DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Innovative, Simple Solutions for a Complex World….

By Mark Dembo

…was the theme at the Conference Board’s Talent Management Strategies Conference held this week in New York.   It was a great privilege to spend two days with well over 100 talent management professionals sharing ideas, knowledge and best practices.

Having attended many events like this over the past several years one thing in particular struck me throughout the conference; for the first time in well over two years there was a remarkable upbeat and optimistic tone.  Discussions both formal and informal were about a return to growth, about accelerating development of key talent, and even – yes it’s true – about the “war for talent” being stronger than ever!

The theme of the conference certainly stuck a nerve with the challenges so many organizations were talking about. It goes something like this:

Question: “How do we get our arms around this behemoth called ‘Integrated Talent Management’? With increased globalization, a flatter and more matrixed organization structure, more demands on people’s time, differing needs for different generations and geographies and business units – how do we communicate and implement a coherent talent strategy with a cohesive set of talent tools and processes that meet the needs of all our constituents and stakeholders that allow us to make meaningful decisions about people, while keeping people engaged, and ensuring that development is focused, meaningful, and measureable?  Oh, and we also need to have all of this online in multiple languages with all these systems being able to talk to each other… And, we need to have this in place now!”  (Whoa- first, take a minute to catch your breath after reading that…)

Or, perhaps another way to ask the question: “How do you eat an elephant?”

Answer: ONE BITE AT A TIME…

See, the reality is that these are some very complex challenges – and there is no single, simple solution.  Of course, what makes the challenges of 21^st Century Talent Management so complex is that we are not dealing with widgets or machines or “things” – we are dealing with people. People who have been through the ringer the past few years and are still uncertain about what the future might hold.  So, taking all of these things into account, there were some very helpful takeaways from the Conference that emerged:

1.       More than ever – the starting point for Talent Strategy MUST be the Business Drivers! This is more than about HR having its rightful seat at the table – this is about ensuring that you are focusing efforts on the areas that will have the most impact for the business. Talent Management in a vacuum just simply won’t fly today. 

2.       The most effective talent management strategies are integrated. More than just about having “end-to-end talent management software” effective integration is about communication and education; ensuring that all stakeholders understand how one aspect of talent management is tied to another. And the most important underpinning to integrate talent processes is a cohesive set of competencies and success profiles for all key roles that are used consistently for talent selection, promotion, development, performance management, and succession planning.

3.       Need to balance global and local; in our increased global world, effective integrated talent management needs to balance global consistency with local flexibility.  

4.       The Talent Management function should be the catalyst and the steward – but the business leaders need to take ownership for effective talent development.

5.       You can’t do it all it once!  Start by articulating the business drivers and success profiles – then based on your organization’s culture, maturity, as well as opportunities and challenges -determine the best place to start. Look for the small victories that can add up over time. Look for continual improvement over time.

6.       Don’t overlook the leaders most often overlooked; the mid-level. These folks have more pressures than ever – their role is more complicated, more global, and more directly involved in execution of strategy.

7.       “Great can be the enemy of good” – don’t wait until everything is perfect; it never will be. 

Finally, an incredibly insightful comment, offered by Ray Peloso, Executive Vice President, Consumer Finance - Debt Management at RBS Citizens; “A life alerting recession is a terrible thing to waste.”    Emerging from the world of the past few years provided us with a new lens, a renewed sense of urgency, and some important lessons. Let’s not forget the lessons learned and carry those forward to continually improve our talent and our organizations.

Mark Dembo is a manager with Development Dimensions International (DDI).

How Can Coaching Drive Revenue Growth?

By Mark Dembo

Now that the dust of the “New Year” has settled into this long winter of 2011, the focus for many organizations has turned to rapid execution of strategy. As we’ve weathered the economic storms of the past few years and now with some partial clearing on the horizon, organizations are seeking to take advantage of the glimmers of economic sunshine by becoming laser focused on ensuring that goals are met as efficiently and expeditiously as possible. We’ve all learned that we can’t sit back and rest on our laurels – things can turn on a dime and we must be ready for it.

Along with this, is an increasingly sharp focus on sales performance. In fact, many companies have shifted the focus of executive compensation away from just stock price or EPS growth, supplanted with a much stronger emphasis on revenue growth.

HR and Talent Management professionals can and should be playing an important role in spurring on that sales growth by providing the resources and guidance to ensure that the RIGHT type of sales and sales leadership skills are being acquired, developed and retained.

While this may not be earth-shattering news, there are some interesting twists to consider that run contrary to traditional thinking. Effective sales leadership isn’t just about coaching and prodding salespeople.

In fact, the Sales Executive Council recently published some very interesting research that points out that sales leaders may oftentimes be focusing their coaching effort on the WRONG people. As reported by the Harvard Business Review, the tendency to focus coaching at the “tails” of the sales team is the wrong approach;

“The real payoff from good coaching lies among the middle 60% — your core performers. For this group, the best-quality coaching can improve performance up to 19%. In fact, even moderate improvement in coaching quality — simply from below to above average — can mean a six to eight percent increase in performance across 50% of your sales force….

At the end of the day, who your managers coach is just as important as how they coach.”
I leave you with three questions to ponder:

1. What are you doing to ensure that you know who your bottom, middle, and top sales performers are, and who among that group has the best potential and motivation to improve in a changing sales environment?
2. Do your sales leaders have the right information to know where to focus their efforts?
3. How are you equipping your sales leaders to improve and focus their coaching efforts on the right people?

Think about it – the future growth of your organization is riding on the answers to these questions!

Mark Dembo is a manager with Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Talent Management by the Numbers - The Top 5 Innovative Thinkers on Innovation

By Mark Dembo

2010 may go down as a record-breaking year when it comes to chatter about innovation.  Of course, to me, this sort of begs the question: from the Industrial Revolution to the Information Revolution – hasn’t innovation always been the fuel of the growth engine?

In days of yore, when we thought of innovation, we pictured researchers in Thomas Edison’s lab creating the latest new invention; activities focused on by discreet, specialized parts of the organization. For today’s thinking, I like the definition offered up by dictionary.com: 

Innovate: “to introduce something new; make changes in anything established.”

Innovation is not just the realm of product-development; it’s about process, it’s about organizational design, it’s about learning and development – in short, it’s about the very fabric of organizational life today.

For HR and Talent Management, it’s vital to understand what innovation truly is, to articulate the success profile to enable us to hire, develop, and retain innovators, so here is my round-up of the Top 5 Innovative Thinkers on Innovation. 

Vijay Govindarajan is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation, as the Founding Director of the Center for Global Leadership at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.    VG, as he is known, widely makes the point that innovation is not something done in isolation, but rather must be embedded as part of the organization.

In his most recent book,  The Other Side of Innovation, VG and co-author Chris Trimble discuss the things that organizations need to do to make innovation work; the 99% of the effort that needs to happen after that initial idea is hatched.    

Gary Hamel, consultant and Professor at the London Business School, is well known for his work on core competencies and corporate strategy, much of which is focused on innovation.  In his Management 2.0 Blog, Hamel focuses on the idea that there is not just one size or flavor of innovative organizations.   His classifications:

• Tyros; young companies built around whacky new business models
• Nobel laureates; these companies are consistently innovative, albeit in a narrow, technologically oriented, sphere
• Artistes; these firms are in the creativity business—innovation is their product 
• Cyborgs; companies like Google, Amazon and Apple that have been purpose-built to achieve super-human feats of innovation
• Born Again innovators;  companies like Procter & Gamble, IBM and Ford.

While his “taxonomy” presents a great way to think about your organization, and where you may fall on this spectrum, his key point is this:

Innovation “requires a fundamental retooling of a company’s management processes . . . Most of our management rituals were designed (a very long time ago) to promote discipline, control, alignment and predictability—all laudable goals. But to outrun change or head off a newcomer at the pass, these processes have to be re-engineered so they facilitate rather than frustrate bold thinking and radical doing.”

Steven Johnson, author and expert on the intersection of science, technology, and experience.  His most current book: “Where Great Ideas Come From” further dispels the notion and myth that innovation is born in a single “Eureka” moment.  An “idea is not a single thing”, rather an “idea is a network”, says Johnson. 

Innovation is something cobbled together from existing things into a new configuration.  

He draws on examples such as the rise of the coffeehouse in mid-seventeenth century England as a key impetus for the rise of the Enlightenment and the innovations of that period. 

Watch his talk at the TED conference for a brief, yet fascinating look into the evolution of innovative thinking – and ideas for fostering a culture of innovation within our organizations.

Jeanne Meister is a leading expert in the design, operation and management of the corporate learning function, Meister take an important look at how organization design and learning needs to innovate and change in order to remain competitive into the 21^st Century.   Her latest book, the 20/20 Workplace discusses how organizations need to first define a core set of values, and then fully leverage the tools of “the social web to reimagine learning and development, talent management, and leadership practices.”

She focuses on the need to create personalized learning experiences, while being able to tap into the way the millennial generation learns and interacts. 

Daniel Pink – one-time speechwriter for Al Gore, author Dan Pink has a pulse on the key trends shaping business now and in the future.  In his latest book Drive, and in this speech at the TED Conference, Pink discusses the need to re-think how we run our businesses, citing a mis-match between what science knows and what business does.  

In today’s world, in order to encourage innovation in our organizations, the focus needs to turn to the intrinsic factors where people find true meaning in what they do. 

Pink talks about three primary drivers of this intrinsic motivation; Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.   Organizations that want to foster an environment and culture of innovation should turn their attention on how they can best provide these elements within the design of jobs and organizations.

Fostering the Culture of Innovation:

In looking at the thinking of this group, some common trends emerge that may apply to your organizations.

• Innovation does not happen in isolation
• Innovation is about more than just a great idea; it’s about turning ideas into reality
• Organizations need to provide the “space” for everyone in the organization to innovate
• Key competencies such as team building, risk taking, collaboration, learning agility, leading change are needed in our leaders to help foster innovation throughout the organization.

Wishing you a very innovative 2011!

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Today’s Leader – A View from the World Business Forum

By Mark Dembo

At the World Business Forum yesterday, one of the ongoing mantras from speakers ranging from Jim Collins to Jack Welch to Charlene Li to Joseph Grenny was that the nature of leadership today is different.  Shifts in the global economy, changes in technology, and generational shifts require a much more open and transparent leadership style than the “command and control” era of days gone by.

One of the best examples of this changing shift was highlighted by Charlene Li, one of the world’s foremost authorities on social media and author of the books “Groundswell” and “Open Leadership.”  While her talk was not about leadership per se, her discussion about how social media is changing the business landscape provides many clues about how leaders need to change and evolve in today’s world.

What exactly is the connection between social media and leadership, you ask?   As Li describes, many organizations and CEOs are scared to death of social media – afraid that if they get involved, or let their employees get involved with Twitter, Facebook, and the like, they will lose control. She says there’s a prevailing “mindset that says “‘I’ve got to control everything in order to get things done – the resources, the messages, the people.’ But the reality is that we do business today in a very interconnected world. Even inside a company you have to collaborate and coordinate with people who don’t necessarily report to you.  To do this efficiently, you’re much better off opening up all those channels and silos that have traditionally held power, and having smooth information sharing back and forth across the organization.”

Wow – that rings a bell that goes far beyond just how to embrace social media. >It gets at the very fabric of what leaders need to do to create “Great Organizations” as Jim Collins talks about.

Openness, transparency, authenticity, and collaboration – all themes that loomed large today at the World Business Forum.   That’s how work gets done, and how great companies are made.

Joseph Grenny, author of “Influencer” further echoed this point when he said that strategy is WHAT an organization is going to do, and Influence is HOW leaders need to get things done. Influence is not about using a carrot or a stick – it’s about understanding the behaviors that lead people to act in a particular way, and then tapping into personal, social, and structural sources of motivation to guide people to new or different behaviors.If leaders learn to become better influencers they are far better able to affect change in their organizations.

Ah, then so if I’m good at influencing people, then I can “motivate” people, right?  Well, not exactly.  As Jim Collins discussed at the HR Masters lunch, “great leaders don’t spend time motivating people – they spend time hiring self-motivating people.”

If you look at these varied remarks this start to paint a picture of 21^st Century Leadership – open, transparent, influencers who understand the rapidly changing world around them, and who possess a nimbleness to keep changing and evolving to new shifts in economies, technologies, and complexities.

Stay tuned for more updates as the World Business Forum unfolds, and follow our live twitter feeds throughout the day. 

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

World Business Forum - Day One

By Mark Dembo

Jim Collins kicked off the World Business Forum today, (over 4000 people attending from 65 countries) discussing the four phases of organizational decline from greatness, while discussing the “antitheses” of these factors. At the heart of his message: becoming great, and sustaining greatness comes down to one thing: Leadership – and that even if you stray from the path, it’s (almost) never too late to turn things around – if you can break away from the hubris and unbridled personal ambition that often derail. A real message of hope – and a welcome start to the conference. In my mind, a great signal that the mood of business is shifting.

One of the key take-aways from his talk was a to-do list – a top-ten list if you will, for surviving and thriving.  These are some great take-aways, regardless of rank, title or level in an organization.

1.    Do your diagnostics – assess where you are on the “Good to Great” journey – a free tool can be found on his website.

2.    Focus on Building pockets of greatness, don't focus on career. If you build those pockets of greatness, career success (and organizational success) will follow. 

3.    Ask “what percentage of key seats are filled with the right people?” And, “what are your plans to get as close to 100% that you can?”

4.    Double your questions to statements ratio.

5.    Ask yourself: “How is the world changing and what are the brutal facts?” Do a brutal facts inventory.”

6.    Turn off your electronic gadgets - create white space for deep thinking and analysis at least once every two weeks.

7.    Decide what to Stop Doing: We can only manage our time - not our work, and what we choose to spend our time on is one of the most important decisions we can make. 

8.    Make commitment to get inside your own personal hedgehog.  Collins talks about finding the “sweet spot” of doing what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at (or “genetically encoded to do”), and that can make a difference in the world.

9.    Stop doing "titles" – don’t focus on a “job”, rather focus on responsibilities.

10.    Set a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” for 15-20 years in future based on your “hedgehog.”  Focus on being useful, not successful. 

Follow our live tweets from the WBF and stay tuned here for more updates on trends and observations over the next two days.

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Is 'Fun' the Answer to what Ails Us?

By Mark Dembo

So, it’s been declared that the recession is over – long over, in fact.  According to National Bureau of Economic Research, we officially emerged from the worst economic slump since the Great Depression in June of 2009. Shouldn’t that mean that our organizations should be humming along, brimming full of engaged, motivated and productive people?

A quick walk through the halls, cubicles, and shop floors of many companies these days would tell a far different story, not to mention the almost 10% of the US workforce that remains unemployed.

Robert Hall  of the NBER, quoted in The Wall Street Journal,  is quick to point out: “Many people ‘think recession means bad times, and there’s no question we’re [still] in bad times.’” 

The fact remains, that while economic growth has returned, those on the front lines of our organizations are still faced with having to do more with less, more pressure to perform, and ongoing anxiety that more cuts could loom on the horizon if Wall Street expectations aren’t met next quarter.

Many progressive organizations, looking to overcome this general workplace malaise, are turning to creating “fun” workplaces; tying into the theory that a happy worker is a productive worker. There’s certainly no doubt, and plenty of research to back up the theory that if we are happy we are likely to feel better about ourselves and about the work that we do. And if we feel good about ourselves and our work, we will be more engaged, and by extension be more productive. All great stuff!

But, this raises the question: does mandating “Fun” in the workplace have the desired effect, or does it just start looking like another forced corporate mandate? As Schumpeter writes in the Economist: “The most unpleasant thing about the fashion for fun is that it is mixed with a large dose of coercion.” (I can only imagine what the performance review discussion of someone who wasn’t having enough fun might look like….)

The “fun” movement is well-intentioned – at its heart it’s trying to create a more engaged workforce, but what it’s missing out on is addressing the bottom-line of what makes and keeps people engaged and motivated. Study after study show the levers of engagement include having meaningful work, feeling that one’s work is appreciated and having opportunities to develop new skills.  

So, why are these elements still lacking in so many organizations, while the move for fun is gaining steam?  Why, with so many companies offering pool tables, rock climbing walls, free lunches, and allowing employees to wear wacky costumes to work, are only “20% of workers…“fully engaged with their job”?

To create engaged workforces in today’s world we need to strike the right balance; yes, we may need to ask more of people, but we also need to help make the connection from the work they do to the meaning they can gain from it. As one reader commented in the Economist:  a “fun work environment is created by people who enjoy what they do, have a purpose and have what they need to be successful.”

No, there may not be as many opportunities for advancement in today’s flatter, leaner organizations, but we can be a catalyst to help people learn new skills and stretch in ways that will benefit the individual and the organization. We can listen better to the needs and concerns of our workforce. We can arm our leaders with the tools to help them coach, mentor, and develop their teams.   

At the end of the day, perhaps the way out of the malaise is what we’ve known all along: great leadership makes for great organizations.  

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

The Top 10 Most Annoying Things…

By Mark Dembo

The other night I was watching TV with my kids, (or should I say I was sitting with them while they were “media surfing” between live TV, DVR, computer chat, and text messages; but that’s a topic for a whole other article), and we happened on a special on Nickelodeon – a report on the Top 10 Most Annoying Things Parents Do. The basis for the show, hosted by Linda Ellerbee, was a survey conducted of kids, so it had a very interesting perspective. Their top 10 responses to “It’s so annoying when parents…”

10) …say, “Go ask your mom!” or “Go ask your dad!”
9) …obsess about things that don’t matter.
8)…say, “Because I said so, that’s why!”
7) …say, “When I was your age…”
6) …say, “When you’re older, you’ll understand.”
5) …tell old and really corny jokes to my friends.
4) …treat me like a little kid.
3) …nag me.
2) …say, “Act your age!”

And, finally, the number-one MOST annoying thing kids say parents do is when parents…don’t act their age!!!!

This list got me wondering how many people in our own organizations, if surveyed about their leaders, might have similar things to say. So, taking some creative liberties, here’s what I envision the “Top 10 Most Annoying Things Leaders Do” might look like:

10)…say, “I don’t know why we do that, go ask someone else.”
9)…obsess about the trivial in order to exert control.
8)…say, “Because I said so, that’s why!”
7)…say, “When I was in your role...”
6)…say, “When you’re in my position, you’ll understand.”
5)…tell really corny jokes at staff meetings.
4)…treat me like a little kid.
3)…nag me (e.g. don’t trust me to get my work done).
2)…say, “Act your age” (e.g. don’t complain about things around here).
1)…don’t act in a manner that befits their role (e.g. THEY complain about things).

I think we can see many similarities here in both the actual list, and the somewhat fanciful list I’ve created, yet I’m sure you’ll agree that many of these items ring true.

How can we ensure that we develop effective leaders who can get results, yet not be seen as overbearing, annoying parents? At the most fundamental level, this requires clearly articulating now only WHAT leaders need to do, but HOW they need to do it. And, our experience shows that many while many organizations are good at explaining the “Whats,” it’s the “Hows” where many leaders and organizations struggle.

At DDI, we teach and talk about the “Key Principles” – the essential behaviors and traits that apply whether you’re a leader, an individual contributor, or for that matter, even a parent. These principles, when practiced with authenticity, help leaders become organizational catalysts. Specifically:

1. Maintain or enhance self-esteem.
2. Listen and respond with empathy.
3. Ask for help and encourage involvement.
4. Share thoughts, feelings, and rationale. (to build trust)
5. Provide support without removing responsibility. (to build ownership)

The Key Principles may seem simple – yet they are neither simplistic nor easy to practice. If we all work to align our actions with these Key Principles, imagine how we can improve the quality of our interactions with those we work and live with. Better yet, if we can help others in our organization learn and apply these behaviors, not only can we avoid the “most annoying leader syndrome,” we may actually improve the organizational culture, enhance engagement, and impact organizational results. Now, just need to figure out how to deal with the “corny joke” syndrome”…

And, if you really want to be bold and adventurous – try it out with your kids!

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

It’s a VUCA World: Better Glocalize!

By Mark Dembo

It seems there’s a new buzzword for our recessionary aftermath, as we return from the miasma, and step back from the precipice: VUCA.  I came across this term just the other day, and literally stopped what I was doing to research this exotic sounding, yet surely important new word to enter the lexicon.  

As Wikipdia tells it, VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect on the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations. The underlying idea is more than just the words that make up the acronym; it’s about the process, thinking and strategy that go into assessing and dealing with each of the VUCA elements – think of it as a post-modern SWOT analysis.

Which brings me to the other term I keep hearing bandied about these days: “glocalization.” Where global meets local: the “portmanteau” of global and local. It’s more than just “think global, act local” – it’s about organizations striking the right balance between tight central management, and decentralized local autonomy.

While we can get fatigued on the fad words of the day, there is some real truth behind needing to glocalize in our current VUCA world! With the great recession showing signs of defeat, we cannot be complacent to the destruction and changes left in its wake. As the Economist newspaper points out, in the US: “…the economy emerging from recession on not the same as the one that went in.” They further point out – and here’s the real kicker - “With consumers forced to live within their means, American firms will have to sell more to the rest of the world."

This last point is profound; ignore its implications at your own peril! For US multi-nationals, looking for growth in emerging markets is certainly not new. But now, it’s more than just a growth strategy, it’s a do-or-die strategy. We cannot rely on domestic spending to shore up the coffers.

For true growth to come from the “rest of the world,” organizations must truly be a part of that world. Simply exporting talent will not provide the in-depth cultural and local knowledge that is needed. To innovate in India or China or Brazil or Thailand – organizations must be seen as a part of the fabric of local life.

To succeed in the new VUCA world, organizations must be able to define their culture, create the “leadership brand” they stand for on a global basis, while providing the latitude for local interpretation and adaptation. It’s a fine line, and not necessarily an easy one to draw – those who achieve long-term “glocal”success will be the ones that can achieve this balance.

How prepared are your leaders to take on these new challenges VUCA challenges in a glocal world?

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Focusing on a Fuzzy Future

By Mark Dembo

Depending on which news reports you read, or which way the wind is blowing, or which side of the street you’re walking on – either the economy is recovering, or we’re in for a double-dip, triple-dip, or who knows what else.  

The reality is nobody really knows for sure, or in the words of Paul Krugman; “I guess there might be a W and it will be fuzzy…”

But one thing is for sure: corporate CEOs don’t have any better clue either!  There’s a yin and yang, to and fro, up and down dynamic happening in the corner offices throughout the world.

What really caught my eye on this was the recently released report from The Conference Board, highlighting the Top CEO Challenges for 2010, a very telling barometer of the changes occurring in the economic climate. While there is a still a high degree of uncertainty in the marketplace, we're starting to see growth-oriented priorities come back to life in the minds of CEOs.

So what made the top 10?

1. Excellence in execution
2. Consistent execution of strategy by top management
3. Sustained and steady top-line growth
4. Customer loyalty/retention
5. Speed, flexibility, adaptability to change
6. Corporate reputation for quality products/services
7. Stimulating innovation
8. Profit growth
9. Improving productivity
10. Government regulation

This is very interesting and complex list. For example, a need to focus on execution, while also being flexible and nimble seems to be at odds with each other.  

On a regional level, some key differences emerge. In Asia, for example, “Finding qualified managerial talent” ranked #7, while in the U.S., “cash management” is a key concern (#10). 

For leaders, it seems a tough part to play: a need to be able to both shift gears quickly, and to lead in a world of sometimes opposing objectives. This is indeed the new reality.

For the talent managers in the organization, you’re probably asking yourself “given the quick changing nature of the global economy right now, where should I focus my limited time and resources?

Some thoughts:

• Start by identifying and articulating the business drivers for the organization.  (Those top critical things that leaders need to do to move the organization’s strategy forward.)
• Draw a wide net at all levels in the organization to take an "audit" to understand if you have the critical skills at all levels to succeed with those business drivers.
• Prioritize the most critical talent gaps and begin to address how you’ll fill them.  

And ask yourself some tough questions – are we as an organization prepared to meet these sometimes conflicting challenges?   How do we ensure that we can have the talent we need to lead in the ever-changing tides that are likely to continue for some time to come?

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

You Built It - Did They Come?

By Mark Dembo

Recently, I’ve been working with a large organization helping them identify the development needs for key executives in a part of the business, with the desired end goal of ensuring that they are creating a solid plan for succession management, and that they have a steady stream of ready-now leaders. This organization prides itself on the quality of its leaders, and has received wide recognition for its leadership development programs.

I've worked on many projects like this and they are particularly rewarding, especially when you see adoption of programs throughout the organization. However, sometimes organizations subscribe to a “If you build it, they will come” school of thought when it comes to creating talent management processes

Instead of excitement, leaders ask—“Why did you build this? Who asked for this? Ugh – yet another thing I’ve got to deal with! I’ve already got enough on my plate: I’m working harder than ever before with fewer resources: now you want me to do this development planning thing, and also coach all of my team on how to take charge of their careers? Why do I want to develop my people so they can go and leave for another business unit, or for another organization altogether? I’ll do it because I have to–so I can check the box and say it’s done. Another HR “flavor of the month” fad that will fade soon enough."

When greeted with this type of response, what’s the missing link that could truly have business impact? Involving the business line leaders in the formulation of the strategy? Enlisting their active support by articulating clear links between talent management and the needs of their business? Demonstrating how developing organizational talent provides overall organizational benefit?  

Unless talent management initiatives are linked to the needs of the business, showing a logical path from business strategies and goals to processes and tools to desired outcomes, any initiative is destined to be a “check the box” activity rather than one that can truly impact the business.

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).