2. 3 steps to preparing for your talent review meeting
Follow these 3 steps to prepare for, structure and set the agenda for your talent review meeting:
Choose the appropriate approach for structuring your talent review meeting. The purpose of the talent review meeting is to agree actions that will address your strategic talent priorities. Consider whether a process-oriented or action-oriented approach will guide you to those desired outcomes (slide 3).
Timing is crucial. It will affect the amount of information you can get through, so you must have enough time to make those critical decisions and reach the desired outcomes. To help guide the running of the meeting, it is beneficial to set some clear principles at the start. These ground rules will ensure that all attendees are in agreement on the purpose and objectives of the meeting as well as how the meeting will be structured and what their role is (slide 4).
To keep the meeting on track and ensure there is a structure to follow, set out a clear agenda to follow. An example agenda is shown on slide 5.

3. Talent Review Preparation Tool: Two Approaches to Talent Reviews
ACTION
PROCESS
Organisational data
Individual profiles
9 box grid
Succession
Action planning
Individual Profiles
9 Box Grid
Organisation data
VS.
Taking a process-focused approach is linear in nature, putting process at the centre and following a clear structure, for example:
Look at the organisational data relating to the organisational strategy and identify the talent profile of the organisation
Take a more individual perspective, looking at the talent profiles of individuals in the organisation to explore the available skills and competencies as well as their performance and aspiration
Review and agree the 9-box grid showing where each individual sits as well as finalising succession plans
Create talent management actions from the discussion you have
An action-oriented approach is more agile in nature, putting action at the centre and ensuring that the meeting focuses on making decisions and agreeing actions around your talent priorities.
The difference in this approach is that the meeting agenda would be more flexible to focus on particular talent issues in the organisation and the action you want to achieve, for example, filling critical gaps in clinical leadership.
This need would then guide which data you use e.g. the 9-box grid or succession plans to agree actions that address your strategic priorities.
© PA Knowledge Limited 2017

4. Talent Review Preparation Tool: Principles
One of the first items on the agenda should be to set some principles for how the meeting will run as well as clarifying roles and expectations of each attendee. Example principles might include:
© PA Knowledge Limited 2017

5. Talent Review Preparation Tool: Potential Agenda
AGENDA ITEM
DETAIL
TIMING
MATERIAL
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
Introduce the talent review meeting and the purpose of the session
Discuss roles and responsibilities
Set the principles of engagement
Outline the meeting deliverables
10 mins
Agenda
Slide summarising deliverables of the meeting
ORGANISATION STRATEGY AND TALENT PRIORITIES
Short presentation covering the organisation priorities for the coming year, including key environmental trends to consider (e.g. key skill shortages in labour market)
Introduce the talent priorities and open the floor for further talent requirements
Refresher of the key talent/potential frameworks and data
Introduce key trends/highlights on the current status of talent and succession in the organisation and talent development planning aspirations
30 mins
Slide pack outlining context and priorities (including potential model)
Print outs of a Talent Status Report
POTENTIAL REVIEW
Review the populated 9 box grid, reviewing names of people in each of the nine boxes
Consider and discuss the individuals, whether they are in the right box and what actions need to be taken
75 mins
Populated 9 box grid Individual potential profiles
Development action planning log posters
SUCCESSION REVIEW
Review the roles on the succession template and discuss potential successors for each role, exploring readiness of each pool of successors
Explore risks (capability, turnover, coverage, retention, sourcing challenges)
cross-check the succession plan to the finalised list of individuals with high potential and capture the names of those who do not appear on succession plans
Succession planning template poster (populated with roles)
Talent Status Report
TALENT DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Review people who are in the high potential talent boxes and those that have been identified as successors. Review the development action planning log and check that the list is complete
Agree immediate actions for each individual, and key messages to feed back
60 mins
Development action planning log
© PA Knowledge Limited 2017