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 your “minor leagues,” purging the unproductive, coping with an aging workforce, the “pajama workforce,” and talent as a driver of strategy.
From TLNT: How Are Your Minor Leagues Doing?
“From a player personnel standpoint, these leagues are great. You have the ability to monitor up-and-coming talent with your own two eyes while they get experience playing against other future prospects. Organizations with solid minor league programs typically have good results and can consistently bring new, but somewhat tested, talent into the organization. Why am I bringing this up now? The Wall Street Journal released a fascinating study about how employers in different segments are doing when it comes to hiring people from their own minor leagues: interns.”
Wally’s Comment: This article uses the summer pro basketball leagues as an example, but a better example for business might be college sports recruiting. There schools try to identify good prospects as early as possible so they can begin the process of influence as early as possible.
From i4CP: High Performers Purge the Unproductive
“i4cp’s new member-requested study on Time to Optimal Productivity shows that over half (55%) of respondents from low-performing organizations report that employees often remain in positions after their productivity has begun to wane. That’s true for only about a fifth of those from high-performing firms.”
Wally’s Comment: This is the part of talent management that we don’t talk about much. High performing organizations pay attention to recruiting, but they also weed out under-performers.
From HR Tips: Talent Pressures and an Aging Workforce
“A report from the Sloan Center for Aging in the Workplace published in July this year rang warning bells yet again to alert us to the looming shortage of talent in the professional ranks. It may be difficult to focus on this issue right now as many HR professionals are still coping with layoffs. However, smart HR managers have an eye on the future and are already preparing their plans to attract the talent they will need in the next few years.”
Wally’s Comment: Yes, the Baby Boomers are approaching retirement age. And, yes, they could take their knowledge and relationships away to retirement, leaving you in the lurch. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are plenty of good models out there that will help you assess your risk and deploy an array of strategies to neutralize it.
From Talent Management: The Pajama Workforce
“In the never-ending quest to attract and retain talent, many talent leaders are turning to at-home work arrangements. For key roles where off-site, remote or at-home work makes business sense — such as phone-based customer service, sales or support, or certain technical professionals, such as analysts or technical writers — talent managers hope that candidates or existing employees will see this modern work arrangement as a key benefit. In turn, they hope to attract a wider pool of talent, increasing the number of qualified and high-potential candidates so they can be more selective and improve employee retention. But does less direct supervision and in-person contact always lead to better performance and retention?”
Wally’s Comment: Don’t be put off by the headline. This post suggests some important things you should consider before you dive into the telecommuting pool.
From DDI: Talent is the Strategy
“In recent years, companies struggled with defining how to make their organization’s talent agenda more strategic. Leadership pipelines, succession planning, analytics, workforce development, engagement—all these were conceived and designed to get the talent agenda to the board room. Some firms realized it was the right thing to do and simply put the talent agenda in the boardroom even if they were not sure why. They just knew intuitively that it belonged there somehow.”
Wally’s Comment: This marvelous post by Victor L. Magdaraog asks an important question. Are we looking at the strategy-talent connection from the wrong end?
