By Ed Krow, Talent Transformation Expert
If you’re feeling the pressure to attract and retain top talent in today’s jobseeker-driven market, you’re not alone. HR leaders are navigating complex challenges: shrinking talent pools, disengaged teams, and a workforce that expects more than a paycheck.
The irony? Most companies already have the talent they need to grow. They’re just not using it strategically.
After working with 250+ organizations on people and culture transformation, I’ve found that it’s not the flashy perks or big-budget programs that drive success. It’s fixing these five common missteps in talent strategy.
1. Hiring for Skills, Not Values
Most hiring processes focus heavily on resumes, credentials, and hard skills. But here’s the truth: skills can be taught, values cannot.
When you hire someone whose values don’t align with your company culture, you’re planting a short-term solution that leads to long-term pain: disengagement, turnover, and team friction.
Fix it: Start every hiring conversation by defining who thrives in your culture—not just what they can do. Create interview questions around real behavior and core values alignment.
2. Building Org Charts, Not Career Paths
An org chart shows boxes. A career path shows possibility.
Too often, talent development stalls because employees can’t see a future with you. They do good work, but without clarity on how to grow, they start looking elsewhere.
Fix it: Turn your performance reviews into development reviews. Map career paths aligned to both business goals and personal growth. Then give managers tools to coach, not just evaluate, their people.
3. Focusing on Retention Without Engagement
You can keep people in their jobs without truly engaging them, but it won’t last.
Employees who stay because they’re comfortable or afraid to leave aren’t contributing at their full potential. And the cost of “stuck” talent is often worse than turnover.
Fix it: Don’t just ask how long people stay, ask why they stay. Real engagement starts with connection to purpose, clear expectations, and leaders who listen and coach.
4. Letting HR Operate in Isolation
HR strategy must be business strategy. When HR sits off to the side, focused on compliance, events, or “soft stuff”, the company misses a huge opportunity to drive performance through people.
Fix it: Invite HR to the strategic table. Make talent metrics as visible as financial ones. And treat culture as a performance system—not a bonus program.
5. Measuring Activity, Not Impact
So many HR dashboards report on activities: how many people trained, how many jobs posted, how many surveys completed. But those numbers don’t tell you whether anything changed.
Fix it: Start measuring the business impact of your people strategy. Ask:
- Are our hiring changes reducing time-to-fill?
- Are our engagement efforts lowering turnover?
- Are our managers improving team performance after training?
If the answer is no, go deeper. Activities are easy. Impact is leadership.
Final Thoughts
If your organization is stuck in outdated HR playbooks or struggling with “people problems,” it’s time to shift from reactive fixes to transformational strategy.
I help leadership teams unlock performance by aligning culture, leadership, and talent systems with growth goals. That’s how you stop the churn—and start creating an environment where your best people want to stay, grow, and lead.
Want to explore how this could work in your organization or conference audience? Let’s connect.
