This document discusses developing and retaining talent excellence in organizations. Some key points:
1. Top talent is the most important asset for companies and should be prioritized above capital expenditures. People skills and developing talent are emphasized as most important.
2. HR is positioned as critical to the success of the organization and should sit at the same level as finance and marketing. Developing and retaining top talent is seen as the primary role of HR.
3. A strategic and formal approach to recruitment, leadership development, performance reviews with a focus on talent is advocated. Compensation and training of employees is also emphasized as important for retaining top performers.
11. Servant Leadership /Robert Greenleaf 1. Do those served grow as persons? 2. Do they, while being served, become healthier wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
14. Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through Peo p le 5. Hands On , Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties
16. The Peters Princi p les : Enthusiasm. Emotion. Excellence. Energy. Excitement. Service. Growth. Creativity. Imagination. Vitality. Joy. Surprise. Independence. Spirit. Community. Limitless human potential. Diversity. Profit. Innovation. Design. Quality. Entrepreneurialism. Wow.
17. Enter p rise * ** (*at its best): An emotional , vital , innovative , joyful , creative , entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits maximum concerted human potential in the wholehearted service of others . *** **Excellence. Always. ***Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
18. 3 . FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE: We Are in an Age of Talent/ Creativity/ Intellectual-capital Added.
19. Agriculture Age (farmers) Industrial Age (factory workers) Information Age (knowledge workers) Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers) Source: Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind
20. “ Human c reativit y is the ultimate economic resource.” —Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
21. “ The Creative Age is a wide open g ame .” —Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
22. “ THE FUTURE BELONGS TO … SMALL POPULATIONS … WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF THE MIND … AND WHO IGNORE THE TEMPTATION OF—OR DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF—EXPLOITING NATURAL RESOURCES.” Source: Juan Enriquez/ As the Future Catches You
23. 4 . Talent “Excellence” in Every Part of Every Organization.
24. Wegmans: #1/100 “ Best Companies to Work for” / 2005
25. 5 . Talent “Excellence” Stretches Far Beyond Our Borders.
29. “ The Billion-man Research Team: Companies offering work to online communities are reaping the benefits of ‘crowdsourcing.’” —Headline, FT , 0110.07
30. Rob McEwen/ CEO/ Goldcorp Inc./ Red Lake gold Source: Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything , Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams
31. Wikinomics WikiWorld Weapons of Mass collaboration CrowdSourcing smart mobs Linux Human genome project InnoCentive YouTube Second Life Wikipedia Myspace
34. “ The leaders of Great Groups love talent and know where to find it. They revel in the talent of others.” —Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
38. Q : “If it were your $75K [life’s savings] and my $75K, what sort of Waiters would we look for?” A : “ Enthusiasts!”
39. A Few Lessons from the Arts Each hired and developed and evaluated in unique ways (23 contributors = 23 unique contributions = 23 pathways = 23 personalities = 23 sets of motivators) Attitude/Enthusiasm/Energy paramount Re-lent-less! “Practice is cool” (G Leonard/ Mastery ) Team and individual Aspire to EXCELLENCE = Obvious Ex-e-cu-tion Talent = Brand = Duh “The Project” rules Emotional language Bit players. No. B.I.W . (everything) Delta events = Delta rosters (incl leader/s)
40. Visibly energetic /Passionate/Enthusiastic … about everything. Engaging/Inspires others. ( Inspires the interviewer!) Loves messes & pressure. Impatient/ Action fanatic. A finisher. Exhibits: Fat “WOW Project” Portfolio . (Loves to talk about her work.) Smart. Curious/ Eclectic interests/ A little (or more) weird . Well-developed sense of humor/ Fun to be around. ****** No. 1 re bosses: Exceptional talent selection & development record. (Former co-workers: “Did you visibly grow while working with X?” /“How has the department/team grown on a ‘world-class’ scale during X’s tenure?”)
41. “ A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” —Chinese Proverb
47. A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd: First : Separating financial forecasting and performance measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past performance and relative to competitors’ performance; i.e., it’s about how you actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a gamed-abstract plan developed last year. Second : Putting HR on a par with finance and marketing.
48. “ HR doesn’t tend to hire a lot of independent thinkers or people who stand up as moral compasses.” —Garold Markle, Shell Offshore HR Exec ( FC /08.05)
54. Our Mission To develop and manage talent; to apply that talent, throughout the world, for the benefit of clients; to do so in partnership; to do so with profit. WPP
55. What’s your company’s … EVP/ IBP ?* * E mployee V alue P roposition , per Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent; IBP/ I nternal B rand P romise per TP
56. EVP/IBP = Remarkable challenge, rapid professional growth, respect, satisfaction, fun, stunning opportunity, exceptional reward, amazing peer group, full membership in Club Adventure, maximized future employability Source: Ed Michaels, The War for Talent; TP
64. Five MYTHS About Changing Behavior *Crisis is a powerful impetus for change *Change is motivated by fear *The facts will set us free * Small, gradual changes are always easier to make and sustain *We can’t change because our brains become “hardwired” early in life Source: Fast Company /05.2005
66. 15 . There Is a FORMAL STRATEGIC HR Review Process.
67. “ In most companies, the Talent Review Process is a farce. At GE, Jack Welch and his two top HR people visit each division for a day. They review the top 20 to 50 people by name. They talk about Talent Pool strengthening issues . The Talent Review Process is a contact sport at GE; it has the intensity and the importance of the budget process at most companies.” —Ed Michaels
68. 16 . “People”/ Talent” Reviews Are the FIRST Reviews.
71. Wegmans: #1/100 Best Companies to Work for 84%: Grocery stores “are all alike” 46%: additional spend if customers have an “emotional connection” to a grocery store rather than “are satisfied” (Gallup) “Going to Wegmans is not just shopping, it’s an event.” —Christopher Hoyt, grocery consultant “ You cannot se p arate their strate gy as a retailer from their strate gy as an em p lo y er .” — Darrell Rigby, Bain & Co.
73. “ People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for , trust.” —Howard Schultz, Starbucks
75. “ Firms will not ‘manage the careers’ of their employees. The y will p rovide o pp ortunities to enable the em p lo y ee to develo p identit y and ada p tabilit y and thus be in char g e of his or her own career .” —Tim Hall et al., “The New Protean Career Contract ”
76. “ No matter what the situation, [the great manager’s] first res p onse is alwa y s to think about the individual concerned and how thin g s can be arran g ed to hel p that individual ex p erience success .” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
77. “ We are a ‘Life Success’ Company.” Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
79. “ The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being .” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
81. “ One of the defining characteristics [of the change] is that it will be less driven by countries or corporations and more driven by real people. It will unleash unprecedented creativity, advancement of knowledge, and economic development. But at the same time, it will tend to undermine safety net systems and penalize the unskilled.” —Clyde Prestowitz, Three Billion New Capitalists
82. “ If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.” —Michael Goldhaber, Wired
85. From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW] to … “ Best Talent in each industry segment to build best proprietary intangibles” [EM] Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent
87. “ We believe companies can increase their market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia-Pacific … changed 20 of his 40 box plant managers to put more talented, higher paid managers in charge. He increased profitability from $ 25 million to $ 80 million in 2 years.” —Ed Michaels, War for Talent
88. 24 . Ensure that the Review Process Has INTEGRITY.
89. 25 = 100* * “But what do I do that’s more important than developing people? I don’t do the damn work. They do.”—GK
91. Costco *$17/hour (42% above Sam’s); very good health plan; low t/o, low shrinkage *Low margins (“When I started, Sears, Roebuck was the Costco of the country, but they allowed someone to come in under them”—Jim Sinegal) Source: “How Costco Became the Anti-Wal*Mart/ NYT /07.17.05
92. “ Top performing companies are two to four times more likely than the rest to pa y what it takes to prevent losing top performers.” —Ed Michaels, War for Talent
95. Divas do it. Violinists do it. Sprinters do it. Golfers do it. Pilots do it. Soldiers do it. Surgeons do it. Cops do it. Astronauts do it. Why don’t business p eo p le do it?
96. “ Knowledge becomes obsolete incredibly fast. The continuing p rofessional education of adults is the No. 1 industr y in the next 30 y ears … mostly on line .” Peter Drucker, Business 2.0
98. New Work SurvivalKit.2007 1. MASTERY! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something! ) 2. “Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects! ) 3. A “USP”/UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION 4. Rolodex Obsession (From vertical/hierarchy/“suck up” loyalty to horizontal/“colleague”/“mate” loyalty) 5. ENTREPRENEURIAL INSTINCT (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity! 6. CEO/LEADER/BUSINESSPERSON/CLOSER (CEO, Me Inc. 24/7!) 7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from Chief Strategist to Chief Toilet Scrubber) 8. Sense of Humor (A willingness to Screw Up & Move On) 9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!) 10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.: How Cool-Active is your Web site? Do you Blog?) 11. EMBRACE “MARKETING” (Your own CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer) 12. PASSION FOR RENEWAL (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer) 13. EXECUTION EXCELLENCE! (Show up on time! Leave last!)
103. 30 . Training V: The REAL Bedrock of the “Talent Thing.”
104. “ My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parent-teacher conference and were informed that our budding refrigerator artist, Christopher, would be receiving a grade of Unsatisfactory in art. We were shocked. How could any child—let alone our child—receive a poor grade in art at such a young age? His teacher informed us that he had refused to color within the lines, which was a state re q uirement for demonstratin g ‘ g rade-level motor skills .’ ” —Jordan Ayan, AHA!
105. Ye gads : “ Thomas Stanley has not onl y found no correlation between success in school and an ability to accumulate wealth, he’s actually found a ne g ative correlation . ‘It seems that school-related evaluations are poor predictors of economic success,’ Stanley concluded. What did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the success-failure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result, those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on.” Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins
106. 15 “Leading” Biz Schools Design /Core: 0 Design/Elective: 1 Creativity /Core: 0 Creativity/Elective: 4 Innovation /Core: 0 Innovation/Elective: 6 Source: DMI /Summer 2002/Research by Thomas Lockwood
108. “ The organizations we created have become tyrants. They have taken control, holding us fettered, creating barriers that hinder rather than help our businesses. The lines that we drew on our neat organizational diagrams have turned into walls that no one can scale or penetrate or even peer over.” — Frank Lekanne Deprez & Ren é Tissen, Zero Space: Moving Beyond Organizational Limits
110. “ It was much later that I realized Dad’s secret. He gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.” Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
111. “ What creates trust, in the end, is the leader’s manifest res p ect for the followers.” — Jim O’Toole, Leading Change
113. “ Ph.D. in leadership. Short course: Make a short list of all things done to you that you abhorred. Don’t do them to others. Ever. Make another list of things done to you that you loved. Do them to others. Always.” — Dee Hock
117. The Manager’s Book of Decencies: How Small gestures Build Great Companies —Steve Harrison, Adecco Servant Leadership —Robert Greenleaf One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership —Lance Secretan, founder of Manpower, Inc.
118. “ Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” —Philo of Alexandria
119. 35 . MBWA*: Visible Leadership! *Managing By Wandering Around
126. 37 . Promote for “people skills.” (THE REST IS DETAILS.)
127. “ When assessing candidates, the first thing I looked for was energy and enthusiasm for execution. Does she talk about the thrill of g ettin g thin g s done, the obstacles overcome, the role her p eople p layed —or does she keep wandering back to strategy or philosophy?” —Larry Bossidy, Honeywell/AlliedSignal, in Execution
129. “ Why focus on these late teens and twenty-somethings? Because the y are the first y oun g who are both in a position to change the world, and are actuall y doing so . … For the first time in history, children are more comfortable, knowledgeable and literate than their parents about an innovation central to society. … The Internet has triggered the first industrial revolution in history to be led by the young.” The Economist
135. “ To be a leader in consumer products, it’s critical to have leaders who represent the population we serve.” —Steve Reinemund/PepsiCo
136. “ We want our associate population to mirror our customer population at every level, from the executive suite all the way to the retail floor .” —Larry Johnston, CEO, Albertsons
137. CM Prof Richard Florida on “Creative Capital ”: “You cannot get a technologically innovative place … unless it’s open to weirdness, eccentricity and difference.” Source: New York Times /06.01.2002
138. “ Diverse groups of problem solvers—groups of people with diverse tools—consistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. If I formed two groups, one random (and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the best individual performers, the first group almost always did better. … Diversity trumped ability .” —Scott Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity
139. “ The Bottleneck Is at the Top of the Bottle” “Where are you likely to find people with the least diversity of experience, the largest investment in the past, and the greatest reverence for industry dogma: At the to p!” — Gary Hamel/ Harvard Business Review
141. “ AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE : New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure” TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
142. Women’s Stren g ths Match New Econom y Im p eratives : Link [rather than rank] workers; favor interactive-collaborative leadership style [empowerment beats top-down decision making]; sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable with sharing information; see redistribution of power as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills, individual & group contributions equally; readily accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as pure “rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate cultural diversity. —Judy B. Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
143. The Core Ar g ument 1. We are in a War for Talent. 2. The war will intensify. 3. Women are under-represented in our leadership ranks. 4. Women and men are different. 5. Women’s strengths match the New Economy’s leadership needs—to a striking degree. 6. Women are also the principal purchasers of goods and services—retail and commercial. 7. Ergo, women are a large part of “the answer” to the War for Talent issue/opportunity.
144. 10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE Women make [all] the financial decisions. Women control [all] the wealth. Women [substantially] outlive men. Women start most of the new businesses. Women’s work force participation rates have soared worldwide. Women are closing in on “same pay for same job.” Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly [even if the pace is slow for the corner office per se]. Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well aligned with new organizational effectiveness imperatives. Women are better salespersons than men. Women buy [almost] everything—commercial as well as consumer goods. So what exactly is the point of men ?
146. “ Are there enou g h weird p eo p le in the lab these days?” —V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house, to a lab director
147. Why Do I love Freaks? (1) Because when Anything Interesting happens … it was a freak who did it. (Period.) (2) Freaks are fun. (Freaks are also a pain.) (Freaks are never boring.) (3) We need freaks . Especially in freaky times. (Hint: These are freaky times, for you & me & the CIA & the Army & Avon.) (4) A critical mass of freaks-in-our-midst automatically make us-who-are-not-so-freaky at least somewhat more freaky. (Which is a Good Thing in freaky times—see immediately above.) (5) Freaks are the only (ONLY) ones who succeed—as in, make it into the history books. (6) Freaks keep us from falling into ruts. (If we listen to them.) (We seldom listen to them.) (Which is why most organizations are in ruts. Make that chasms.)
153. “ The key difference between checkers and chess is that in checkers the pieces all move the same way, whereas in chess all the pieces move differently. … Discover what is uni q ue about each p erson and ca p italize on it .” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
154. “ The mediocre manager believes that most things are learnable and therefore that the essence of management is to identify ach person’s weaker areas and eradicate them. The great manager believes the opposite. He believes that the most influential qualities of a person are innate and therefore that the essence of management is to deploy these innate qualities as effectively as possible and so drive performance.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
159. Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman “Groups become great only when everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is free to do his or her absolute best .” “The best thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their g reatness .”
160. Leadershi p ’s Mt Everest! “ free to do his or her absolute best” … “allow its members to discover their greatness.”
161. “ The organization would ultimately win not because it gave agents more money, but because it gave them a chance for better lives.” — Everybody Wins , Phil Harkins & Keith Hollihan
164. “ You must realize that how you invest your human capital matters as much as how you invest your financial capital. Its rate of return determines your future options. Take a job for what it teaches you, not for what it pays. Instead of a potential employer asking, ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ you’ll ask, ‘If I invest my mental assets with you for 5 years, how much will they appreciate? How much will my portfolio of career options grow?’ ” Source: Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH
169. The Top 5 “Revelations” Better talent wins. Talent management is my job as leader. Talented leaders are looking for the moon and stars. Over-deliver on people’s dreams – they are volunteers. Pump talent in at all levels, from all conceivable sources, all the time. Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent
170. The Talent50 1. People first! 2. Soft is Hard. 3. FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE: We are in an Age of Talent/ Creativity/ Intellectual-capital Added. 4. Talent “excellence” in every part of the organization. 5. P.O.T./Pursuit Of Talent = Obsession. 6. HR sits at The Head Table. 7. HR is “cool.”
175. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
176. “ Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘ Who do we i ntend to be ?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller
177. “ Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
178. “ In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner
181. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
182. “ The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious— dramatic personal change !” —RG
183. “ You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi
184. “ We make our own traps.” “ We construct our own cage.” “ We build our own roadblocks.” Source: Douglas Kennedy, State of the Union
185. “ Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
186. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
187. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo
188. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
189. “ Excellence can be obtained if you: ... care more than others think is wise; ... risk more than others think is safe; ... dream more than others think is practical; ... expect more than others think is possible.” Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
190. "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting ‘ GERONIMO!’ ” — Bill McKenna, professional motorcycle racer ( Cycle magazine 02.1982)
193. The Talent50 1. People first! 2. Soft is Hard. 3. FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE: We are in an Age of Talent/ Creativity/Intellectual- capital Added. 4. Talent “excellence” in every part of the organization. 5. P.O.T./Pursuit Of Talent = Obsession. 6. HR sits at The Head Table. 7. HR is “cool.”
194. The Talent50 8. Re-name “HR.” (Talent Department, Center of Talent Excellence) 9. There’s an HR Strategy 10. There is a FORMAL Recruitment Strategy. 11. There is a FORMAL Leadership Development Strategy. 12. There is a “world class” Leadership Development Center. 13. There is a FORMAL-STRATEGIC HR Review Process. 14. The “Top100,” and every unit’s Top10, are consciously managed.
195. The Talent50 15. “People/Talent Reviews” are the FIRST reviews. 16. HR Strategy = Business Strategy. 17. Make it a Cause Worth Signing Up For.. 18. Set Sky High Standards. 19. Enlist everyone in Challenge Century21. 20. Pursue the Best! 21. Up or Out. 22. Ensure that the Review Process has INTEGRITY. 23. Pay!
196. The Talent50 24. Training I: Train! Train! Train! 25. TII: 100% “business people.” 26. TIII: 100% Leaders. 27. TIV: Boss as Trainer-in-Chief. 28. Open Communication I: NO BARRIERS. 29. Open Communication II: Share Information. (ALL!) 30. Respect! 31. INTEGRITY! 32. Treat the Whole Individual.
197. The Talent50 33. Places of “grace.” 34. MBWA: The “Rudy Rule.” 35. Thank You! 36. Promote for “people skills.” (ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY.) 37. Honor youth. 38. Early leadership assignments. 39. Fast Tracking is the norm. 40. Create a System of Mentoring.
198. The Talent50 41. Diversity! 42. Diversity starts on the Board of Directors. 43. WOMEN RULE. 44. Weird Wins. 45. We are all unique. 46. Bosses “win people over.” 47. GOAL: Adventures of Mutual Discovery. 48. Foster Independence. 49. Enthusiasm!