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SummaryProject management offices (PMOs) are often hampered in their ability to make a strong enterprise-wide

impact because of talent-management challenges. This is particularly true for PMOs that do not staff, but

rather manage projects and project managers for the enterprise without direct authority over staffing.

How do you attract and retain top talent for the PMO and its initiatives when you have little to no

authority? This guide helps PMO leaders understand how to create a PMO with a purpose, culture and

structure that attracts and retains the best talent.

Key Takeaways:� Understand the need for clarifying organisational alignment and the need to energise and engage

top talent

� Learn how to utilise a talent model to attract and retain top talent

� Implement actionable concepts to improve alignment of strategy execution and talent capabilities

If You Build It They Will Stay: Investing in Training and Development to Retain Top Talent

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An Effective Talent Management Strategy

Some companies know exactly who they are and what they want to achieve,

but they may not have the structure to support those goals. When it comes to

executing against your company’s key objectives, the PMO’s ultimate goal is to

equip great teams that deliver value to the enterprise.

Whether you are talking about attracting, growing, or retaining talent,

employee engagement is crucial. Training should be a major component of

every employee retention programme. In order for training to be an effective

talent retention tool, however, it needs to be grounded in a larger context

that sees the whole as well as the individual, and serves as part of a larger

employee retention effort. But how do you get there?

Begin by selecting a framework within which to organise the strategy, structure

and execution of your training programme. When applied correctly, a

consistent framework can transform the way your organisation, department or

team thinks, leads and executes. It goes beyond a typical checklist to address

a more holistic and, therefore, more effective approach to moving the business

at large forward with an eye on the big picture. It’s a way to achieve greater

discipline and alignment to your overall organisation’s learning needs, which

ultimately drives increased revenue, pro itability and market share – and in this

case, more effective talent-management programmes.

In this guide we will look at the broad range of components you should plan to

include in a retention programme, as well as recommendations on how to

successfully build it.

The Project Management Institute (PMI)® has identified several specific areas

leaders should address to strengthen employee engagement and alignment.1

When it comes to executing

against your company’s key

objectives, the PMO’s ultimate

goal is to equip great teams

that deliver value to the

enterprise.

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Increasing effectiveness in these areas can have a significant impact on a

PMO leader’s ability to attract and retain top talent by positioning the

organisation or team as the targeted talent’s top choice:

It’s no secret that Facebook purposefully works to create an engaged

workforce. One way they achieve this is by having all new hires participate

in a multi-week boot-camp that is one-part employee orientation, one-part

software training programme, and one-part freshman orientation.

When new engineering recruits are hired at Facebook, they typically do not

know what job they will ultimately do. Rather, they explore and discover their

roles through the boot-camp experience. Activities include various tours-of-duty

that involve working in several areas and teams. Importantly, the work they

are doing is actually on the live product, giving new arrivals the opportunity

to immediately contribute to Facebook’s success. At the culmination of boot-

camp, the employee gets to choose his/her job assignment and product team.

Meaningful work

An ability to make an impact

Visibility for successes

A transparent culture

Authentic leadership

A well-defined career path

Alignment to the project, team, and organisational strategy


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The programme exemplifies Facebook’s adherence to Founder and CEO Mark

Zuckerberg’s “Hacker Way,” an organisational culture based on being

egalitarian, risk-taking, self-starting, irreverent, collaborative and creative.2

Whether at Facebook or elsewhere – this process puts the onus on PM leaders

to make the projects and teams enticing enough to draw the best talent.

Even though you may not have the influence or resources o Mark Zuckerberg,

there are tools and approaches you can use to increase your talent

management prowess.

With an eye toward improving your talent pool, this guide will help to ensure a

positive impact on individual, team, project and organisational performance.

1. Know who you are, why you exist andwhere you are going

You need to be able to clearly articulate your group

or department’s purpose, identity and long-range

direction in order to determine how well these attributes

align – with team members, project sponsors and the

organisation’s strategy.

Having a strong identity at the project and programme level – as well as the

organisation level – provides a clear definition of the work that will be done,

allowing employees to find meaning and understand the impact o their

individual and group efforts.

2. Align your strategy with the larger company’sculture and structure

Defining your culture and ensuring it is not in conflict with your structure

is critical – both for business success and talent retention. PMOs are often

structured like an orchestra or football team – everyone is the expert for their

role with specific responsibilities and the structure offers little flexibility. Could

it be additionally effective to adopt more of an agile, jazz band or basketball

team mindset where everyone brings multiple skills and capabilities to the

team and the structure flexes based on the project’s requirements?


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Discovering and articulating the culture and structure improves alignment

between the organisation, the work and team members. It ensures the culture

and structure are transparent, enabling team members to produce at their

highest levels.

3. Translate long-term intention into short- andmedium-term goals, metrics and strategies

A strong vision helps leadership define and measure its organisational

contributions. It also helps create a platform to communicate those contributions

to top talent. This is done by ensuring that the metrics captured and evaluated

align with the overall Ideation. Clearly articulating this allows team members

to see what matters most, enabling them to align their work focus to these

outcomes and deepening their understanding of how their role contributes to

the organisation’s success. This creates the opportunity for employees to

acquire visibility within the company, strengthening their commitment to their

projects and your organisation’s success.

4. Know the right project-based work required toexecute the organization’s strategy

Aligning project (or programme or portfolio) selection to the organisation’s strategy

is important for the overall business’s success. It is also essential for talent

engagement and retention. For the PM leader, this domain speaks to knowing

what skills and abilities you need on your team. For the individual, it helps them

align their perspective to the organisational goals, while also providing them

direction about the types of skills and abilities they should be looking to grow as

they move along their career path.

Truly authentic leaders leverage the alignment process by balancing the needs

of the project, with offering team members opportunities to grow their skills

and capabilities. When done well, team members are able to grow through

challenging and meaningful work – work they perceive as having a real impact

on the organisation’s success.

Discovering and articulating the culture and structure improves alignment between the organisation, the work, and team members. It ensures the culture and structure are transparent, enabling team members to produce at their highest levels.


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5. Execute projects and programs in alignmentwith the portfolio

Project-based work gets accomplished through methodologies, governance and

other processes. For PM leaders pursuing talent, it’s important to ensure that the

necessary tools and resources are in place to attract and retain talent. This could

include: spending time understanding individuals’ career goals and helping provide

guidance on their career path; or ensuring that recognition programmes are

consistent, comprehensive and fair, while allowing the flexibility to uniquely address

each individual’s needs.

6. Move the results of projects into the main streamof the operation

The ultimate measure of your talent management efforts is when the changes you’ve

implemented become part of the organisation’s routine. This is where you can see

if the strategies you have executed are building great teams or falling short. By

reviewing the metrics defined for success at the individual, team and organisational

level – or perhaps just your own metrics o success – PM leaders should have a clear

perspective of how well they are addressing the areas that can have the greatest

impact on talent management goals and objectives.

The simplest test or a PM leader over time – are existing employees looking or

opportunities to join and/or support your team, project or initiative?

While these six steps serve as a guide to identifying a talent management strategy

and guiding its execution, it doesn’t speak to the specifics o “what” to do. For that,

we’ll use the TALENT ModelTM.

Finding and Keeping the Right Talent – The TALENT ModelTM

Integral Talent System’s (ITS) research-based “TALENT Model” maps the needs of the

organisation and team members, helping leaders to focus on the areas they

can influence and that deliver the greatest impact.3 This is particularly important in

work environments where PM leaders do not have direct influence over traditional

employee incentives, such as pay and promotions. At the heart of ITS’ research-based

model is a focus on what is truly important to the individual.


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The TALENT Model identifies the following areas as providing the maximum

ROI for talent retention efforts:

Targeted Recruiting and Hiring – Hiring the right talent and

getting the right “fit” is essential, but not always easy. Ensure

your organisation’s Ideation and Nature aligns with the individual’s Ideation and Nature to avoid culture clashes and

frustrations. This also builds mutual buy-in and commitment

between the individual and your organisation. It’s important to note that the principles here also apply if you are “attracting”

rather than “hiring” someone onto your team.

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2 Achievement – Individuals perform better when they work on something for which they are passionate and get the support and

tools they need to do their work effectively. As a leader, it’s your

responsibility to assess team member capabilities, assign roles

accordingly and provide the information and coaching needed to

help the team member deliver the results for which they are

accountable. Individuals who are succeeding frequently have little

desire to leave their current situation.

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3 Learning and Professional Growth – ITS’ research shows that affording the individual the opportunity to build their

résumé with experiences strengthens the desire to stay with an

employer. Keep in mind that the way an organisation treats and respects their employees improves the employee’s ability to see

“what’s in it for me” through activities that help them grow

their skills and experiences, and receive industry-recognised endorsements and achievements.

Ensuring Recognition – Not everyone is motivated the same way

and it is important that you customise the recognition or reward

to fit the individual. ITS found that compensation is “the price of

admission” for organisations that want to attract strong talent, but it’s not what helps retain the talent. Instead of a one size fits

all approach to recognition, take a “one size fits one” approach,

where recognition is individualized.


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Nurturing Career Development – Robust career paths are a

powerful tool, but in many flat organisations, difficult to establish.

Invest in coaching and mentoring programmes to build and strengthen networks and enhance the sense of belonging. Tours-of-

duty, discussed by Reid Hoffman, co-founder and chairman of

LinkedIn in his book The Alliance: Managing Talent in the

Networked Age, are relatively short in duration and have a specific

mission and time-frame – similar to a project.4 Hoffman postulates

that highly talented employees join organisations that help move them along their desired career path and once the tour-of-duty is

complete, they will move on to pursue the next step along their

career path.

Use the tour-of-duty approach to provide a match between an

individual’s goals, and team or organisational goals. And creating a series of attractive “tours” will keep top performers interested and

engaged with the team and/or organisation over the long-term. A winning strategy for all.

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Team Collaboration – Being a member o a team is better than being part of a group. Nurture an open, inclusive environment and

culture to enable individuals to collaborate, innovate and build

relationships. Strong peer relationships have a significant positive

correlation to increased levels of engagement and commitment.

Effective collaboration enables desired team outcomes as varied as

the eective graphic resolution of conflicts as well as the meaningul

celebration o wins and successes – all o which increases cohesion.

The retention of top talent remains paramount to the success of any

organisation. If you are to succeed in your own career and for your

organisation, then you must give the same attention, rigour and discipline to

your talent management efforts that you give to employing methodologies

and processes. As a PM leader you can have tremendous impact on

attracting, growing and retaining talent – even if you aren’t Mark

Zuckerberg or Reid Hoffman. Aligning your organisation’s strategy to your

talent management needs – and the needs of your top talent – will deliver

what you, your organisation and your team members need to keep

renewing their commitment for a successful and long-term relationship.

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© 2016 TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

At Strategy Execution we deliver performance education that closes the strategy execution gap by strengthening peoples’ strategic and project execution capabilities to drive higher performance. By combining the best of cutting-edge university research and proven business techniques, we deliver a performance-focused perspective designed to increase alignment and engagement across teams, business units or the entire enterprise.

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References

1 Project Management Institute. (2014) Pulse of the Profession: The High Cost of Low Performance.

Newtown Square, PA.

2 O’Dell, J. (2013, March 2). Boot camp! How Facebook indoctrinates every new engineer it hires.

Venture Beat. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/02/facebook-bootcamp/

3 Integral Talent Systems, Inc. (2006). Retaining Top Talent Model. Retrieved from http://www.ieee-scv-

tmc.org/oldsite/ftp/060327-ITS_IEEE_Retention_Factors.pdf

4 Hoffman, Reid, Casnocha, Ben & Yeh, Chris (2014). The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked

Age. Harvard Business Review Press


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