The Gantt Chart and Development of New Talent

What is a Gantt Chart (GC)? It basically shows a project being broken down into different miles-stones with time as an integral component. The project manager must first determine both the maximum and minimum time allocated in a project contract and have a detailed analysis of the different components needed to reach the desired completion. In a more complicated project, there is a critical path of the maximum time allocated before a penalty may be implemented for the delay. Thus, each person involved in the project must be clear in their roles – in many cases, this personnel may be connected with an online app that will be like a timer to inform them of any potential delay.

How is this related to HR and the selecting and grooming of human talent into the organisation?

Each new talent must be viewed as an important project within the large overall setting of the organisation. In the initial period after selection, there may be a chance that each of them may be put to different departments in order to give them a detailed understanding of organisational operations and communications. So, like a project, these new talents must have various targets to be achieved so that they can be allowed independent work. If this is not achieved, these new talents may feel a sense of disappointment and may even leave to another company.

So how can a GC optimally be designed to achieve all these objectives:

The Penalty

The penalty of a non-completion must be communicated and understood to all relevant parties. This may not just be a financial penalty but also in terms of a loss in reputation and brand. In the context of the new talents, their departure from the organisation will translate into a waste of precious resources (like time) to conduct another interview exercise in order to bring in new talent.

Unified Commitment

Each department must convey a sense of unity and coherence in developing these new talents. Thus, when they are in the different departments, there must be a warm and clear sharing of corporate knowledge to them within the short, allocated time. This will also strengthen corporate culture. The leader of the organisation must regularly communicate the importance of getting the best talent to add value to the organisation with better ideas and policies.

Outsourced Training

The GC shows the various personnel involved in the project’s completion. What if there are external contractors in this project? In the context of the development of new talents, this situation is like the organisation sending these talents for short-term training by an external training company. The HR manager must be very meticulous in the choice of these external training providers and should have the leeway to change the training materials if the workplace environment has made drastic changes. There must not be confusion in the current reality of the organisation and what is taught.

Future Projects

When the new talents have achieved the organisational goals, signifying the completion of the project, they must be further interviewed about how the process can be further improved. Their feedback will be proved to be very invaluable so that getting new talents in future will be smooth and almost effortless. Thus, the end of one Gannt Chart will be the beginning of a new one.

Excess Salary

This is a sensitive topic, but it is still relevant in the current work climate. If the industry wages of new talents have fallen, should their wages be readjusted downwards? My suggestion is that this should not be the case out of goodwill. Rather, the next hiring of new talent can be relooked and revaluated.