Key themes in the book are:
1. The need to revaluate how people contribute and create value in today's economy it is about knowledge, innovation and relationships today rather than executive potential tomorrow.
2. Challenging the conventional wisdom that talent refers to a 'special few' rather than the 'vital many'. Perhaps we don't have enough because we keep looking in the wrong places and doing the wrong things?
3. Conditions facing organizations are tough and competitive and markets are turbulent. To withstand this, we need to build talented organizations and talented individuals.
4. Interdependence between people within and across organizations is critical. The way that each individual relies on each other and how talent is realised through social and team ties makes a decisive, defining difference.
5. Individuals control when and who their potential is shared with. The idea that an organization can manage talent and potential is an outdated conceit.
6. The nature of work itself matters hugely. The extent to which it is stimulating and engaging and how people can make the connection with what they do and the wider difference it makes is vital.
7. The way talent is generated is affected by the whole 'ecology' of an organization its sense of purpose, rituals, the behaviour of its leaders, how it hires and how it fires people all influence the way talent is generated.
Autorentext
Jacqueline Davies
is a respected HR leader with 18 years' experience in strategic human resource management. She has led the global talent agendas in two FTSE top 10 companies and driven executive integration programmes for two of the largest acquisitions in corporate history. Jacqueline is a recognised thought leader in how companies can deploy talent strategies to achieve commercial advantage. Jacqueline is a non-executive director of two charities and has recently been appointed to the Advisory Board on Leadership Ethics at the Bristol Business School. She can be contacted at truthabouttalent@btinternet.com.
Jeremy Kourdi
is a writer and executive coach. His experience includes commercial leadership, writing and coaching expertise gained with leading brands. During his career he has worked in Europe, North America and the Middle East with a range of organizations including HSBC, Pearson, London Business School, IMD and he was Senior Vice-President with The Economist Group. For further information visit www.LeadershipExpertise.com.
Zusammenfassung
Key themes in the book are:
1. The need to revaluate how people contribute and create value in today's economy – it is about knowledge, innovation and relationships today rather than executive potential tomorrow.
2. Challenging the conventional wisdom that talent refers to a 'special few' rather than the 'vital many'. Perhaps we don't have enough because we keep looking in the wrong places and doing the wrong things?
3. Conditions facing organizations are tough and competitive and markets are turbulent. To withstand this, we need to build talented organizations and talented individuals.
4. Interdependence between people within and across organizations is critical. The way that each individual relies on each other and how talent is realised through social and team ties makes a decisive, defining difference.
5. Individuals control when and who their potential is shared with. The idea that an organization can manage talent and potential is an outdated conceit.
6. The nature of work itself matters hugely. The extent to which it is stimulating and engaging – and how people can make the connection with what they do and the wider difference it makes – is vital.
7. The way talent is generated is affected by the whole 'ecology' of an organization – its sense of purpose, rituals, the behaviour of its leaders, how it hires and how it fires people all influence the way talent is generated.
Inhalt
Introduction 1
Recognizing the talent 'doom loop' 3
About our research 6
Seven key insights 6
How this book is organized 7
1 We Are All Talent Now 13
What we mean by talent 19
Talent ecology and the truth about talent 20
The truth about talent 24
We are all talent now 27
Talent is abundant and diverse 27
The talented are those who generate value, not merely those who can get to the top 27
Potential is discretionary 27
Growing and engaging talent is at the core of leadership 28
HR must reinvent itself to deliver practices for a 'workforce of one' 28
Talented people are attracted to talented places 28
2 A New Way of Thinking About Talent 31
How organizations think about talent 31
What we mean by talent 32
How talent management is changing 34
A fragmented, fluctuating supply of labour 36
From the credit crunch to the capability crunch 37
Connected consumption 38
Where we are today: the problem with current views of 'talent' in organizations 39
The belief that the future can be managed: from succession to scenario planning 40
The belief that we can spot our future leaders today (and manage their careers) 42
The march of the 'high potentials' 42
Potential for what? 44
Being insightful 45
Moving beyond the usual suspects ... 47
The rise of discretionary potential 49
A more tangible view of talent 50
How do you make a difference? 52
Leadership reflections 52
3 Talent Diversity: You Need to Believe It to See It 55
The link between talent and diversity 55
Meritocracy and diversity - sources of talent 56
Boiled frogs and Chilean potatoes ... why diversity is vital 58
Diversity - the best way to future-proof your business and avoid homogeneity 60
A new war for talent 63
Practical actions that will begin making a difference 64
Leadership reflections 66
4 Strategy - Beginning With the End in Mind 69
Strategy - the first priority 71
Future thinking and scenarios 72
Why future thinking and scenarios are valuable 72
Learning from the past, preparing for the future 76
Checklist: using scenario thinking 77
Developing strategy 80
The essence of successful strategies 80
Checklist: developing your strategy 82
Implementing strategy 83
Communicating strategy 84
HR strategy at work 85
Strategic tools for HR 86
1. Devising the right people strategy 87
2. Designing and refining the organization's structure and focus 87
3. Influencing and enhancing the culture and environment 87
4. Developing future leaders 88
5. Understanding critical capabilities 88
6. Managing performance and reward 88
7. Involving people and increasing satisfaction 89
8. Learning and managing knowledge 89
9. Staying focused, flexible and managing HR services 89
Leadership reflections 90
5 Hire and Wire: Developing Your Organization's Talent Ecology 93
Finding and nurturing talent 93
Managing your talent ecology 95
The impact of the external market 96
The pivotal link with strategy 96
Talent - a valuable Trojan horse 97
Talent loves talented company 98
The forgotten role of structure 100
From structure chart to social capital 101
The importance of networks 103
The nature of talented teams 104
Adopting new habits 105
How culture can make or break a talent strategy 106
Digging big h…