1. Talent Management – Getting it Right
Scott D. Esposito
Best Practices Institute
March 2013 1

2. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Agenda
What is talent management
Importance of talent management
Overview of talent management processes
Key issues and concerns
Areas for further considerations

3. Talent Management: Getting It Right
What Is Talent Management ?
The means by which organizations build and sustain the human capabilities required to achieve business goals.

4. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Why Is It Important?
Leadership development has the longest lead time of any organization activity.
Top talent is a competitive differentiator – it can mean the difference between average and outstanding performance.
The investment value of attracting, hiring and training top talent can reach 2X base pay.
Firms that excel at talent management deliver better results:
Hi-Performer Turnover % Downsizing (10% or more) Revenue / EE
No Strategy % % $144,400
Mature Strategy % % $181,900
© BERSIN & ASSOCIATES 2009 Survey of 773 companies

5. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Talent at 30,000 Ft.
The HR Value Stream Employee Life Cycle
Interdependent -- Interconnected

6. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Acquisition
Key points to consider:
Leadership passion and commitment
Leveraging your brand into an effective value proposition
Warm recruiting and opportunistic hiring
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Overlooking / ignoring market feedback
Using cost / process efficiency to measure effectiveness
Narrow or single dimension talent assessments

7. Talent Management: Getting It Right
On-boarding / Assimilation
Key points to consider:
Often a weak link
Process begins at time of offer
Company wide involvement
A multi-year commitment
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Treated as an event or program
Ownership limited to immediate management or HR
Reliance on self-service vs. human interaction

8. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Coach / Develop
Key points to consider:
Determine highest priorities at time of hire
Development is continuous not situational
Assign multiple coaches – reach across levels and functions
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Career development is optional
Not evolving development strategies to match business changes

9. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Manage Performance
Key points to consider:
Treat performance management as a project plan
Seek input from multiple stakeholders
Demand proficiency and high standards from all supervisors
Declining performance – diagnose root causes
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Allowing marginal performers to evaluate others
Performance management is an annual, retrospective event
Failing to identify next steps and taking immediate action

10. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Rewards
Key points to consider:
The value placed on rewards varies by individual
Transparency, fairness and consistency
Differentiation, risk and having “skin in the game”
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Sacrificing the salary budget to save jobs
Letting internal equity drive pay limits for top talent.
Underestimating the value of a positive work environment.

11. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Engagement / Retention
Key points to consider:
Most important influence - immediate supervisors
Building an inclusive culture
Measure – act – evaluate; promote high involvement
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Policies and practices inconsistent with stated philosophy
Ignoring the basics in favor of gimmicks and trends
High retention = engaged workforce

12. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Termination
Key points to consider:
You may want them back
Debriefing and knowledge capture
Communications and graceful exits
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Collecting data with no end game
Being surprised and unprepared
Low turnover is good news

13. Talent Management: Getting It Right
The Case of Hi-Potentials
Key points to consider:
All hires are prospective hi-potentials until proven otherwise
Criteria is observable and measurable with objective standards
Expectations are clearly identified
Sizing the group to meet current and future needs
Pitfalls and misconceptions:
Creating a secret society
Once a hi-pot, always a hi-pot
Being overly prescriptive on career paths

14. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Final Considerations
Assess your current talent processes – are they producing the results you need, or is it time to re-boot and start over.
Start at the beginning; establish a talent philosophy, strategies and operating principles (consistent with vision and values).
While technology, workflow and automation are important, don’t let them become a crutch to compensate for weaknesses in talent management competencies.
Set high expectations and standards for leaders; ensure talent management goals carry significant performance and/or pay consequences.
Research and adopt best practices, but beware of trying to replicate another organization’s outcomes.

15. Talent Management: Getting It Right
Contact Information
Scott Esposito
Managing Director
Horton International, LLC
29 South Main St., Suite 327
West Hartford, CT
W: (860) E: