The future of Talent Management: beyond the nine box grid Karen Ward, Programme Director Corporate Research Forum

Six Myths of TM Talent Management follows strategy Generation Y will grow up and start behaving like us soon Focusing on a fixed elite of ‘talent’ will give you the best ROI Current skills and performance give you a good idea of future success Talent is an interchangeable commodity like any other Formal Processes matter more than informal processes Source: Pern & Heath (2013) Ashridge

Delivering sustainable organisational performance through talent management Business Strategy People Strategy Talent Strategy Talent Management is the attraction, identification, selection, development and retention of those employees who have the potential to add significant, sustainable, strategic value to your organisation.

Evolution of talent management Plan Source Make Deliver Consume You Headless Chicken Bureaucratic Supply Chain Systemic Anticipate no needs Make no plans to address needs Then panic… …and hire like mad ….then fire when you have too many Complex models for forecasting and succession planning By the time the plan “pops” out someone else has captured the talent…. Make & Buy to manage risk Adapts to uncertainty in talent demand Improve ROI on Talent Development Preserve investment by balancing Employer & Employee interests Open Source – across organisational boundaries Informal networks as influential as formal TM processes Lived brand more powerful than espoused brand Relational – mass personalisation. One size does not fit all TIME Source: adapted from Richardson, 2008

Nine Box Grid: Unintended Consequences Use of in year appraisal ratings to define performance is risky given the instability of the measure Confuses potential with readiness for promotion Potential for what? Often ignores business critical expertise and functional mastery A tick box exercise which allows line managers off the hook Does not facilitate meaningful career development Does not take account of changes in the external environment Source: Hirsh (2012) CRF

Relational TM – between people Individual and collective dialogue about: Performance What does sustainable performance look like here? What creates sustainable value here? Potential – for what? How is the world of work changing? What is my personal appetite for learning? Motivation What do I want from my work at this point in my life? How can I bring the best of myself? Social and Political Context Performance Potential Motivation Source: Ward & Jacobsen (2011)

Insights from other fields Big data – retail customer insight Marketing – Mass Personalisation Marketing – Segmentation Education – identification of potential Psychotherapy – cultural barriers to change

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