Talent Pools

Using Talent Pools

A talent pool enables your organization to designate a pool of employees and candidates for analysis and calibration. Talent pools facilitate collaboration between your organization's HR team and stakeholders of functions such as succession plans and workforce planning.

Talent pools provide the ability to increase the scope of succession planning by working independently with performance matrices outside of that module. By associating a job role with a talent pool, it enables an organization to create and foster a pool of employees with the potential to act as successors for multiple positions across the company, instead of being focused on a specific position.

For this, you need the following:

Defining Your Talent Pool

You must define your talent pool before you can begin working with it. This involves creating a talent pool, assigning users to collaborate on it and, in instances where it can be used for succession planning, designating its context.

The key components are:

The owner, who by default is the person creating the pool. The pool owner is the only user that can edit the name, description, owner and context. Only owners can add collaborators.
Pool context identifies its purpose. Selecting position means the pool can be used for succession planning for that specific position, belonging to a specific employee. Job role can also be used for succession planning, but by increasing the scope to that level it enables multiple positions to be targeted. This helps avoid creating redundant pools with duplicate resources. Selecting none enables the pool to be used for purposes outside of succession planning.
Collaborators are the users who work with the pools. They can add pool members, rank members by moving them to different matrix cells and assign development activities. It is important the collaborators have the required user permissions to access the details of pool members.

To Define Your Talent Pool

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools

Click the plus icon to display the New Talent Pool window.
Enter a mandatory name and a brief description.
Select an owner and pool context, by using the selector window if required.

Pool context can initially be left as None and changed to a Job Role or Position later.
Click Next to display the Users list page.
Click the plus icon to choose the users who will have access and be able to collaborate on the talent pool, and click Select.
Click OK to save the talent pool and display the Members tab.

Members can now be added to the talent pool.

Talent Pools Comment Support

Users can provide comments when performing Talent Pool activities. Comments provide justification and context so when users return to the transactions at a later date, they have a historical record of why decisions were made and what discussions took place.

Characteristics of comments in Talent Pools:

Comments are not mandatory.
If the Comment dialog is left blank then no comment instance is created or tracked.
Add Comment dialogs have text areas that can take a maximum of 6000 characters.
Comments can be added, edited and deleted.
A single comment may be directed to multiple people selected from a list at the same time.

When adding members to a Talent Pool either via the People Selector or the Advanced Search, users are presented with a Comment dialog box that gives them the opportunity to add a comment as they add the member to the Talent Pool. Adding a comment is not mandatory, so if one is not desired, users can leave the comment blank and select Cancel to add the member without a comment.

Users will also be prompted to enter a comment when they remove a member from a Talent Pool. In this case, the pop-up is both a "second chance" confirmation to be certain a users intent was to remove the member, as well as an opportunity to enter a comment.

All comments that are entered for this member are stored in the memory. In the future, should this member be added to the Talent Pool again, all the comments prior to the removal will be restored for this member.

A comment is optional; click Yes without entering a comment and the member will be removed from the Talent Pool.

Methods for Entering Comments

Adding Comments Using the Contextualized Menu

Add a Comment about a Member within a Talent Pool...	Navigation
When you use the View available actions contextual selector	[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > (select Talent Pool > (highlight member) > View available actions > Add Comment > Add Comment dialog

Adding Comments Using the Toolbar More Actions Menu

Using this option allows users to add a single comment to multiple members at the same time.

Add a Comment about a Member within a Talent Pool...	Navigation
When you use the More Actions toolbar menu	[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > (select Talent Pool > (select member(s)) > More Actions > Add Comment > Add Comment dialog

Adding General Comments about the Talent Pool as a Whole

When a comment is added using this method, it is always applied to the Talent Pool as a group, not to an individual. This is true even if one or more individuals is selected in the Talent Pool.

Add a Comment about an entire Talent Pool...	Navigation
When you use Add Comment on the toolbar	[Navigation bar] > More dropdown menu > Talent Pools > (select a Talent Pool) > Add Comment > Comment Dialog

View Recent Comments Pop-up and Editing and Deleting Comments

In the Comment column on the Talent Pool, there's an actionable indicator that displays the number of comments associated to each member.

The image shows the Comment column on the Talent Pool and the actionable indicator that displays the number of comments associated to each member.

Once View recent comments is clicked, a pop-up displays with all the comments for that successor. Scrolling is enabled if there are many comments. If there are more than 10 comments, the View More Comments link displays. Once this link is clicked, scrolling is enabled and users are able to view all of the comments by scrolling. Clicking the pencil icon brings up the options to edit or delete any or all of the existing comments. Possible misspellings are underlined in red.

Note: Users are only able to edit or delete the comments that they own/authored. The pencil icon only displays next to those comments that are editable by the logged in user.

Comment History Tracking

Every time a comment is added, edited or deleted, the event is recorded in the History.

Populating Your Talent Pool

Collaborators and owners add employees and candidates to talent pools, who are then known as pool members.

Pools can be populated using the employee selector or by using advanced search:

Adding pool members uses the employee selector to search through direct reports, network and keywords. This method is best for smaller pools where the collaborators have first-hand knowledge of prospective pool members.
Advanced search uses Talent Search criteria to focus on pool members that fit specific parameters. This is most useful when the group of prospective members is too large for the collaborators to search through without filtering.

To Add Pool Members

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > Members

Click the Down Arrow icon and select Add Members.
Select Search in my employees to find members by drilling down through your direct and indirect reports and delegated employees, or Search in my network, or Search by keywords to search either employees or candidates.

Keyword search checks username, first name, middle initial, last name, and email address fields. You can select Extended Search to enable fields in the employee's talent profile and additional fields associated with candidates to be searched.
Select the check box for the people in the Search Results list you want to include in the pool and click the Right Arrow icon to place them in the Selection list.

Selecting Include Direct Reports will automatically add the selected employees' direct reports.
Click Select to add those in the Selection list to the pool.

The users are added to the Members list.

To Search for Pool Members

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools

Select a talent pool to display the Members tab.
Click the Plus icon and select Open Advanced Search.

Selecting Add Members, displays the People Selector.
Select the criteria you want to use to filter your results and click Search.
To add a single person from the Employee column, click the Right Arrow icon to display the Go To menu and select Add to current pool.
To add people, select the checkboxes for each person you want to add and click Actions , the Down Arrow icon and select Add to current pool.

If one of the people selected is already a pool member, the Add to current pool option is not available.

The people are added to the pool. You can return to the pool by clicking the Up Arrow icon.

Filtering and Managing Your Talent Pool

Talent pools can be filtered to narrow the focus of larger pools on members who meet specific criteria.

The filters available are contextual and dependent on which modules you are using in your system. They can contain set values in drop-down lists, organization values, free text, dates and customized values. In an instance where you are looking for potential successors, you could use these options to filter your talent pool based on employees with high potential and readiness for promotion. Filters can be used before switching to matrix or chart mode, which helps display only the applicable pool members and enables those modes to display quicker.

HR Administrators and Managers can easily manage and gain insight into Talent Pools and their individual members using filtering and sorting tools within the Talent Pools. Filters on the Talent Pool List page enable users to enter search parameters to help narrow their search for specific Talent Pools or information contained within those pools. Also on the Talent Pool List page as well as the Talent Pool Members page, is the Results Per Page dropdown. This feature allows users to determine how many search results, Talent Pools or Talent Pool members, are displayed on a single page.

You can add members to a Talent Pool or Succession Plan directly from the search results page. Single or multiple members can be added to plans and pools. If there is more than a single page of members, which will be determined by the selection in the Results Per Page dropdown, a popup is invoked. This Apply the Action to popup gives the option to add either only the selected members or all members to a Succession Plan or Talent Pool.

Note: The Apply the Action to popup is only invoked if the number of members in a Talent Pool exceeds a single page. For example, if the Results Per Page is set to 20 and there are only 20 members in a Talent Pool, the popup will not display. However, if the pool contains 21 members (one more member than will fit on a single page) then the popup is invoked and displays.

Users are also able to filter their Talent Pools for reporting purposes and when adding members to Talent Pools or Succession Plans directly from People Search. Users are able to enter search parameters using the newly added Talent Pool Selector filters to easily find the Talent Pool or pools that they wish to report from. This same set of filters is available when users are adding members to a pool directly from People Search. To access these filters, users click the dropdown arrow next to the employee they wish to report on and select Run Report or they can select multiple employees and select Run Report from the Actions menu.

The image shows the Run Report from People Search on single employee.

The image shows the Run Report from People Search on multiple employees.

The Talent Pool Selector filters are available from both the Employee and the Talent Pool tabs in the Run Report popup.

To Filter your Talent Pool

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > Members

From the Filters panel select the required values from the available filters.
Click the Refresh icon to apply the filters to the members list.

The filter results are persistent and the same pool members are displayed whether you select members, matrix or chart mode.

Evaluating Members using a Matrix

Using a matrix enables collaborators to better visualize and analyze the distinction between pool members on a cell matrix using two data points (X and Y axis values), where Performance and Potential dimensions are the default axes values.

When a matrix is configured and subsequently used, the members who have been added to the pool and have data for each of the dimensions will be included in a matrix cell accordingly. Members who do not have a data value for one or more of the dimensions are placed in a list of unrated employees and must be manually added to the matrix.

Moving members between cells is completed by dragging and dropping and enables you to override the default positions, based on the matrix axes. When a member is initially moved, both the original and overridden cell placement are stored in the database. These updated metrics apply solely to the matrix for that specific talent pool, however, member's who are currently employees can have their overall employee metrics updated directly from the matrix. Once updated the members can no longer be returned to their original cell.

To Use a Matrix

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > Members

Click the Grid icon to open the default system matrix and the rated members are displayed in their appropriate cells.

Switching matrices, can change which members are displayed and in which cells they are positioned, based on the X and Y axis values.
To move a member, select their name and drag and drop them into a different cell.
To include excluded members, select Show Unrated Pool Members from the Action menu and from the window drag and drop them into matrix cells.

The icons of moved members include an arrow.
As well as dragging members between cells, you can update their employee metrics or restore them to their original cell
1. To update a single member, from their shortcut menu select Update Employee Metrics and click OK or to update all moved members select Update Employee Metrics from the main menu and click OK.
2. To restore a member, from the shortcut menu select Restore to original cell.
Click the Show Details icon to display the Cell Details page, where members can be dragged and dropped between cells and where from the More Actions menu you can choose to update a pool members metrics based on which cell they are in.
Click the print icon to display a PDF version which can be printed and reviewed.

To help ensure employees with high potential are prepared for new roles, you can assign development activities.

Evaluating Members using Charts

Charts provide a graphical representation of pool member data.

Charts can contain a wide range of business critical data, such a potential, promotability readiness and risk of loss. You can display the details of each chart bar to get a detailed listing of the members in that car and to display their respective employee metrics. If so configured, charts can provide drill-down capability for viewing members and updating their data in relation to the selected chart.

To Evaluate Members Using Charts

Your system administrator must have associated charts with talent pools.

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools

Click the name of the pool and then click the Graph Chart icon to display Chart mode.
The default chart is displayed, showing pool members that have corresponding data, enabling them to be included in the chart.

Pool members that are missing the required data to be displayed in the chart are included in the unrated population.
The following actions can take place:
1. From the Charts list, select a different chart and the members are redistributed according to the parameters of that chart.
2. Click Show Details to display the Bar Details view, from where you can select a bar segment to display member details and drag and drop members to different chart segments.
3. Click Unrated Population/Show Details to display pool members that are not automatically included in the chart and add them to the chart where required.

Assigning Development Activities to Pool Members

All existing development activities in the system are available to be assigned to pool members.

Development activities can be assigned to pool members by owners and collaborators, regardless of their overall user permissions for development plans. This means it is possible to add activities, but not be able to subsequently view that user's development plan.

To Assign Development Activities

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools > Members

From the Members list view, select checkboxes for the members and click Assign Activities.
Use the Development Activity Selector to choose the required development activities and click Select.
Click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

The development activities are added to the user's development plan.

Talent Pool Housekeeping

Once you have configured your talent pool, the subsequent actions and reference information may be required:

A history of the changes made to a pool is available: Viewing Talent Pool History
Depending on your overall user permissions, you can view member details: Viewing Pool Member Details
If you are a pool owner, you can remove pools from the system: Deleting a Talent Pool
Reference of the user interface: Talent Pool Fields

Viewing Talent Pool History

A history record contains information on a change made to a talent pool, including the date, details and user making the change.

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools

Select a talent pool from the list.
Select the History tab.

All of the changes that have been made to the talent pool since it was created are displayed. Select a column header to sort the list based on the values of that column.

Deleting a Talent Pool

Ensure you want to delete the talent pool, as the action cannot be undone.

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools.

Select the check box for the item to be deleted.

Multiple talent pools can be selected for deletion at the same time.
Click the minus icon and click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

The talent pool is deleted and removed from the list. Deleting a talent pool only removes the talent pool object from the system. It does not affect users or members associated with it.

Viewing Pool Member Details

[Navigation bar] > More dropdown > Talent Pools

Click the name of the talent pool to display the Members tab.
In List mode, click the Right Arrow icon beside the pool member's name and select the required module from the Action shortcut menu.

Depending on your association to the pool member, different options, such as talent profile, goal plan, or succession plan will be available.

The selected module page is displayed.

To return to the talent pool select the browser back button.

Talent Pool Fields

Fields and buttons displayed in Talent Pools are presented in the following table. Each entry in the table includes a field or button, a description, possible values (when they are predefined), the part of the application to which the field or button applies, and the header of the field or button.

Field	Description	Applicable to	Header
Add Employees	This displays the People Selector and enables members to be added the pool.	Talent Pools	Members
Assign Activities	This is used to choose from existing development activities and assigns them to the selected pool members.	Talent Pools	Members
By	Provides the name of the user who did the action.	Talent Pools	History
Date and Time	Time the action occurred.	Talent Pools	History
Description	Description of the pool	Talent Pools	Talent Pools, Details
Details	Indicates what was actioned.	Talent Pools	History
Display the List Mode	This is the default view for the Members tab and displays pool members in a list.	Talent Pools	Members
Display the Matrix Mode	This displays the pool members in a matrix, where all the matrices enabled for the system are available.	Talent Pools	Members
Email	Email address associated with the pool member.	Talent Pools	Members
Event	The type of action that occurred.	Talent Pools	History
Job Title	The job title of the pool member. External candidates do not have this value.	Talent Pools	Members
Name	Full name of the pool member.	Talent Pools	Talent Pools, Members
Name	Name of the pool.	Talent Pools	Details
Open Advanced Search	This displays the Talent Pools Advanced Search window, which enables you to search for potential pool members using customizable fields.	Talent Pools	Members
Owner	By default, this is also the creator of the talent pool.	Talent Pools	Details
Pool Context	Indicates the purpose of the pool. Position indicates the pool is for creating a succession plan for a specific position. Job Role is also for succession planning, but includes all positions related to that role. None leaves the pool unassociated.	Talent Pools	Details
Potential	Indicates the potential of an employee.	Talent Pools	Members
Review Rating	Indicates how the employee performed according to their last closed focal review.	Talent Pools	Members
Risk of Loss	Indicates the probable risk level of the employee leaving the organization.	Talent Pools	Members
Show Process History	Each time development activities are added to a pool member, an entry is added here indicating the process of the activity.	Talent Pools	Talent Pools
Type	A blue icon indicates an internal employee and a green icon indicates an external candidate. Only employees can have activities assigned to them and have review rating, risk of loss, and potential values.	Talent Pools	Members
Users	Users collaborate and work on the pool, such as adding pool members and working with matrices.	Talent Pools	Talent Pools, Details