It's time for March Madness again. As I thought about putting my bracket together, I waxed nostalgic about all the great team efforts I have been fortunate enough to witness in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament over the years. I also thought about the great coaches who have successfully led their teams into battle. For kicks, I just went to stat sheet.com, pulled the list of winningest NCAA men's b-ball coaches, and pasted it below. While much of the media's analysis of these sports legends contrasts their individual coaching styles and strategies for victory, one common thread amongst them is their focus on mastering fundamentals.
Similarly, all organizations attempting to get their talent management strategies to the big dance by optimizing its business processes and implementing a robust talent management system overhaul their talent management strategies cannot forget the importance of fundamentals. One fundamental area that can stop an organization's talent management initiative in its path is its mismanagement of basic employee and organizational data. This data is the foundation of any enterprise solution for talent management as it is used by all application areas (e.g., talent acquisition, learning & development, compensation, etc.).
The functionality, and consequently the user experience, of talent management systems depends upon the accuracy and integrity of core data. Consider the following examples:
Reporting relationships are not up-to-date. So managers are frustrated when they cannot access review forms to provide members of their team with feedback. Furthermore, they are annoyed when they receive training approval requests from people who no longer report to them.
The metrics on which you built your talent management business case for senior management - such as a reduction in turnover of high-performing employees - are nearly impossible to collect, report, and take action on.
The use of role-specific competencies against which employees are recruited, developed, and compensated is delayed because the organization needs to consolidate the number of job codes.
These are just a few examples. There are plenty more. Please don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting readers stifle their vision when implementing talent management systems to make their organizations a better place to work for employees and a better place to invest for shareholders. I am merely encouraging you to set aside the time to master the fundamentals. Only when the data foundation is sound the vision be realized.
All-Time Winningest NCAA Men's College Basketball Coaches
902-371 Bob Knight
879-254 Dean Smith
876-190 Adolph F. Rupp
862-295 Don Meyer
830-524 Jim Phelan
828-447 Clarence E. Gaines
808-336 Eddie Sutton
802-266 Mike Krzyzewski
799-294 Lute Olson
786-394 Charles Driesell