Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Benjamin McCall, an OD, Training and HR practitioner who is passionate about golf, family and all things technical. Author of ReThinkHR.org, he writes his thoughts on leadership, HR, work, life and the consistent inconsistencies of each. Connect with him on http://twitter.com/BenjaminMcCall.

When I hear the term Talent Management, it is often being talked about in the context of recruiting and sourcing. Now I may be completely off, but to me, Talent Management is much more than just finding the RIGHT people for a company to fill a job. Talent management is more than just recruiting. It is about how you interact with, engage and build the people you have, to retain and develop them so that, even if they leave you, they will want to come back!

One definition I found was this: Talent Management is a holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.

Umm yeah… right. My eyes roll to the back of my head like when I was in my human psychology & anthropology classes, freshman year.

There are many debates within the circles of HR on how you should Manage Talent. Here is what Talent Management is to me.

Talent Management = Sourcing: All you are doing is finding ways to differentiate yourself from the competition, by creating a brand that will attract the best and the brightest and help keep them! At the beginning of hiring, it is a sourcing strategy. You outline responsibilities, define the steps and plan for contingencies. You also define what success looks like. Your methods become a toolkit that will set your approach and allow you to be flexible. However, this doesn’t mean you should just network or source to fill orders, meet deadlines and be “on to the next one.”

Talent Management = Talent Development: If you get the best and the brightest and ignore their need for development after they arrive, you lose the potential you once had. Talent development happens within performance management and consulting. It works when you help individuals identify and assess their needs so that they are prepared to perform their responsibilities for the company. By identifying where they are, where they need to be and the gaps that exist, you will allow them to succeed. By identifying the appropriate tools and experiences for each individual, you better position your current talent to reach its full potential and contribute to the value and bottom line. This makes everyone’s job much easier ~ at least in theory.

Talent Management = Succession Planning: This simply means that an organization identifies key roles that need to be filled and the people who need to fill them, when the time is right. It means preparing people and positions by getting them ready for a transition and change – not just with the possible change of a person in a position, but also within the organization.

I talked to a colleague the other day and I think that there is a lack of this happening. In the current economy, you would think that planning for the possibility of replacing key roles would be essential, and that you would create opportunities for cross-training, while identifying people within the company who could fill the pipeline. Yet, with budgets dwindling and the focus being on surviving, many are forgetting that they may be surviving now – but when they get out of the trenches, will they thrive?

Talent Management = Saying What You Mean, Meaning What You Say: If you boast a great brand, preach about an awesome culture and praise what the organization will do for current and potential employees… and then don’t deliver… you not only hurt the company, but also your own reputation. Now is a time when people want and appreciate honesty. Just as you are trying to make a well-informed decision from the talent pool you have at your disposal, candidates are selecting you based on the promises you keep and the lies you tell.

Talent Management = Leadership: All of leadership, from the hiring manager and recruiter to the department head and CEO, needs to walk the walk, talk the talk and be ready to show that, if need be, they will run with the herd to do the work that needs to be done to help make everyone successful.

Above all Talent Management = People: In the end, it’s about people. I mean, you’re not managing androids, recruiting machines or training dogs. You are maximizing an individual’s potential to help you and the organization maximize results! Don’t just be about the money, and then On to the Next One…