Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you’ll find pointers to pieces about talent development and culture, the preparation of recent college graduates, succession planning at Ford, and fixing HR.
From Deidre H. Campbell: What Great Companies Know About Culture
“Even in this unprecedented business environment, great leaders know they should invest in their people. Those companies who are committed to a strong workplace culture tend to perform well, and now they are featured prominently in a new ranking recently released by Great Place to Work Institute. Among the top performers on the 2011 World’s Best Multinational Companies list are culturally-strong technology companies such as Microsoft, NetApp, SAS, and Google.”
Wally’s Comment: Burson-Marsteller teamed up with the Great Places to Work people to identify the importance of corporate culture. One of their findings: “Culture is critical to talent retention.” To which I would add “and also to talent self-selection.”
From Eric Chester: Study: Employers Are Unhappy With Preparation of Recent College Grads
“According to yet another new survey, America’s employers believe that colleges and universities and not adequately preparing students for success after graduation.”
Wally’s Comment: Eric Chester comments on studies about how businesses view the skills of recent college graduates and suggests a couple of remedies. The “preparation of college graduates” issue isn’t new. My guess is that businesses have been decrying the skill level of recent grads for decades, rather than just for years. What I’m waiting for is to see which businesses see that as an opportunity.
From the Wall Street Journal: Ford Succession Will Test Mettle
“Ford Motor Co. avoided bankruptcy and pulled off a remarkable turnaround under Chief Executive Alan Mulally over the last five years. Now, the auto maker faces its most daunting task: delicately managing the CEO’s succession.”
Wally’s Comment: Succession planning and creating a robust leadership pipeline are not easy in the best of times. It’s especially hard if you’re more or less starting from scratch. And, at Ford, where recent culture change has been part of the company turnaround, there’s the additional challenge of maintaining the thrust toward a different kind of Ford.
From Chief Executive: Fixing HR
“Just 2 percent of chief executives today were promoted directly from a post in human resources, according to an estimate of Lewis Rusen, president of executive recruiter Korn/Ferry’s North American leadership and talent consulting business. And no wonder: Historically, even the highest-ranking HR person at a major corporation has been more of a middle manager, without the well-rounded business background of which other senior managers can boast.”
Wally’s Comment: This article is directed at CEOs, suggesting what they should do to “fix” HR. I think it will make good reading for you if you’re in HR and aspire to the C-suite or if you’re a value investor analyzing whether to invest in a company for the long haul.
