Every week, I review blogs and other publications that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you’ll find pointers to pieces about maximizing talent management, being nice to new hires, succession at GM and Ford, and fifteen CEOs who spent their entire career at their company.
“Should you hire as if your workforce will stay a month, a year, or their entire career? The answer makes a big difference in the qualifications you set, how well candidates must ‘fit’ with the job, the team or the organizational culture, and the ‘deal’ you offer. A traditional employment model may work for some, while a model based on short-term employment may work for others. At the extreme, it may be best never to ‘hire’ your workers at all, or to ‘fire’ and ‘hire’ them several times. Leaders need solid principles to build talent strategies that fit the situation, with an optimization approach. Too often the necessary principles for optimization are lost in the chorus of divergent views and pithy examples. This chorus can also obscure the need to question long-held assumptions. Letting go of those assumptions may be the key to seeing new options that make optimization possible.”
From Matt Palmquist: Being Nice to New Hires Is Good for Business
“The initial support given to new hires by co-workers and supervisors has a powerful effect on the newcomers’ attitudes and performance months down the line, laying the groundwork for employees’ success.”
From Chief Executive: Transitioning at GM and Ford Reveal Different Cultures and Circumstances
“Both GM’s Dan Akerson and Ford’s Alan Mulally arrived at their respective positions from outside the auto industry. The former is the ‘accidental car guy’ while the latter is the aviation engineer. Their exits are being closely watched but for slightly different reasons.”
From Max Nisen: 15 CEOs who spent their entire careers at their companies
“Mary Barra of GM rose from a summer job as a teenager inspecting panels at a Pontiac plant to the automaker’s first female CEO. And Doug McMillon of Wal-Mart started out at the company unloading trucks and then climbed the ranks for decades. We’ve collected some of the other major CEOs who have managed to rise from entry-level positions all the way to the top of their companies.”
