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 improving talent management processes. There are posts on the process itself, creating effective job descriptions, taking control of global talent management, and two posts on workforce analytics.
From Steven Hunt: The Problem with Traditional Talent Management Processes
“Companies designing these processes often start creating forms, tools and process maps without clearly articulating what the processes are intended to do. It is common for companies to try to accomplish multiple, conflicting objectives with a single process. The result is a process that doesn’t do anything very well, except give employees and managers something they can all complain about.”
Wally’s Comment: This post is taken from Elements of Successful Organizations: Achieving Strong Leadership, Smart Management, and an Engaged Workforce. Dr. Steven Hunt, SPHR, is Principal Director of Business Execution Practices at SuccessFactors. He suggests that effective talent management starts with a clean sheet of paper and some rigorous thinking.
From Melany Gallant: Want to Hire the Right People? Create and Maintain Effective Job Descriptions
“To hire the right people, you need to create job descriptions that accurately set performance expectations while supporting the strategic needs of your organization.”
Wally’s Comment: Melany Gallant’s commentary sets you up for a three minute video by Gordon Medlock, a Senior Talent Management Consultant at HRIZONS.
From Jevan Soo: Take Control of Your Global Development
“The ability to acquire and develop multicultural talent is becoming a critical competitive advantage for multinational and national companies alike. As a corollary, the opportunities for those young leaders who have built in themselves multicultural capabilities are enormous.”
Wally’s Comment: Jevan Soo reminds us of the great big world where the future lies. His post is aimed at individuals, and offers four things to do if you want to increase your own multicultural capability. I included it here, because it should also give talent development specialists some good ideas.
From Deloitte: Workforce Analytics
“Given the importance of talent and people in the financial services industry (FSI), it’s time to move beyond instinct, gut and tribal wisdom in making workforce decisions. If you’re not using workforce data and analytics to drive your talent decisions, you may be behind the curve — and at risk of losing your competitive edge. As HR works with FSI leaders on the front lines, analytics are becoming critical in making more effective decisions related to workforce planning and recruitment, risk management, compensation, development programs and deploying critical talent.”
Wally’s Comment: This post is aimed at people in the financial services industry, but it’s worth reading no matter where you work.
From Tim Ringo: Workforce Analytics Isn’t as Scary as It Sounds
“When faced with a major investment decision, how many organizations would bet their success on a gut feeling? How many organizations would rely mainly on intuition when taking a new product to market? Not many. Yet, when it comes to the workforce — one of a company’s most expensive and valuable assets — too many executives rely on hunches, making decisions without making use of relevant data.”
Wally’s Comment: Tim Ringo is a Partner in London-based Maxxim Consulting. He offers a six step model for using analytics to solve human capital problems. After you read it, you may want to re-read the analytics post just above and the Steven Hunt post about the problem with traditional talent management processes.
