Together
Strategy drives execution and that is essentially the relationship between talent management and human resources management. Talent management strategy informs and dictates the decisions and actions taken by the human resources department and its individual team members within their roles.
“Don’t think of talent management as an alternative to HR,” writes Brian Westfall, a senior human resources and talent management analyst. “They’re not two different approaches to the same process, and you certainly don’t have a choice in doing one over the other. Every business has to do both.”
To truly leverage employee talent for optimal success and as the most valuable asset of your organization, talent management should be fully integrated into the approach and responsibilities of the human resources department and the organization as a whole.
Failure to do so can lead to employees underperforming, the organization failing to meet stated goals and the talent you recruited looking to greener pastures. After all, if a “company does not identify and encourage its own employee talent, another company will…” as one human resources trainer bluntly states.
Human Resources and Talent Management Education and Training
Human resources management and talent management are not an “either or” proposition, nor are they separate responsibilities or entities moving in parallel within your organization. To identify, recruit, develop and connect the right people to your organization, you need a cohesive and aligned strategy.
Michigan State University’s Professional Certificate in Human Resources & Talent Management cohesively connects the two and highlights how an aligned approach can build high performance and create a culture of success for your organization.
There’s never been a better time to gain the latest tools, techniques and strategies for leveraging human resources and talent management to your competitive advantage.
