Read the below two (2) excerpts, and answer the question that follows in the format of a ‘Research Essay’.

Excerpt 1:

Forecasting employee potential for growth. We tend to assume that people are growing at different rates and on different curves. There is probably a point where the rate of growth levels off. So, when we assess the potential for growth, are we asking about which employees are not levelled off? Because everyone is changing and growing to some extent, ‘potential for growth’ in talent management is often shorthand for answering the question, ‘How far can this person go?’ Seismic shifts in the workplace are underway; • Skills cycles are shorter, and 65% of the jobs generation Z will perform do not even exist yet, • Up to 45% of the tasks people are paid to do each day could be automated with current technology, and • Nearly half of the subject matter students learn during their first year of a degree will be outdated by graduation. We face a skills revolution that will impact all organisations in all industries, with occupations, career pathways, and talent management practices undergoing fundamental shifts.

Source: Berger, L.A. & Berger, D.R. 2017. The Talent Management Handbook. 3rd Ed. McGraw Hill Education. 5

Excerpt 2:

Talent measurement - A holistic model and routes forward Talent measurement is defined broadly as the practice of applying specific measurement methodologies to employees in order to determine their potential current and longer-term competencies and contribute to the organisation, for the purposes of facilitating talent management. Talent management, therefore, entails targeted human resource policies designed to increase and improve the talent pool. Within the exclusive view of talent, a talent pool is often first identified through talent measurement, and specific HRM interventions targeted at them, such as enhanced learning opportunities, retention bonuses and the like (Iles et al., 2010). Within the inclusive approach, the task becomes either to identify each individual’s current capabilities and opportunities for growth and maximise these or to optimise the social capital inherent within organisational structures and systems that, over time, produces and nurtures talent, with organisational culture and leadership being core examples (Iles et al., 2010). Source: Lee, G.J. 2018. Talent measurement: A holistic model and routes forward. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 16. 

Available from: https://sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/990/1524 [Accessed 23 March 2023].

Required

In your capacity as the Human Resource Manager of your organisation, critically compare & contrast the impact of forecasting, and talent assessment on employee development. Your research essay should specifically focus on employee potential and the skills revolution to ensure sustained growth in the workforce to build a high performance organisation.

As part of your critical comparison and contrast;

• deliberate on the opportunities and challenges associated with, respectively; forecasting, and the talent assessment on employees development, specifically related to employee potential, to ensure sustained growth in your organisation, and

• recommend/suggest mechanisms line managers can adopt and implement to support optimal organisational performance through employee development and facilitate sustained growth in the workforce, building a high-performance organisation.