Guest post by Michael Dean, instructor for Strategic Talent Management.

The War for Talent continues today on a global basis. Believe it or not, many managers and organizations still do not understand how to effectively compete for top talent. Many are not adroit in hiring, retaining, developing, and engaging the best talent available.

Despite an abundance of research and lessons learned from high performing organizations like Google and Boston Consulting Group, some companies still do not get it. Why is that? One reason is that many organizations still believe in the old myths of talent management.

What are those myths?

Myth 1: Successful talent management is all about recruiting.

Hire the best experts you can find, pay them a lot of money, and turn them loose. We should know by now that this is a dangerous strategy and will not work in the long run. The reality is that effective talent management entails much more. Successful talent management is about aligning employee engagement, performance management, learning and development, and many other key management practices.

Myth 2: Evaluating the cost of people is an important aspect of talent management.

Rather than investing in their talent, many organizations make the mistake of cutting corners to save money on training, leadership development, and internship programs. This approach to talent management has significant, unintended consequences. Bank of New York Mellon and Hewlett Packard, both of whom made the list of worst companies to work for, have certainly learned this lesson in 2012.

The reality is that people should be considered part of the investment strategy of the organization and not a cost line item on the annual budget. Talent management requires a commitment to invest in people.

Myth 3: Talent management is the job of human resource departments.

Many organizations lack processes for identifying and correcting bad managers. In addition to not teaching bad managers about effective talent management practices, these organizations fail to reward good managers for great people-management results. Placing sole responsibility on HR is another bad strategy. Talent management is management.

Unraveling the myths

So what should managers and organizations do to enact best practices in talent management in their organizations? How should your organization improve your talent management strategy? You can find out what an expert in talent management has learned in his thirty-plus years as a consultant, entrepreneur, and corporate executive in implementing effective talent management strategies.

Register for Strategic Talent Management this spring, and get the answers to these and many other questions that are making a difference in high-performing organizations.