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 on a “work revolution” at Google, recruiting from inside, why people leave, building better bankers, and long term workforce planning.
From DDI: Looking at Google
“Video blog series featuring Julie Clow, former Googler and author of the recently published book The Work Revolution: Freedom and Excellence for All.”
Wally’s Comment: Each piece in this series has a little commentary and two short videos with Julie Clow telling us about the “work revolution” at Google. Plenty of good ideas spread through the three short pieces. The posts are “Starting the Work Revolution,” “Driving and Sustaining the Work Revolution,” and “The Work Revolution Inside Google.”
From the Wall Street Journal: More Firms Opt to Recruit From Within
“Here’s a recruiting riddle: What costs more but often works worse? Outside hires.”
Wally’s Comment: There’s been research for years that suggests that promoting a CEO from within results in longer tenure, better performance, and lower likelihood of dismissal for cause. This article looks at the same question, the HR equivalent of “make or buy” applied to the company as a whole.
From Blanchard Leaderchat: Exit interviews show top 10 reasons why employees quit
“Ask employers why people quit a company and 9 out of 10 will tell you it’s about the money. Ask employees the same question and you’ll get a whole different story. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) discovered this when they asked 19,000+ people their reasons for leaving as a part of exit interviews they conducted for clients. The top 10 reasons why employees quit? Check out the responses below.”
Wally’s Comment: Only 12 percent of people quit companies because of the money. David Witt writes about all the other common reasons and suggests eight things you can ask your people about your company and the work environment.
From the Wall Street Journal: Building a Better Banker
“Most of the bankers who attend the school are mid-level managers, and some worked their way up from the teller line. Others are plucked from management-training programs. The average age is about 40 years old, and less than one-third of attendees have graduate degrees. The employees are chosen by their banks because they are viewed as having potential to move up.”
Wally’s Comment: The Consumer Bankers Association conducts a session for mid-career people whose banks think they have executive potential. There are two things I like about this. First, the people who attend are chosen based on performance and potential. Credentials, like a college degree or length of experience are not weighed as much, if at all. The other thing I like is that the basic model is scaled-down version of the military “war college,” where potential senior leaders get to consider the kinds of challenges they’ll face if they make the cut. It’s also a good read.
From Bersin: Workforce Planning: Looking Long Term
“Strategic workforce planning is getting the short shrift – and that bodes ill for those who look at the process through the lens of only the near future. We hear lots of discussion about workforce planning – but few can articulate plans that look five or more years into the future. To be fair, the recent recession caused strategic planners and the HR team alike to hunker down and focus on the short term, but now it is time to again pay more attention to your organization’s workforce of the future.”
Wally’s Comment: Dr. Katherine Jones takes a look at what strategic workforce planning is and is not. She identifies four skills your workforce planning team will need to succeed.
Carnivals and Such
The latest Carnival of HR hosted by Nicole Jue at i4cp.
