By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.
More than 100 people were in New York last week at The Conference Board’s Talent Management Conference, braving winter weather once again. Aside from the weather forecast, most attendees were facing stormy business conditions, but they were more optimistic than a year ago.
But, what struck me about this conference was more congruence than ever around some key themes:
1. From Succession to Mobility
Up, out or across? Yes, organizations still consider succession a key priority and, evidently a challenge, but talent mobility is not just about “up.” It’s about moving people to where they are needed. Out is about assignments in high-growth global areas, especially China. Across is moving people to different assignments, teams, or jobs (based on both business need and development). IBM for example, recently swapped two senior leaders for purposes of perspective and experience (the lending executive went to customer marketing and vice versa).
2. Senior Managers Stepping Up
While there is still a way to go, senior executive teams, including the CEO, are taking a more active role as talent champions. Becton Dickinson’s “office of the CEO” (the top executive team) is spending more time once a quarter reviewing the talent in the top 45 positions. At J&J, the CEO spends two days of his time facilitating a program for top leaders. 3M’s CEO is estimated to spend over 250 hours a year reviewing top talent. It makes a difference.
3. Pipeline No Longer a Pipedream
Today, nearly half of the presenters at the Conference Board, including IBM, J&J, and 3M, showed “the leadership pipeline triangle,” with clear development and transition programs in place for each level of leadership. Organizations are realizing the strength of their leadership bench is only as good as their weakest “leadership level” link, requiring a more holistic look
4. Gone Global, Going Local
No trend has impacted the management of talent as much as going global. Many companies attending the conference have more than 50% of their business coming from outside of their home country. The most critical change I have seen, however, is a reduction in the need for expats. While still a prevalent part of the global talent mix, corporations are doing their best to put local talent in key leadership positions.
Were you there, or are you experiencing the same thing? Please share what you're seeing.
Rich Wellins is senior vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI).
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