Talent Management - February 2011

February 2011
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[from the editor] by Mike Prokopeak
The End of the War on Talent

In the past three years, we’ve gone workers waved goodbye to their 6 percent. The broad war for talent
from waging a war for high-poten- employers. It’s time to change the entered a cease-fire with the finan-
tial talent to waging a war on all battle plan as we move from a war cial crisis of 2008, but the battle for
of our talent. Between dramatic on our talent to a renewed war for high-potential talent kept raging.
job cuts, slashed budgets and lin- it. But we can’t just use the old It’s going to get even hotter.
gering economic malaise, many tried-and-true tactics.
companies lost some of their hu- During the past three years, em-
According to figures from manage- ployee engagement strategies and
man touch.
ment consulting firm Hay Group, programs were about keeping
scared and stressed workers pro-
ducing at a high level. Now the
focus of engagement has turned to
retention. But with tight budgets,
It’s time to change tactics what’s the talent manager to do?
if we don’t want our valued It’s time to be smart. If you’re un-
workers to do more with less able to offer higher pay, provide
other creative compensation and
somewhere else. benefits programs, such as flexible
work schedules and plum stretch
assignments. Now that many
workers are returning their focus
The results should come as no pay is expected to increase by 2.8 to the future, identify high-poten-
surprise to talent managers. Pro- percent this year. That’s less than tial talent and develop customized
ductivity surged as a dramatically the 3.5 to 5 percent increase em- programs to show them a tempting
smaller workforce picked up the ployees have come to expect over career path. Show them why your
slack and pulled harder. Engage- the past decade. Some may see company is the best place for their
ment held steady for a time as even that smaller number as overly future. Develop creative, low-cost
workforce survivors remained optimistic. Worker pay continues ways to engage and develop them.
grateful just to have a job. But that to lag behind corporate profits as There’s no shortage of tools at your
could only last so long. companies hoard cash, and skittish disposal now, from traditional
bosses may not yet be ready to turn mentoring to virtual coaching and
Productivity has leveled off in the e-learning.
months since. Now, with positive on that faucet.
economic news and encouraging No, this is not your father’s war Recruiters, arm yourself for the war
job reports starting to come in, for talent. Talent managers, always for high-potential talent by broad-
many burnt-out workers may be nimble on the battlefield, will need ening your approach to sourcing
looking to do more with less some- to be even more creative this year as high potentials. Traditional tools
where else. It doesn’t need to be they face continued pressure from like job boards and outsourcing are
this way. above and renewed demand from still meaningful ways to find talent,
below. Many of them spent the past but social media and other tech-
There’s good news and bad news in nologies are increasingly powerful
a growing economy. Growth leads two years building relationships
with executives and tightening ways to identify candidates, build
to healthier businesses and happier relationships with them and man-
executives. That’s good for all of us. alignment with business priorities.
That, inarguably, was good. age your employment brand.
But it creates a problem for talent
managers. Many workers, particu- Individual contributors are back
But with positive economic reports and they’re hungry. It’s time to
larly high fliers and high potentials, coming out and the job market
are plotting their exit. feed them what they need.
widely expected to warm up, it’s
According to figures from the U.S. the foot soldiers, not the generals,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the quits who are stepping into the spot-
rate, defined as the rate at which light again. If you haven’t already,
workers voluntarily leave their it’s time to turn up attention on
jobs, steadily climbed throughout the workforce. While overall un-
employment has hovered near 10 Mike Prokopeak
2010 after dropping to a low in Editorial Director
percent for a while now, the rate
February 2011
October 2009. In the fourth quar- mikep@talentmgt.com

ter of 2010 alone, nearly 2 million for high-potential talent is closer to
4 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com

Learn, grow,
help, inspire and
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With CPP’s Myers-Briggs® and CPI 260® certification programs, not only will you gain the practical skills necessary to
administer both assessments and valuable CEU credits, you’ll also gain the confidence that you can make every person
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Visit www.cpp.com/Talent to learn more and get a free copy of the Aberdeen Report Talent Assessment Strategies.
800-624-1765 : www.cpp.com : The Myers-Briggs® experts The people development people.
© 2011 CPP, Inc. Myers-Briggs and the MBTI logo are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc. CPI 260 and the CPP logo are registered trademarks and the CPI 260 logo is a trademark of CPP, Inc.
Certification_TalentMgt_1-1.2010.indd 1 12/6/10 1:50:07 PM

20 Fortune 500 companies recently
switched from SkillSoft to Element K.
Research shows they are much happier now.
What does it take to make a Fortune 500 company happy with its learning provider?
We commissioned an independent study to find out. Twenty of these leading organizations
that recently switched from SkillSoft to Element K told us they are glad they did.
Their top reasons for being happy? Better quality courses, better service, and better value.
What makes us happiest about their answers is that these corporate giants—representing
most major industries—cited our flexibility and commitment to their company’s success
as key reasons for their satisfaction.
As a result of this research, if you’re a SkillSoft customer we know at least one important
thing about you: You could be happier.
Call Element K at 1.800.434.3466 or visit www.elementk.com
Element K is a group company of NIIT, a global talent development corporation operating in 44 countries.
Element K results based on phone surveys conducted in May 2010 by an independent researcher of
organizations that switched from SkillSoft to Element K over the past 18 months. SkillSoft claims of client
satisfaction based on its published survey results. © 2010 Element K Corporation
CONTENT COLLECTIONS CUSTOM LEARNING PROGRAMS ON-DEMAND LMS TRAINING ADMINISTRATION

Element K vs.
The Competition
Volume 7 Issue 2 February 2011

“Better Overall”
GROUP PUBLISHER John R. Taggart jrtag@talentmgt.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF Norman B. Kamikow norm@talentmgt.com
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS Gwen Connelly gwen@talentmgt.com Element K
VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mike Prokopeak mikep@talentmgt.com
MANAGING EDITORS Daniel Margolis dmargolis@talentmgt.com
Kellye Whitney kwhitney@talentmgt.com
SENIOR EDITOR Erin Green egreen@talentmgt.com
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Deanna Hartley dhartley@talentmgt.com
Ladan Nikravan lnikravan@talentmgt.com
VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & ADVISORY SERVICES
Stacey Boyle sboyle@talentmgt.com
DIRECTOR, RESEARCH & ADVISORY SERVICES
Jerry Prochazka jerryp@talentmgt.com
VICE PRESIDENT, CREATIVE SERVICES Kendra Chaplin kendra@talentmgt.com
ART DIRECTOR Kasey Doshier kdoshier@talentmgt.com
PRODUCTION MANAGER Linda Dziwak linda@talentmgt.com 94%
WEB MANAGER Spencer Thayer spencer@talentmgt.com
WEB OPERATOR Edgar Ramos eramos@talentmgt.com
E-MEDIA COORDINATOR Jonathan Armsterd jarmsterd@talentmgt.com
E-MEDIA SPECIALIST Bridget Kevin bkevin@talentmgt.com
DIRECTOR, EVENT DEVELOPMENT Trey Smith tsmith@talentmgt.com
EVENTS & MARKETING MANAGER Kara Shively kshively@talentmgt.com
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Rose Michaels rmichaels@talentmgt.com
BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski vince@talentmgt.com
MID-ATLANTIC & MIDWESTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER
Pegeen Prichard pprichard@talentmgt.com The
WESTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER Cathy Sanassarian cathys@talentmgt.com Competition
EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER
Kari Carlson kcarlson@talentmgt.com
6%
DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Jerome Atendido rome@talentmgt.com
EVENTS SALES MANAGER David Taggart davidt@talentmgt.com Fortune 500 companies that recently
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Cindy Cardinal ccardinal@talentmgt.com switched to Element K from other
LIST MANAGER Jay Schwedelson jschwedelson@worldata.com e-Learning providers overwhelmingly
ADVERTISING ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT said that Element K was better overall.
Natasha Pozdniakova natasha@talentmgt.com In fact, Element K beat the competition
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: by a wide margin on flexibility, value,
Brett Addis Bettina Chang Marshall Goldsmith Andrew Liakopoulos
innovation, quality of courses, and
commitment to business success.
Ronald J. Baker Elizabeth Craig Michael Haid Ladan Nikravan
Cathy Benko Marc Effron Jeanne G. Harris Scott Schmidt
If you’d like to be happier with your
John Boudreau Jac Fitz-Enz Ryan Kandel Sherri Elliott-Yeary e-Learning provider, there’s a number
Lisa Buckingham Vanessa Flynn Beverly Kaye you should call: 1.800.434.3466 or
visit www.elementk.com.
NORMAN B. JOHN R. TAGGART GWEN CONNELLY PATRICIA PIERCE

KAMIKOW Executive Senior Vice President Chief Financial
President Vice President Operations Officer
©2010 Element K Corporation
February 2011: Volume 7, Issue 2
16
16 Hiring and Managing
the Overqualified
24 They’re Human
Capital, Not Cattle
32 May I See Your
Whine List?
Ladan Nikravan Ronald J. Baker Beverly Kaye
Hiring overqualified Most talent management Workplace uncertainty can
candidates need not be systems were designed breed employee concerns.
a bad thing if managers for the Industrial Era, By learning to identify what’s
communicate openly, give when tangible assets were beneath common employee
them room to grow and dominant. Organizations complaints, managers can
ensure they’re adequately must adapt to today’s turn whines into wins.
challenged. intangible assets to speed up
production.
20 Courting the Quants

Elizabeth Craig and
28 The Corporate Lattice
Cathy Benko and
36 The Morphing Face
of Talent Acquisition
Jeanne G. Harris Andrew Liakopoulos Brett Addis and Scott Schmidt
Finding and retaining analysts Employees want to move Assessment technology is
is difficult, especially when up, down and across accelerating the speed at
money and professional organizations as their which businesses review
opportunities don’t guarantee priorities change. Lattice and acquire talent, helping
analysts’ interest. organizations offer more organizations create
options for when, where and and sustain competitive
how people do their work. advantage.
February 2011

departments
44
40 Insight
Talent Excellence
Bettina Chang
DJO Global redesigned its HR function
around centers of excellence to create a
common language around the company’s
eight core values.
42 Dashboard
Navigating Change Together
Michael Haid
Employee engagement and performance
suffered as a result of the recession.
Managing talent through change will help
ensure employees are committed and aligned
with business strategy.
44 Application
Driving Growth in a Storm
Lisa Buckingham
20
Economic crisis brought change to Lincoln
Financial Group in the form of an executive
development program that allowed it to invest
in talent despite turbulent times.
columns
10 Thinking Ahead
John Boudreau
32
Intimacy and Talent
COMING
NEXT MONTH...
12 Leading Edge
Jac Fitz-enz
• When Mergers and
Acquisitions Lead Getting What You Want
to Unkept Promises
resources
•Screening for Adaptability
and Resiliency
14 Making It Work
Marc Effron
4 Editor’s Letter
The End of the War on Talent
Doing Competencies Right
•Non-Retirement Retirement
49 Advertisers’ Index
50 Full Potential
Marshall Goldsmith
Who Do People Think You Are? 49 Editorial Resources
Are you a part of the Talent Management Network?

February 2011
Follow us: Like us: Join the group:

twitter.com/TalentMgtMag talentmgt.com/facebook talentmgt.com/LinkedIn
talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 9

[thinking ahead] by John Boudreau
Intimacy and Talent

I became fascinated with talent of pivotal talent is the lifeblood agement experts are exploring such
management as a young boy in the of masterful talent management. options.
1960s as I listened to my father de- It is what enables great organiza-
Bloggers seized upon the fact that
scribe his work. tions to invest where they have the
the across-the-board increase re-
He worked for a terrific company greatest impact, take calculated
warded low and high performers
and he was enthusiastically loyal. risks on stretch assignments and
identically, but the issue is more
Yet even great companies can miss respond quickly to the unexpected.
fundamental. Yes, high and low
opportunities. Once, after he and GE nurtured intimacy through a performers contribute differently
his fellow technical service rep- culture that taught leaders how to success, and research shows they
resentatives worked around the to know their top talent. The inti- respond differently to rewards,
clock for two days to fix a cus- macy test of talent management is but talent segments are more so-
tomer’s problem, he learned the not just whether systems harness phisticated than just performance.
regional manager had invited ev- the power of information, arti- How well do your talent manage-
ery salesperson to dinner at a local ficial intelligence and virtuality, ment systems distinguish pivotal
restaurant to reward them for ex- but whether they produce leaders performance — where improving
ceeding their sales goals. at all levels who seldom miss op- performance has great impact on
My father was happy for the sales-
people but remarked, “My team
couldn’t help but notice that no one How well do your talent management systems
took us out to dinner to recognize distinguish pivotal performance?
our all-nighters. My manager is a
good guy, but he’ll never know how
much impact he could have made
portunities like the one my father organization success — from im-
on our pride in this company just
described. That test may be met by portant performance — which is
by taking us to dinner.”
combinations of deep data analysis, already at a high standard? How
This was the 1960s, after all, so this sophisticated information systems well do they distinguish talent
great organization can be forgiven that automatically alert leaders segments by how they respond
for missing such opportunities. to motivation opportunities or so- to salary increases, informal rec-
That excuse won’t be available to phisticated and alert leaders. ognition, better bosses or greater
future talent managers. work-life flexibility?
It was striking to read a story in
Today’s talent management sys- The Wall Street Journal last No- This illustrates a fundamental tal-
tems tap massive amounts of data vember about Google’s decision ent management dilemma: how
and virtual interactions through to grant a 10 percent across-the- to optimize intimacy by custom-
social networks, tweets, blogs and board salary increase to employees izing employment where it has the
telepresence, and that will only to stem the tide of departures to greatest impact and standardizing
increase. Talent differentiation, newcomers such as Facebook. This where it doesn’t. How good are
customization and optimization salary increase seems to reflect you at striking that balance? Are
will increasingly be basic expecta- an earlier age when organizations you prepared to build, deploy and
tions in this new era, but it’s worth could not customize their approach manage intimacy in your talent
considering the objective of all this with any sense of accuracy. management system?
analytical power, in light of my fa-
ther’s experience. Yet Google is famous for its ana-
lytics, including algorithms that
In Talent Masters, Bill Conaty and predict which employees will
Ram Charan focus on something leave, even before those employees
we don’t hear about much in tal-
About
know it. It is equally famous for its the
ent management: intimacy. They array of generous, comprehensive
don’t mean office romances. They
Author
and unique employment benefits,
mean that GE’s talent manage- John W. Boudreau is professor and research
from valet service to dog grooming. director at the University of Southern
ment systems rely as much on an Imagine how Google might predict California’s Marshall School of Business
intimate knowledge of leaders as different employees’ preferences and Center for Effective Organizations and
on processes. A deep and intimate author of Retooling HR, Beyond HR and
and tailor specific retention pack- Investing in People. He can be reached at
knowledge about the capacities, ages based on those preferences. editor@talentmgt.com.
February 2011
needs, strengths and weaknesses Undoubtedly, Google’s talent man-

FEB. 23-25, 2011 The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay • Half Moon Bay, Calif.
Connect With Talent Management

and Diversity Leaders Before the Event Begins!
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Participants will apply proven talent development tools as they world-class status. In this workshop, we will explore best
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Meet and greet Strategies 2011 speakers and fellow attendees before the event begins. #ST2011
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Sponsored by
[leading edge] by Jac Fitz-enz
Getting What You Want

Some people complain about their • Salesmanship: Call it persuasion 3. Desire is the critical element.
inability to obtain the support or if you like, but you must be able Desire is a matter of matching
resources to do their jobs effec- to present a value proposition in the audience with the product.
tively. Others don’t seem to have a manner that can be understood How do you link their hearts and
that problem. What’s the difference and accepted. heads to your topic of planning,
between these two groups? Then there’s your presentation. software, training or retention?
In the movie “Harvey,” Jimmy How do you sell your idea? Sales Why should they care about it?
Stewart played Elwood P. Doud, models abound, but they can all be How does it affect them? You
who entertained an illusion that
he had a six-foot tall rabbit for a
friend. When his psychiatrist sug-
gested that he face reality, he said
something like, “I’ve tried reality Getting what you want is a function of
and didn’t much care for it.”
Have you known people who just
personal traits and presentation skills.
won’t accept the facts of their situ-
ation? They live in a fantasy world
of their making and ignore the parts
they don’t like. On the one hand,
they want something, such as rec- have two themes to try, the posi-
reduced to four steps: getting the
ognition or power, but on the other tive or the negative. What good
buyer’s attention, developing an in-
hand, they can’t come to grips with will accrue if they support your
terest, generating desire and taking
the requisites of their position. One idea? What danger or loss will
the order. They work like this:
might say they are unwilling to pay result if they don’t?
the price for success. 1. There is a plethora of compet-
ing messages in everyone’s 4. Close the deal with a KISS —
There are some fundamentals un- keep it simple, stupid. Once the
mental inbox these days. Get-
derlying success in any endeavor. audience shows real interest and
ting through the maze is the
When it comes to delivering profes- keeps nodding their heads as you
essential first step. Years ago,
sional services, the traits include: present the material, you can try
my organization hired a public-
• Intelligence: You don’t have to ity manager. The morning Larry for a quick close by simply ask-
be a Mensa member, but you do was introduced, he came into ing, “OK, you obviously see the
have to understand the rules of the room from the back, walked value. Shall we go?” If they are
the game you are playing. through the assemblage to the not ready to sign on, check again
front without saying a word and for any of the key points they are
• Perception: Successful people are not committed to. Then, go for
insightful. They see beyond the stuck a $100 bill on the white-
board. He turned and looked at another close.
obvious when it comes to people,
circumstances and future needs. us for a minute in silence. Then At the end of the day, getting what
he asked, “Do I have your atten- you want is a function of personal
• Skills and knowledge: If you are tion?” You may not do something traits and presentation skills. It
a manager, you have to know the as dramatic as Larry did, but is not magic, but it does require
basics of management. If you are until you get attention, you can’t dedicated effort. Some people are
a professional, you need to know explain your proposition. natural salespeople. Most of us are
how to use the tools of the trade. not. But if we work at it, we can get
2. Why should your audience be
• Courage: You can’t be afraid to interested in your proposal? what we want most of the time.
talk to people, even those who They have their own interests
are blunt, insensitive and driven and needs. Often the mention of
to perform. something they don’t know will About
• Desire: You have to want success peak interest. For example, a the
badly. Whatever you aspire to, be statistic or a case related to your Author
it resources, position or achieve- topic can stimulate thought. The Jac Fitz-enz is founder and CEO of the
ment, you can’t take no for an caveat is that it must be of inter- Human Capital Source and Workforce
answer. Perseverance is essential. est to them as well. Intelligence Institute. He can be reached
February 2011
at editor@talentmgt.com.

Learn From High-Level HR,

Talent Management and Diversity Speakers
Panel Discussions Keynote Addresses @DiversityExec
@TalentMgtMag
Collaboration: Fulfilling the Promise The Paths to Power #ST2011
of Strategic Human Capital Jeffrey Pfeffer

Julie Clow, Ph.D. Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford University
Learning and Organizational Development
Manager, EngEDU, Google Inc.
Realizing the Benefits of Extended Collaboration: Transforming
Marilyn Nagel a Century of Organizational Assumptions and Practices
Chief Diversity Officer,
Cisco Systems Tamara J. Erickson
Author, What's Next, Gen X? and Retire Retirement
Andy Ortiz
Senior Vice President, Organization Effectiveness,
Warner Bros. Entertainment Achieving Significant Success Through Diversity and Inclusion
Cynthia Owyoung George C. Halvorson
Senior Manager, Diversity and Engagement, Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Permanente
Making Workforce Planning Work Creating an Explosion of Innovation

Frans Johansson
Pat Harris
Author, The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the
Global Chief Diversity Officer,
Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Cultures
McDonald's Corp. LLC
Stacey Harris
Director, Strategic HR Research, and
Principal Analyst, HR and Talent Community Giveback: Call of the Wild NEW SESSION
Management, Bersin & Associates
Please join us on Wednesday evening prior to the networking reception
Lacey All as we do our part to give back to the Half Moon Bay area.
Strategic Talent Initiatives, Strategies 2011 has partnered with Wildlife Associates,
Starbucks Coffee Co. who for 31 years has been caring for non-releasable,
abused, abandoned and injured wildlife. A select few of
Suzan McDaniel these animals will join us in The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom
Vice President, Talent Management, and take on the role of “wild teachers” as we learn
Hewlett-Packard more about the Wildlife Associates organization and
assemble enrichment “toys” for the animals in their care.
To learn more about Strategies 2011 and to register, visit
STRATEGIES2011.COM
[making it work] by Marc Effron
Doing Competencies Right

The field of talent management Create an effective competency ees accountable for these behaviors
faces an interesting challenge. We model. Remember your business through performance manage-
should be fully equipped to solve goal to ensure that employees’ ment, talent reviews or 360s. But
any talent issue. behaviors support the business pick one area and build in conse-
Yet, when corporate executives are strategy. Then, do the following: quences for not aligning with the
surveyed about the state of their model.
• Listen to your senior team.
company’s talent, they’re decidedly Interview your top team mem- Revise them when the strategy
unhappy. McKinsey, Deloitte and bers using one simple question: changes. You’re trying to align be-
Boston Consulting Group each have Which three behaviors are most haviors with the strategy. When the
found executives disappointed critical for our success in the next
with the quality and depth of their three to five years?
company’s talent and its processes
to build more. There seems to be a • Identify the vital themes. Managers are
gap between our potential to de- Review interview data to iden- willing to use an
liver results and our actual impact. tify the four or five themes that HR process only if
emerge. Don’t frame those themes
Bridging that gap is the key to our in HR speak, just capture senti-
it adds more value
long-term success, and we have a ments as they were expressed. to their life than it
potentially powerful tool at hand You’ll find two or three themes ev- does complexity.
to drive organization success — eryone agrees on and two or three
the behavioral competency model. more with some group support.
If well-constructed, it should tell
employees which behaviors are es- • Write a short sentence that strategy changes, so should the be-
sential for corporate success in a describes each theme. Each haviors. The less structure you’ve
simple and emotionally compelling sentence should capture the be- built around them, the easier this
way. Unfortunately, that’s an infre- haviors in the theme and also will be.
quent result. What’s not working? should use the language you use
in your company; be intuitive What Not to Do Next
The science behind competencies and easily understood; cause an
is extremely thin. Talent practices Define them by level. These be-
emotional connection to the com- haviors should apply to employees
such as performance management pany; and be applicable across all
rely on a strong foundation of aca- throughout the organization. Mea-
people practices. sure the frequency with which
demic research; competencies do
not. Before we start development, Here is an example: “Hate bureau- someone demonstrates them.
we should define what we’re try- cracy and the nonsense that goes Pay for them. Pay for results,
ing to accomplish. The purpose of with it.” You read that and instantly not behaviors that enable results.
competencies is to ensure employ- you know what that behavior would “Some of the time” might be appro-
ees’ behaviors support the business look like. It causes a positive emo- priate for managers and “all of the
strategy. With that as the objective, tional connection to the company, as time” for SVPs.
we should identify the simplest long as you hate bureaucracy. It uses
If you can create this simple,
possible way to achieve it. the language of your organization.
compelling and business-driving
If your goal is to have employees’
Value must outweigh complexity. competency model, you’ll lay a
behaviors support the strategy,
Managers are willing to use an HR strong foundation for your talent
sentences like that will provide 90
process only if it adds more value processes and remind your ex-
percent of what you need.
to their life than it does complex- ecutives of the true value of great
ity. That’s why the 12-competency, talent management.
four-level, five-descriptors-per-level What to Do Next
competency model is dead on arrival Integrate into every HR process.
at most companies. That type of Use the power of HR processes to About
model might add some value, but it reinforce the new behaviors. They the
completely overwhelms managers, should be part of selection, per- Author
so they ignore it or do the minimum formance management, training,
necessary to comply. Maintaining talent reviews and 360s. Marc Effron is president of The Talent
Strategy Group and author of One Page
the value/complexity balance is your Talent Management. He can be reached
Answer the question “Why
February 2011
secret to designing a competency at editor@talentmgt.com.

should I?” You can hold employ-
model that really works.

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View the process that E. & J. Gallo Winery used to create leadership development programs that fit Gallo’s
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Engagement: Setting Up
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STRATEGIES2011.COM
Hiring and Managing
the Overqualified
Ladan Nikravan
Although many are grateful just to be working

during a turbulent time, overqualified employees
still need to be strategically placed and supervised
to ensure they’re adequately challenged and set
up to contribute for the long term.
T
he abundance of overqualified talent ap- Managers: Challenge Them and Let Them Grow
plying for jobs below their education and Employers are seizing the opportunity to stock up on
skill levels is yet another lingering effect of discounted talent, but without the foresight to de-
the lackluster job market. But this pool of
velop their roles, many of these employees will not
job seekers should not perceive their over-
stay. Employees need challenges and room to stretch to
qualification as a burden, and talent managers should
maintain motivation. Organizations that hire overqual-
realize that, if properly managed, these workers can of-
ified employees need to find more meaningful work for
fer more than managers expect.
these employees, challenge them and accommodate the
Traditionally, companies avoid hiring overqualified types of skills and qualifications they have.
workers because they tend to be unhappy with the lim-
itations of their position or are unmotivated to excel “If a position is not quite at the level of a candidate, a
in assigned tasks and thus commonly quit. Although company can look at doing several things to fully uti-
many are simply grateful to be working right now, lize that talent and keep the person engaged,” Ellig said.
overqualified employees still need to be strategically “They can combine two positions into one to broaden
placed and supervised by talent managers to ensure the scope. If that’s not possible to do, they can look,
they’re adequately challenged. and promise, to do that down the road. If they can’t
do that now or later, the individual should be given a
“Smart companies want the best athletes,” said Janice
stretch project assignment, even if it’s outside of his
Ellig, co-CEO of executive search firm Chadick Ellig.
or her particular department or sphere of expertise, to
“In a market with an oversupply of great talent, com-
add fresh perspective, view and value to the organiza-
panies should always be on the lookout for people who
tion and their own work.”
will not just help them today but will fit their strategy
going forward.” Overqualified employees could conduct on-the-job
In a labor market where job seekers sometimes out- training and mentor newly hired employees, for ex-
number openings 5 to 1, the rise of overqualified talent ample.
in companies is not surprising. These mature and “Since companies aren’t spending the same amount of
skilled individuals are just as productive as their less dollars in training and development [as] they have in
skilled counterparts when placed and led properly. the past, when you have very experienced people you
“The cultural fit within an organization has to be there can use them as advisers to people less experienced,”
for an employee,” Ellig said. “The values have to be said Kathryn Kehoe, managing director at CMF As-
in sync. The communications have to be a two-way sociates. “When you have people who have a lot of
street. If those are all in play and in place, great people experience, they’ve worked through several economic
February 2011
will surely stay.” cycles and have come through the eye of the needle,

and that familiarity with the industry should be used tion. It’s all about challenging folks and watching them
to train the less experienced.” move.”
According to David First, vice president of learning Managers of overqualified employees must use em-
and development at Suffolk Construction Co., hiring powerment and development to overcome the negative
an overqualified candidate also challenges veteran em- impact of perceived overqualification.
ployees in a positive way.
“You might find that they find creative ways to improve
“You want to have a culture in your company where the product or service, improve the job, make it more
people aren’t going to be threatened by being chal- challenging for them and at the same time produce
lenged, think being challenged is a good thing and levels of product or service that you haven’t seen be-
believe having very talented people below them is a fore,” said Edward Lawler, author of Talent: Making
positive,” he said. “You want to take the best people you People Your Competitive Advantage and professor of
possibly can and challenge yourself as an organization business at the University of Southern California Mar-
to keep them engaged and happy in their positions.” shall School of Business. “It’s not automatic that just
Changing the work environment to allow more au- because someone is overqualified they will necessary
tonomy and embrace stimulating work will compel leave. It’s a risk, but it’s far from a guarantee.”
overqualified candidates to grow within their positions
and expand their job duties in multiple directions. Organizations: Reap the Benefits
“A lot of times you can grow and it doesn’t have to be There are several benefits that come from hiring an
vertical,” First said. “It can be horizontal, it can be overqualified candidate. When an employee with a
side to side into different positions, it can be learning lot of work experience joins an organization, he or she
February 2011
about different roles, it can actually be about becoming brings a lot of experience. Prior experience is a valu-
T-shaped so that you’re learning across the organiza- able quality in a prospective employee, and the more

experienced he or she is, the more able the individual them to grow the job or see people moving or retiring
is to deal with difficult situations. Additionally, he or fast enough for the individual to move up.”
she can become a source of inspiration for other em-
If a company is focused on the future and has inven-
ployees, who may want to learn from that employee’s
toried top talent and projected employment gaps, both
experience.
the employee and employer stand to benefit.
“Companies need to be open to other ways of doing
things,” said Audrey Tillman, executive vice president Handling the Truth
of corporate services at Aflac Inc. “Overqualified em-
Most overqualified employees do not have to be re-
ployees bring new and valuable ideas to organizations,
minded of the opportunities they are currently being
and managers should want to hear from them. Someone
given. Many unemployed professionals are willing to
who has proven talented, experienced, hardworking,
take pay cuts and drop a few steps down the corporate
energetic, and has aspirations is very beneficial to a
ladder for the promise of a paycheck. In fact, in some
company. Even though we’re tightening our belts, we
cases candidates are hiding lofty degrees, titles and
still want to give employees opportunities to stretch
experience to get a foot in the door. Withholding that
and grow outside day-to-day work.”
information is the only
option some overqualified
candidates see in order to
get an interview.
“All of the attention that
comes from the press
“You need to hire for on the dangers of hiring
someone who is over-
today but keep in mind qualified for a job and

the potential of negative
the business unit of

consequences that can
come from that hire have
caused things like this to
tomorrow.” happen,” Lawler said.
First agrees and said so-
ciety has deterred talent
– Janice Ellig, Co-CEO, Chadick Ellig managers from seeing the
benefits of hiring an over-
qualified individual.
“I can’t blame these can-
didates for wanting to
put food on the table or
A healthy and productive work environment is essen- pay their mortgage,” First said. “In a closer-to-perfect
tial not only to improve employee efficiency but also world, we would have organizations understanding
for the overall growth of the company. that these people can contribute more than anyone else
and that they’re lucky to have them.”
“You need to hire for today but keep in mind the
business unit of tomorrow,” Ellig said. “Hiring an In order to form an agreeable, lasting relationship, both
overqualified individual gives a company tremendous the overqualified employee and the employer must be
bench strength and vast potential. You’ll always have honest and forthcoming with information. Prospective
an abundance of talent and a succession plan.” employees need to know the scenario they’re coming
into from the start and what the expectations of that
As we progress into economic recovery, that bench role are.
strength will become increasingly important. Today’s
overqualified hire will be the perfect person for a “Companies need to communicate their needs very
higher-level position in 12 to 18 months, Kehoe said. thoroughly so there are no unmet expectations,” Till-
The potential to retain an overqualified employee de- man said. “What’s available is what the employee is
pends on prospective opportunities for the position applying for. That’s all there is, and if they take that
the employee is in as well as the overall outlook of the position, they’re accepting the roles that the company
company. should have made very clear.”
“You need to see if your organization is expecting to Experienced, highly qualified workers have a lot to
grow and develop and come up with more complex offer, so rather than looking at the worries in hiring
products or service delivery,” Lawler said. “If you are, someone who’s overqualified, hiring managers should
then it makes sense to hire someone who is maybe a focus on what they’re getting, which, if properly man-
February 2011
little overqualified, providing you can see a way for aged, can be a better asset than imagined.

What Do Employees Think? Just Ask
Ladan Nikravan
New employees join an organization with a high staggered basis and a determined process on how to
level of commitment, but the honeymoon stage conduct surveys. The compiling process and ques-
doesn’t have to dissipate. tions asked depend on company preference; what’s
Problems arise in the employer-employee relation- more important is what is done with the numbers
ship when expectations do not become realities. obtained.
In order to ensure ongoing commitment well after
“Collecting data is as good as what you do with
the employee gets situated, companies are using
new-hire surveys to assess new employees’ level of it,” Carvin said. “You can collect all the data in the
satisfaction. world, but if you don’t use it, there’s no point in
even having it. It’s really important that as you’re
Turnover costs are one of the largest controllable
collecting this data, you begin to create action plans
expenses incurred by organizations, and commu-
nication in early employment is crucial to develop and create a bit of a road map of things that you can
a healthy relationship and maintain commitment work on or solve that can improve the process.”
from newly acquired talent. Establishing a strong Survey results need to be aggregated in a way that
bond between an employee and employer boosts en- highlights trends rather than individual or anec-
gagement and can drive results faster. dotal performances. The purpose of these surveys
“There’s so much going on with the new hires that is to improve the process and organization — not
you just don’t know if you don’t ask,” said Beth N. to provide performance data on the individual em-
Carvin, CEO of Nobscot Corp. “It’s all about reten- ployee. According to Carvin, a company can best
tion and helping employees get off to a good start guarantee honest feedback if employees understand
with an increased speed to productivity. New-hire
the purpose of the survey and receive clear com-
surveys help organizations audit their processes;
it’s a wonderful way to really improve procedures munication on when it is coming. Tangible proof of
and reduce early turnover.” improvements from previous survey results help,
too.
Carvin said employee turnover is a bigger problem
now than ever before. In the past, employees were “New-hire surveys can create a company standard
willing to work through obstacles and often opted that acts upon the criticism of new employees and
to stay to avoid being perceived as job hoppers. Al- the inclusive opinions of everyone in the organiza-
though the recession has put a tighter leash on those tion,” Carvin said.
wishing to jump, employees are still more likely
than before to leave. Through the use of new-hire surveys, organizations
can identify critical job features that ensure the suc-
“Today, people are less likely than ever to stay if
cess and satisfaction of newly hired employees and
there’s an issue, if it doesn’t feel right or if the ex-
pectations are different from what they thought,” forge a strong employer-employee partnership that
Carvin said. minimizes turnover.
To effectively use new-hire surveys as an engage- “Taking action is really important for improving
ment tool, companies need to have a scheduler who your organization and improving the corporate cul-
plans the distribution of surveys to new hires on a ture around employee feedback,” Carvin said.

Courting the Quants
Elizabeth Craig and Jeanne G. Harris
Companies need people who know how to use statistics and

analysis to shape and make business decisions. Finding and
holding on to them isn’t easy, even in a buyer’s market.
C
ompanies are increasingly turning to ana- Figure 1: Likelihood That Employees
lytics to sharpen their competitive edge. To Will Actively Look For a New Job
execute this strategy, they need analytical In the Next Year
talent — people who know how to use sta- On average, analytical professionals were less
tistics, quantitative or qualitative analysis likely to intend to stay with their current
and information-modeling techniques to make busi- employers than other employees.
ness decisions.
21%
Analytical talent includes the senior executives who lead Very likely
14%
analytical initiatives, the semi-professionals who apply
analytics to business problems and the army of employ- 26%
ees who increasingly rely on data to perform their jobs. Likely
15%
But the most strategic value is created by the analytical
professionals who build the models and algorithms com-
23%
panies need to improve decisions about everything from Unsure
new product offerings to marketing investments. 20%
These professionals are critical to build and maintain Unlikely 19%

an organization’s analytical capabilities. Without these 23%
heavy-duty quants — often holding doctorates in fields
such as statistics, operations research, marketing re- Not at all likely 12%
search and applied mathematics — a company can’t
28%
glean valuable insights from the reams of data it gath-
ers or generates. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
■ Analytical professionals
Unfortunately, these highly specialized workers are
■ Other employees
among the most challenging to attract and retain be-
cause the best analytical talent is in high demand and Source: Accenture, 2009
has no shortage of employment opportunities. Further,
the quants are also those most likely to look for a new ily available. Some employers are forging links with top
job. In a 2009 study by the Accenture Institute for High universities to create a pipeline of new analytical talent.
Performance, “How to Engage and Retain Analytical
Talent,” 47 percent of analytical professionals said it It’s not simply a matter of getting HR to find more
was likely or very likely they would look actively for a quantitative experts. Managers must understand what
new job in the next year (Figure 1). makes these specialists tick and apply an informed ap-
proach to manage them. Analytical pros are a special
A high attrition rate among top quants is a problem com- breed. Their backgrounds, skills, attitudes and motiva-
panies can’t afford to ignore. When analysts jump ship, tions can differ markedly from other employees. What
they take vast amounts of knowledge and expertise with these professionals want most is an employer that
them, and there is often no one with the same depth of values analytics and analytical talent. Any company
technical skill to replace them. Further, finding analyti- courting top quants must get two things right:
cal skills in the market is increasingly challenging as
more companies join the hunt for these rare skills. Busi- 1. Create an organization that serves as a magnet for
nesses are aggressively poaching top analysts and have top analytical talent.
begun seeking out the best talent globally, even moving 2. Recognize analytical talent as a scarce and valuable
February 2011
their work groups to where analytical skills are read- resource — and manage it accordingly.

Creating an Analytical-Talent Magnet customer segmentation models or perform supplier
Analytical pros are no different from other top talent analyses, these quants become savvy at identifying op-
in one regard: The best want to work with the best. portunities for analytics to help the business.
Companies that offer analysts the chance to work with Other companies rely on business leaders to coach
smart and capable colleagues have little trouble secur- analytical professionals on critical business skills.
ing top analytical talent. Accenture’s research study According to Dick Stevie, chief economist for Duke
on building and sustaining high performance, “Jump- Energy, communication skills are primary because an-
ing the S-Curve: How to Beat the Growth Cycle, Get alysts must know how to explain the business and its
on Top, and Stay There,” indicates the most successful analytics to a wide range of stakeholders, from internal
companies create a virtuous cycle in which great tal- customers to regulators and even the public. “This re-
ent attracts other top talent. These businesses become quires precision, completeness and clarity — no jargon
worthy of serious talent by drawing in the best people and no metaphor,” Stevie said. “You’ve got to convince
and making them want to stay. a panel that what you’ve done is logical and reason-
To become an analytical-talent magnet, a company able.” To prepare analysts for these situations, talent
must first build a culture in which data and rigor- leaders could routinely put them in front of top man-
ous analysis play a central role in decision making. agement for mock trials, where analysts get practice
Top analysts want to work in companies that value testifying and being cross-examined.
analytically based insights and that are committed
to fact-based decision making. At companies such as Recognize Analytical Talent Value
Google, Capital One and Netflix, employees know bet- Too many employers treat their top analysts as human
ter than to propose a course of action without having calculators, not rare and crucial talent. They relegate
data on hand to support it. In an analytical culture, their best analysts to simple projects or working on low-
analysts’ specialized skills are respected, and they value items rather than building robust models to solve
have plenty of opportunities to deploy and develop ad- the most challenging business problems. That’s a sure
vanced skills while doing interesting work that has a recipe for disengagement and defection.
meaningful impact on the business.
Many employers also fail to recognize analytical talent
Second, organizations need to challenge analysts and as a distinct workforce. They scatter analysts through-
make thorough use of their specialized skills. Few ana- out departments and don’t have a clear picture of who
lytical pros can resist the lure of running sophisticated their analysts are or where they reside organizationally.
analyses on complex data and developing new models Further, in most organizations, analytical profession-
and techniques. The pull of the data can be powerful. als are measured and developed not according to their
Third, companies must make sure analysts’ mod- analytical skills but according to the standards of the
els and applications matter. Analytical pros relish the business units or functions where they work. Rewards,
opportunity to do important work that makes a mean- performance management, objectives and role descrip-
ingful contribution. Perhaps the biggest demotivator is tions vary widely for analytical talent in the same
spending too much time on simple analyses and report enterprise. And worse, analysts’ daily work activities
generation instead of building and refining models. It’s aren’t aligned with the organization’s strategic goals.
common for companies to lose professionals who felt This is not just poor HR practice; it’s an obstacle
they were treated largely as spreadsheet developers. to attract, engage and retain analytical talent. The
If the business is not demanding important analytics most successful analytical organizations take a con-
work, the best analysts won’t be drawn to the company. sistent enterprisewide approach to apply common
Finally, organizations need to arm analysts with criti- recruiting strategies, training and development plans,
cal information about the business. Companies with a performance management processes and career paths
commitment to building an analytical culture develop to analytical talent across the business. These com-
business acumen in analysts and analytical expertise panies also customize their human capital strategies
in business executives. Analytics doesn’t happen in a and practices for this particular demographic. Some
vacuum. For people to know where and how to best ap- companies have tailored job descriptions to fit a single
ply their analytical skills, they need to understand the individual or even created new roles that leverage cer-
strategy for their business, function and department. tain candidates’ skills and backgrounds.
They must know how analytics can create value for Customizing career paths can further help an organiza-
the company. tion attract and retain top analysts. According to Jim
One way companies can increase analysts’ business Heffernan, chief financial officer of the Massachusetts
acumen is through developmental assignments that General Physicians Organization, “It’s a big challenge
move them around the company. They have opportu- to avoid setting analysts up for failure by promoting
nities to learn about critical business challenges and them according to the organization’s standard career
work processes. E. & J. Gallo Winery rotates its ana- models. Many of the most technically adept analysts
lytical experts between different business units and don’t want to manage others.” To retain its valued ana-
functional departments during 18- to 24-month tours lysts, the organization is creating a compensation and
February 2011
of duty. As they analyze grape supply, develop new promotion system that allows analysts to remain indi-

vidual contributors without direct reports and still be organization that serves as a magnet for top analytical
eligible for pay increases and promotions. talent as well as recognizing and managing analytical
Analytical talent is vital to every organization that talent as a scarce and valuable resource are two par-
relies on data-driven insights to achieve its strategic ticularly potent practices.
goals and best its rivals. Whether a company routinely
uses analytics as a distinctive business capability or Elizabeth Craig is a research fellow at the Accenture
is just beginning to develop analytical aspirations, Institute for High Performance and co-author of The Talent
Powered Organization: Strategies for Globalization, Talent
attracting and retaining analytical talent will be es- Management and High Performance. Jeanne G. Harris is
sential. By understanding what makes analysts tick, an executive research fellow and director of research at the
leaders can apply the right moves to court and keep the Accenture Institute for High Performance and co-author of
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results.
quantitative talent they need. Creating an analytical They can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.
Getting Creative to Boost Retention

Sherri Elliott-Yeary
Layoffs associated with the Great Recession allowed tain provisions and eligibility requirements apply, but
hiring executives to cherry-pick from a flooded tal- employees who qualify will have the flexibility to work
ent market, but as the economic downturn slowly offsite should they need to do so.
reverses, business focus will shift from acquiring top Millennials and Generation X particularly value flex-
talent to keeping it. ible work arrangements for their impact on work-life
According to Shelly Little, CEO of Michaels Wilder, balance. Studies show these two demographic groups
a talent recruitment and retention firm, businesses almost always will choose employers that offer remote-
may be surprised to learn that retaining top talent office capabilities over employers that offer higher
doesn’t necessarily mean throwing buckets of money salaries but require rigid office attendance. According
at employees. Innovative strategies to keep employ- to Little, boomer and traditionalist generations are slow
ees engaged and involved yield better retention and to recognize the merits of this type of program.
motivation results than a token yearly raise. Focus on When Michaels Wilder first implemented ROWE,
creating and retaining exceptional talent by showing upper management was hesitant because the new pro-
employees that they matter. gram threw a wrench into an entrenched management
Little said one of the best ways to identify, reward and style. “It was a bit of a curve ball,” Little said. “But
keep top talent is to create internal opportunities for once management started participating themselves,
employees to take on high-profile projects that put they thought, ‘This is great. I can’t wait to do this more.
them in the spotlight. “We get them to work with se- Please don’t take this away.’”
nior levels of management,” she said. “This gives them Along with revenue generation, length of employee
the opportunity to understand the company hierarchy tenure is one of the top indicators of success, accord-
and move politically within the organization.” ing to Little. Small steps to make sure employees will
These types of projects also facilitate internal stay even 12 months longer can directly affect a com-
knowledge transfer. As the baby boomer and tradition- pany’s bottom line. Further, retention programs like
alist generations retire, it’s critical for organizations to the ones implemented at Michaels Wilder are not ex-
guard against knowledge drain. Creating opportunities pensive.
for newer employees to work on projects with senior “More tenured employees perform better, and that re-
talent facilitates knowledge transfer and boosts reten- sults in more revenue for the company,” Little said. “If
tion rates by making younger generations feel invested you’ve got employees who are engaged and involved
in the company. at work and stay with the company, they build and
Investing in remote-office technology is another way develop client, vendor and partner relationships. The
to attract and retain top talent. Michaels Wilder has longer they keep those relationships and the longer
adopted a program called Results-Oriented Work Envi- they stay with you, the bigger the tangible benefit in
ronment (ROWE), originally implemented by Best Buy. the form of increased revenue to your company.”
“The idea is that our employees are capable, respon-

sible adults who know how to manage their work, so Sherri Elliott-Yeary is founder and CEO of Optimance
Workforce Strategies and Gen InsYght and author of Ties to
we give them the flexibility to work remotely so they Tattoos: Turning Generational Differences Into a Competitive
don’t always have to be in the office,” Little said. Cer- Advantage. She can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

They’re Human
Capital, Not Cattle
Ronald J. Baker
“
T
Enlightened leaders he management of knowledge workers
should be based on the assumption that
understand that knowledge the corporation needs them more than
workers contribute based they need the corporation. They know
they can leave. They have both mobility
on their strengths, crave and self-confidence. This means they have to be treated
autonomy over how they and managed as volunteers, in the same way as volun-
teers who work for not-for-profit organizations.”
work and want to be treated
– Peter Drucker, A Functioning Society:
as colleagues rather than Selections From 65 Years of Writing
subordinates. on Community, Society and Polity, 2003
The terms “knowledge worker,” “knowledge economy”

and “human capital” have existed since the late 1950s,
but our thinking with respect to the workplace is still
mired in the era of the Industrial Revolution. The ghost
of Frederick W. Taylor’s discredited religion of scientific
February 2011

management spawned the altar of efficiency at which agreed upon definition of the components of the nu-
businesses continue to worship. merator and denominator. In an intellectual capital
Human capital determines the performance capacity economy, however, it is a conundrum.
of any organization. Today’s knowledge workers, un- Take the denominator. Which inputs should be in-
like the factory workers of the Industrial Revolution, cluded? If we are dealing with wine, we could count
own the means of production. Wealth does not reside the costs of grapes, bottles and corks, none of which
in tangible assets or money; it resides in intellectual would help us define — let alone value — the final
capital — knowledge that can be converted into profits. product. As they say, it’s much easier to count the bot-
In fact, the World Bank study “Where Is the Wealth of tles than describe the wine.
Nations?” found that 75 percent of the world’s wealth
resides in human capital. We don’t know how to measure a knowledge worker’s
efficiency for a fundamental reason. A business doesn’t
Knowledge firms are the ultimate “asset-less” orga- exist to be efficient — it exists to create wealth for its
nizations, since volunteers own the majority of their
customers. There is nothing more useless than doing
value-creating capacity. This is a tectonic shift not only
efficiently that which shouldn’t be done at all.
in the nature of wealth creation, but also in how com-
panies need to think about how they work. We need Efficiency cannot be meaningfully defined without
new thinking and new models to judge knowledge considering employees’ purpose, desires, preferences
workers’ effectiveness, and we need to draw an enor- and what price people are willing to pay. It cannot sim-
mous distinction between efficiency — always a ratio ply be reduced to output per man-hour.
of outputs to inputs — and effectiveness — or the ex-
When economists use the term “efficiency,” it’s not in
tent to which a desired result is realized.
the technical sense that, for example, the most efficient
car gets the most miles per gallon. Indeed, if we mea-
Why Effectiveness Trumps Efficiency sured the efficiency of most automobiles based on an
All businesspeople are familiar with the bromide output/input ratio, we would discover that most are
“What you can measure you can manage.” We hear ev- completely inefficient since they are idle a majority of
erywhere that efficiency needs to be improved in our the time. But when we want to go somewhere, they
organizations. But nowhere is this term defined. What are very effective, and we gladly pay the price of the
exactly does it mean to increase efficiency? reduced efficiency. Google does the same by provid-
Productivity and efficiency are often a ratio expressed ing its knowledge workers 20 percent time to work on
as the amount of output per unit of input. Mathemati- projects that interest them. It is trading efficiency for
cally, it seems straightforward, if there was one widely innovation.
February 2011

Improve Competitiveness
With Data Visualization
Ryan Kandel
To compete effectively, companies in the pharmaceuti- Quintiles found a solution that satisfied all these
cal services industry must be able to demonstrate their requirements and rolled it out the across the entire en-
ability to meet customer needs around the globe. For terprise over a six-week period. Today, the solution has
most companies, this means being able to visualize and completely eliminated the need for administrative staff
present to prospective clients an accurate snapshot to manually create and maintain spreadsheets and org
of the current workforce and its capabilities. It also charts, which saves the company hundreds of labor
means that behind the scenes, the company must be hours annually.
able to incorporate HR data into decision making so it
can deliver on its promises and ensure that business Most importantly, visualizing the data exposed numer-
units around the world maximize ROI and operate in ous inaccuracies in the existing understanding of the
line with the company’s business goals. company hierarchy. By relying on current and highly
accurate data, Quintiles has significantly improved
Clinical research organization Quintiles, which has
workflow management. For example, the always up-
more than 20,000 employees and offices in 60 coun-
to-date view of the organization includes location,
tries, recognized it needed to make better use of HR
data to organize talent and enhance decision making. title, manager and employee status, providing man-
Previously, whether for operations or sales demonstra- agers with immediate access to the key employee
tions, the HR team was constantly overrun with calls information they need for planning, budgeting and
and e-mails asking for updated organizational charts daily operations. Further, managers around the globe
and confirmation of employee information. Dozens of always have the most current information when plan-
administrators across the globe were spending a great ning to hire, fire, promote, set bonus structure or pitch
amount of time manually creating and updating Excel- new business.
based charts on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis. The new, up-to-date org charts, affectionately nick-
In addition to wanting to relieve administrators of named Q Charts, are useful for the sales staff. Now the
these time-consuming burdens, the company wanted team can easily show clients and prospects the com-
a tool that could quickly visualize accurate and up-to-
pany structure and hierarchy, demonstrating Quintiles’
date data from its previous system.
regional presence.
As Quintiles searched for a solution, it did not want to
The ability to visualize HR data and create pre-
create a new burden for the IT department. As a re-
sentation-quality org charts has helped to restore
sult, the company established three additional product
requirements: The new program needed to be an easy- management’s confidence in the accuracy of company
to-implement, on-demand solution; it needed to inherit data and its ability to deliver on promises to customers
security settings directly from PeopleSoft; and, in order and prospects.
to increase the adoption rate and save money, it needed
to have an easy-to-use interface that required minimal Ryan Kandel is director of the HR service center for Quintiles.
training. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.
So why all the fuss about efficiency? It can be easily A Model to Increase Knowledge
measured. But that in no way means we can manage it, Worker Effectiveness
let alone change it, especially when talent leaders are “For the ‘knowledge workers,’ the question is less how
talking about knowledge workers. None of this means
much they produce than whether they direct their at-
that firms should ignore new technology and produc-
tivity tools. No one is endorsing Luddites. A different tentions to the right ‘product.’ It is effectiveness rather
argument is being made: Efficiency, in and of itself, than efficiency that characterizes their economic
is not a competitive advantage. It is the equivalent of contribution. And efficiency itself in the knowledge
having bathrooms — it’s a table stake. We need a new worker is much less a matter of the individual do-
framework to increase the effectiveness of people who ing more, as it is a matter of the group doing better.
work with their minds, not their muscles. These are new things. So far none of us, whether we

be Americans or Russians or Europeans or Japanese, visceral information sources. Leaders simply cannot
know how to do this.” manage people by numbers. All measurements are judg-
ments, since we decide what to measure and interpret
– Peter Drucker, People and Performance, 2007
the results.
Engage in this thought experiment: You want to build Emotions are essential to good decisions, since “most
the world’s finest automobile. You decide to use in- people reason dramatically, not quantitatively,” as
dividual parts with a reputation for excellence from American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote.
various cars around the world — Ferrari engine, This is why employees are inspired more by stories
Porsche brakes, BMW suspension and so on. What you than spreadsheets and pie charts full of statistics. Mar-
would end up with is not the world’s greatest automo- tin Luther King Jr. did not proclaim, “I have quarterly
bile, but rather a really expensive piece of junk. objectives,” but spoke of having a dream.
This, in a nutshell, is the problem with talent leaders’ Many leaders appear to subscribe to Lenin’s maxim:
attempts to measure knowledge workers’ efficiency — “Trust is good. Control is better.” Yet most objective
we measure tasks in the false belief that maximizing metrics can be manipulated, leaving nothing but the
the efficiency of each one will maximize the efficiency illusion of control. It is actually the soft, fuzzy and sub-
of the entire organization. jective issues that are harder to deal with because they
Knowledge work is not defined by quantity but by qual- require judgment and discernment. Metrics only re-
ity. It is also not defined by its costs but by its results. It quire a scale, and it’s much easier to be precisely wrong
is not repetitive; it is iterative and reiterative — a pro- than approximately right.
cess of the mind, which is a difficult place for metrics
to have any meaning. Not many people would want a Not Final Words
time-and-motion surgeon who equated efficiency with “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then
quality medical care. tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can
Traditional measurement tools need to be replaced tell us what to do.”
by judgment, and there is a difference between mea- – Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple
surement and judgment: Measurement requires only a
stick, while judgment requires knowledge. In his Nobel Prize lecture, economist Friedrich von
Hayek urged policymakers to emulate gardeners, not
Peter Drucker believed the main focus of the knowledge
engineers, by creating the environment for growth
worker should be on the task to be done — with all other
rather than trying to bring it about directly through
distractions eliminated as much as possible — and this
command and control. This applies to knowledge
is defined by the individual worker. Asking knowledge workers as well.
workers the following questions about their jobs is a rich
source for learning a great deal about any organization: People are not assets, inventory or resources — they
are individuals entitled to a sense of mission and pur-
• What is your task? pose in their lives who congregate in organizations to
• What should it be? make a difference in others’ lives. The universal need of
every worker is to perform meaningful work in a com-
• What should you be expected to contribute?
munity with others of like mind to make a difference
• How fair are those expectations? in the world. The real aspiration of an organization is
• What hampers you in doing your task and should be to make people better, not just make them better off.
eliminated? Characteristics such as passion, desire, obsession, mo-
• How could you make the greatest contribution to tivation, innovation, creativity and knowledge may not
what needs to be done? show up anywhere on financial statements, but they
are the traits that will ultimately determine the fate of
• What results have to be achieved to make a differ- any company.
ence?
Treating people as human capital, not cattle, requires
• What progress are you making in your career? enlightened leaders who understand knowledge
• How is the company helping you to achieve your workers must contribute based on their strengths, be
professional goals and aspirations? given autonomy over how they do their work, and be
convinced more than controlled because they are col-
• What does the company do right, and what should it leagues, not subordinates. This attitude does not fit
continue doing? well with more common command-and-control hierar-
• What are the company’s weaknesses, and what chies, but it will become an essential mind-shift in the
should it stop doing? 21st century if organizations are to reap the wealth-
creating possibilities of knowledge workers.
• What critical things should the company start doing?
Talent leaders are going to have to become much more
Ronald J. Baker is founder of VeraSage Institute and author
February 2011
comfortable with intuition, judgment and discern- of Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for
ment over measurements, as well as verbal, visual and Professional Firms. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

The Corporate Lattice
Cathy Benko and Andrew Liakopoulos
Advances in technology and new demographic

trends have prompted changes that have
gotten ahead of corporate policies.
S
caling the corporate ladder was once the Project work has increased fortyfold over the past two
definition of professional success. But or- decades. In the same time frame, organizations have
ganizational hierarchy isn’t what it used to flattened, with University of Chicago Professor Ra-
be — and neither is today’s workforce. So- ghuram Rajan and Harvard Business School Professor
cial and demographic forces have changed Julie Wulf finding 25 percent fewer rungs for upward
the composition of today’s workforce across gender, advancement in a 2003 study of 300 large U.S. firms.
generation, family structure, cultural background and
Those numbers likely have not changed significantly.
other diversity lines.
Further, family structures have changed markedly.
A corporate lattice model represents a more flexible
approach to the way work is now performed and is a According to Catalyst, only 1 in 6 U.S. families mirror
fitting metaphor for how careers are built and talent is the traditional structure upon which the ladder model
developed. Further, lattice thinking is in use today, and was built, where the father works and the mother
lattice organizations are not simply stays at home. According to 2009’s “The Shriver Re-
reacting to forces but rather are re-
designing the rules of work itself. Figure 1. Shifting From Ladder to Lattice
The corporate ladder emerged at
the start of the Industrial Age as a
model for maximizing efficiencies
and economies of scale. It prof-
fers a worldview in which power,
rewards and access to information
are tied to which rung each em-
ployee occupies. It defines career
success as a linear climb to the top
and assumes that employees are
more alike than different and that • Traditional, hierarchical • Flatter, often matrixed structure.
they all want and need the same structure. • Distributed authority; broad
things to deliver results. • Top-down authority; limited information access.
information access. • Multidirectional career paths.
The changes prompting the col- • Linear, vertical career paths. • High workforce mobility;
lapse of this century-old ladder are • Low workforce mobility; loyalty is based on continuing
striking. Globalization and tech- loyalty is based on job security. opportunity.
nology are creating more virtual • Work is a place you go to. • Work is what you do.
and dispersed teams, and man- • Individual contributor-driven. • Team- and community-driven.
agement practices haven’t kept • Separation of career and life. • Integration of career and life.
pace. The shift from an industrial • Tasks define the job. • Competencies define the job.
economy to a knowledge economy
• Many workers are similar to • Many workers are different from
also means that 21st-century work
February 2011
each other. each other.

is less routinized and repetitive.

February 2011

port,” women now comprise half the U.S. workforce • Ways participation is fostered: Instead of static,
and are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of U.S. top-down communications, lattice organizations nur-
households. A 2008 Families and Work Institute study ture transparent cultures, providing multiple ways
stated that men in dual-career couples report one-third for people to offer thoughts, ideas and feedback. This
more work-life conflict than women. To add even more can be seen in Best Buy’s Blue Shirt Nation, an inter-
complexity, younger generations are bringing different nal social networking site that encourages employees
attitudes about what it takes to motivate them at the to share and discuss their unfiltered customer ser-
same time older workers are looking for flexible op- vice experiences and ideas for improvements. These
tions to stay in the labor market. In just about every examples of the changing world of work can benefit
way, employees are more diverse than ever, including both companies and workers alike.
their definitions of success.
Lattice in Action
Figure 2. Three Lattice Ways Many companies have made some progress in at least
one lattice way, but lattice approaches are often con-
strained by staid ladder cultural norms and practices
that reduce employee engagement and productivity by
inhibiting the flow of necessary information, assuming
all employees share the same career goals and discour-
aging even limited choices regarding where and when
ilt work is done. By taking action on all three lattice ways
bu
ar
e ne and connecting them to each other, companies achieve
ers s do the overall benefit of a coordinated, strategic response.
re et ion
ca r kg at
ys wo i p Cisco’s reinvention after the dot-com bust exemplifies
Wa ys
c
rti ed
Wa s pa ster a “lattice in action” organization. The company adopted
y fo a system of councils and boards along with social me-
Wa is
dia and other technologies to increase collaboration
across organizational silos. It had to work hard to make
this new model successful. “We discovered collabora-
tion was different enough from how we used to operate
that it wasn’t enough to just put good leaders on the
councils,” said Randy Pond, executive vice president
Lattice Living of operations, systems and processes for Cisco. “We
needed to shift our cultural mindset and provide more
In mathematics, a lattice is a three-dimensional struc-
structure to support this change.”
ture that extends infinitely in any direction. In the
real world, lattices can be found everywhere from a A new model for developing careers at Cisco also has
garden’s wooden trellis to the metalwork on the Eiffel emerged to support the shift — one that emphasizes
Tower. A lattice is an adaptive construct chock full of lateral as well as vertical moves to grow high-potential,
options. These options can be organized in three ways next-generation leaders with a broad understanding
(Figure 2). of different business areas. Further, options for inte-
grating career and life have expanded as flexible work
• Ways careers are built: Rather than employ a se-
becomes the norm. The full power of the three lattice
ries of linear career paths, lattice organizations offer
ways is unleashed when they connect to one another,
more flexible options to grow and a multitude of op-
mutually reinforcing a new formula for high perfor-
portunities to develop. The Council for Adult and
mance.
Experiential Learning is using this strategy to ad-
dress the nursing shortage. It has created alternate At Deloitte LLP, for example, the benefits of combining
career paths intended to draw more individuals into lattice ways reveal that nearly 90 percent of those who
certified nurse assistant roles, gateway positions that perceive the three lattice ways in action are highly en-
open up a variety of future opportunities. gaged and committed to going the extra mile to deliver
results.
• Ways work gets done: Lattice organizations don’t
subscribe to the expectation that all employees need
to sit at their desks clocking face time from 9 to 5. Capitalizing on the Lattice
Instead, they offer options for when, where and how Beginning an organization’s own ladder-to-lattice jour-
people do their work. Capital One’s efforts to equip ney is a lot easier than one might think; it already may
its associates with the technology to work from be under way. The evolution is happening, albeit in-
anywhere — while reconfiguring office space to ac- formally and in a haphazard and uncoordinated way.
February 2011
commodate a range of needs — is indicative of this. For example, when the National Science Foundation

surveyed 1,200 of its employees in 2007, it found that to access all the content employees have posted on BT-
almost one-third teleworked regularly, and the number pedia, in blogs and elsewhere, and it also shows what
swelled to more than half when occasional teleworkers other colleagues in someone’s network are up to.
were counted. Two-thirds of managers who super- Examples of lattice careers in action are also preva-
vised home-based workers also worked from home lent. The story of Ana Corrales, vice president of global
themselves. This happened without a formal telework business operations at Cisco, provides such a real-life
policy. example. She joined Cisco in 1996 as a manufacturing
Examining the organization’s real estate footprint pro- planner. She made a series of horizontal moves that
vides another “lattice way at work” touch point that gave her a broad portfolio of experiences. Her move
may reap significant cost savings. For example, a 2005 to manufacturing plant operations netted her peo-
Real Estate Executive Board study noted how a unit of ple leadership skills to add to her already formidable
a large pharmaceutical firm reviewed seven locations analytical strengths. Additional moves took her to ma-
in expensive real estate markets, only to learn that terials acquisition at the front end of the supply chain,
their average space utilization was 41 percent. Many to finance, to customer service and to work with sales
people were working out of the office at customer sites, taking customer orders and processing them. Today,
other offices or remote locations of their own choosing. Corrales is a vice president in charge of business mod-
els, a role that requires a cross-functional
perspective. It wasn’t a predictable, vertical
career pathway that guided her career jour-
ney, but rather a series of upward, diagonal
and lateral moves, a quintessential example
of the lattice ways careers are built.
Lattice organizations Seeing the lattice in action, however ad hoc

it may be, indicates that external technol-
nurture transparent ogy and demographic trends have prompted
changes that have gotten ahead of corporate
cultures, providing policies. For instance, social media has pro-
multiple ways for their liferated within organizations, yet many do
not have guidelines for its use. As another
people to offer thoughts, example, employees are taking it upon them-
ideas and feedback. selves to decide when they want to work
from home or other locations with or with-
out collaboration with their managers.
It is imperative that talent leaders provide
guidance on the changing world of work
— from informal rules of the road to for-
mal policies and procedures — so they can
corral one-off though well-intentioned
Employees’ desire for flexibility — and the technology workarounds and point solutions. This will benefit
to achieve it — ran ahead of the management mindset both the organization and its employees by providing
to take advantage of it. By waking up to what is al- greater flexibility, increased communication, a sense
ready going on, organizations can take strides to reduce of community and opportunities for cost savings, all
expenses, increase flexibility and improve workspace while better managing risk.
effectiveness. The shift from ladder to lattice isn’t just a metaphori-
Lattice participation is under way in many ways cal one; it’s already going on. Using a corporate lattice
besides flexible work options and organizational model provides an opportunity to transform the mul-
development opportunities. For example, British titude of incremental and disconnected activities and
telecommunications giant BT implemented an experi- investments likely going on in an organization into a
mental wiki dubbed BTpedia at a grass-roots level in comprehensive and strategic response to the tech-
2007 to facilitate informal information sharing across nology, demographic and economic trends that have
the company. On the heels of its successful adoption, changed the workplace.
BT launched a second more formal experiment that
introduced blogging, along with a third that created a Cathy Benko is vice chairman and chief talent officer at
small-scale social network. These ad hoc efforts ulti- Deloitte LLP, and Andrew Liakopoulos is principal and
mately evolved into a robust internal social network U.S. talent strategies leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP.
They can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.
February 2011
called My BT. My BT provides a one-stop destination

May I See Your
Whine List?
Beverly Kaye
By learning to identify what’s beneath five

common employee complaints, managers can
turn whines into wins.
I
t was time to review the employee survey re- Research into employee engagement and retention
sults that her organization had disseminated shows that career opportunities are continually cited
several months ago. Anxiously, the talent man- as a major reason for both disengagement and turn-
ager picked up the first report. As she scanned over. A 2008 survey of 3,000 workers from multiple
it, her eyes caught one set of responses that had industries conducted by Career Systems International
reared its ugly head for the past few years: questions showed that 77 percent of employees believe they have
about careers and development conversations with more abilities than they are currently using in their
managers. work. Only 54 percent said they know how to find out
Again, the responses were disappointing. She leaned about career opportunities in their organization, and
back in her chair and thought about the efforts over 50 percent of managers reported that they know how
the past year to improve this area. Nothing seemed to to help their employees see the organization as a job
move the needle. Glancing over the comment section, market. These results are not surprising; employees
she read complaint after complaint. She knew that want to feel there are opportunities in their current
managers would not be thrilled when confronted with organization.
yet another request to do a better job conducting indi- HR leaders can make a positive impact by coaching
vidual development planning conversations. managers on how to use tried-and-true methods to
With a long sigh, she picked up her yellow highlighter engage employees. A mindset shift is required to help
and decided to power through. Actually, she couldn’t line managers use “whine sessions” as opportunities
wait to finish up and get home, maybe relax with a nice to delve into what’s really important to employees.
glass of red. There are many opportunities for conversations that
come from sincere inquiry. The question “What can I
The Whine List do to keep you satisfied, engaged and on my team?” is
rarely asked and provides great data. When answers
HR leaders for whom this is a common scenario are come couched in a complaint, the tone and negativity
in good company. Ever since the financial collapse of
can shut down the dialogue. If we can help managers to
2008, line managers have been under siege, with in-
see that people complain about what they care about,
creased pressure from the executives above to make
perhaps they will listen a bit deeper and a bit longer.
cuts, do more with less and keep the troops motivated.
Managers must understand that they don’t need to
Add to that increased discontent from the employees
move mountains. But they can make wise use of their
below, who are feeling overwhelmed, underutilized,
workers’ whine lists instead of simply succumbing to
frustrated, underpaid — and just plain unhappy with
fatalistic “here we go again” thinking.
their jobs. And when employees are unhappy, what do
they do when it’s time for their organizational surveys? The most important thing HR leaders can do is help
They unload. And what do embattled managers do in managers understand that what sounds like a whine
the face of this discontent? Many duck the topic alto- is actually an opportunity to understand employees’
gether and simply avoid opening Pandora’s box. The grievances and their specific requests for change. And
February 2011
rest? Well, they often unload on their HR leaders. when managers understand their employees better,

When managers
understand employees
better, they are prepared
to deal with development
issues and generate
solutions that can benefit
both their people and
their organizations.
February 2011

they will feel more prepared to deal with development trated and dissatisfied. It’s important for managers to
issues and generate solutions that can benefit both show they have a genuine interest in their people and
their people and their organizations. curiosity about what parts of their work are the most
rewarding. The more employees can increase their
Smart Answers to Five Vintage Gripes sense of career fit — the areas where their interests
and skills intersect — the more that real passion for
With the right “vintner” mindset, line managers can
their work will be enabled. This is a great opportunity
mature the whines they hear, opening them up to let
for line managers to:
them breathe and mellow, and then address them in a
productive manner. Here are five classic career whines • Match talent to business needs.
managers will typically encounter and tips for how • Discover hidden or underutilized skills and abilities.
to make a difference by reframing the conversation,
getting beneath the complaint and finding out what’s • Check assumptions about individual capabilities.
really important to employees. • Learn more about the interests and values of their
A whine for the future: “Things are changing so fast. employees.
I don’t know what to expect around the next turn, and • Motivate employees more effectively.
things seem so unstable.” Rapid change has created un-
certainty and fear in the workplace. In the absence of When managers understand these talents, they can
good information, employees will often fill in the gaps more easily grow and retain employees and effectively
with worst-case scenarios. The more line managers assign challenges to their teams.
A brand of whine: “I don’t feel
people recognize how much I
have to offer or give me enough
What sounds like a whine respect. Things can get so politi-
cal here.” Sometimes employees
is actually an opportunity have a poor sense of their in-
ternal brand or how others in
to understand employees’ the organization perceive their
strengths and weaknesses. Man-
grievances and their specific aging one’s reputation within

the work context is a vital com-
ponent to long-term success, yet
requests for change. many people fail to recognize
this, or simply neglect it, to their
peril. Managers who have direct
conversations with employees
can help them understand the specific work context, and give them perspective on how they’re viewed pro-
the better employees will be able to gauge where things vide a powerful gift. Managers can:
are headed, the kinds of skills that will be valued in the
• Prepare employees to gather feedback from a vari-
future and areas where they can develop themselves.
ety of sources, such as peers, customers, mentors,
Managers can:
coaches, team leaders and team members.
• Prepare employees for changes on the horizon.
• Guide employees to leverage strengths and develop
• Share which skills and abilities are essential to the in ways that support their future growth.
organization’s future.
• Lead and manage their teams effectively by offering
• Enable employees to anticipate and manage change frequent, timely feedback.
more effectively.
Retention research suggests that employees leave be-
• Define organizational norms and culture more cause they have no idea how much they’re valued by
clearly. the organization or how to envision a career happening
• Help employees make more informed development inside it. Clear feedback allows individuals to make ap-
decisions. propriate choices, to know how they are perceived and
to manage that perception.
Helping employees identify information sources pre-
pares them to stay in tune with trends and up to date A choice whine: “I feel stifled, stuck and impatient.
with the forces that will impact their careers. There’s nowhere to go, and management seems to as-
sume I should just be happy to have a job.” When people
A whine of value: “I’m not using all my abilities. I’m feel taken for granted or that they have no choice or
not doing what I value. This isn’t what I came here for.” room to grow, they lose enthusiasm, and managers
HR leaders must help managers remember that whines will lose their employees’ best work. Managers can in-
sour when they sit around too long, so they shouldn’t still patience and hope by helping employees discover
delay initiating these conversations. Employees who where growth can happen and identify career op-
February 2011
feel they’re not being properly utilized get bored, frus- tions. When employees understand how to realistically

evaluate their career possibilities, including the opportunity to en-
rich their current jobs with stretch assignments and participation
in cross-functional task forces, creative energy can be harnessed
again. Managers can:
• Encourage employees to work on several career goals at the same FREE, LIVE
WEBINAR
time.
• Connect their plans to the organization’s strategy.
• Identify options to enrich their jobs and careers.
• Help them discover opportunities to enhance skills and abilities. Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011
• Provide reality checks as goals are being defined. 11AM PT/2PM ET
When employees recognize that opportunities exist and there are
multiple ways for them to grow and develop, their commitment
and contributions build. Creating development goals that include
contingencies for shifts and changes, and that align with the or-
Join
ganization’s direction, will help position individuals and teams for
success.
Talent Management
A select whine: “There’s no plan in place for me, so I’m not sure magazine on
how to make my goals happen.” When employees’ interest is sparked
by career options, they need help to select, construct and implement WebEx for a one-
a realistic plan that includes specific learning needs and concrete
steps for achieving their goals. This is the manager’s opportunity to: hour webinar with
• Motivate employees to take action. Jason Corsello!
• Monitor progress and step in to help.
• Identify barriers that might derail plans.
Jason Corsello is vice president
• Offer connections that support career goals. of Knowledge Infusion,
Managers play a crucial role by building an environment that sup- responsible for Knowledge
ports learning, encourages inquiry, rewards growth and challenges Infusion’s solutions, technology
employees to pursue their own definitions of career success. When and corporate development
this happens, the word gets out. Talented employees are attracted
strategy. As part of his role,
to work for development-focused leaders.
Corsello also leads KI
Salut! Prost! Skol! Nostrovia! Kampai! A Votre Sante!
OnDemand, the service that
gives clients subscription-based
The manager’s job is difficult. As changes in the economy pick up
steam, the job will get even harder. There is no time to wait and access to best practices and
no wiggle room. Organizations and managers who waste time now advisory and consulting services.
will likely lose what employees have to offer in the present and also As a leader in the technology
in the future. landscape and emerging
The good news is that the efforts required of line managers don’t technologies marketplace,
demand a huge amount of time or a large budget. If managers learn Corsello also plays a lead
to truly listen to what’s beneath the whine, they can gain deep in- consulting role with clients
sights into what’s most important to employees. And if managers needing this type of guidance.
focus on adopting vintage solutions, they will feel empowered and
ready to deal with employees’ issues, help them with their concerns
and guide them in improving their situations.
Whining is an unattractive adult trait, but successful managers To register, go to
will use career development discussions with their employees to
turn those classic whines into lasting wins.
TalentMgt.com/
events
Beverly Kaye is founder and CEO of Career Systems International,
author of Up Is Not the Only Way and co-author of Love ’Em or
Lose ’Em: Getting Good People to Stay with Sharon Jordan-Evans.
She can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.
Powered by
The Morphing Face
of Talent Acquisition
Brett Addis and Scott Schmidt
Investing in assessment technology

represents a significant opportunity
for HR organizations to build
and demonstrate their value to
the business.
J
im Collins, author of Good to Great said, “The
old adage ‘People are your most important
asset’ is wrong. People are not your most im-
portant asset. The right people are.”
Experts agree that having the right people
in place directly translates into better business per-
formance — from increased operational efficiency and
productivity to higher revenue and profitability to im-
proved customer satisfaction and industry leadership.
However, finding the right people in today’s dynamic
business environment is easier said than done. Recruit-
ing is changing fast, with myriad challenges facing
those responsible for attracting, hiring and retaining
top talent.
The role of human resources has shifted within most
leading organizations, and HR practitioners are now
required to demonstrate value to the business. Tal-
ent acquisition helps organizations create and sustain
a competitive advantage by deploying the talent re-
quired to achieve corporate objectives.
Challenge and Risks in Today’s Economy

Perhaps more now than ever, HR organizations strug-
gle with quality of hire — selecting not only the most
suitable candidate for the job, but also one who can
adapt and grow with business needs.
This is largely attributed to an influx of job applicants
due to the high unemployment rate associated with
current economic conditions. Corporate downsizing,
layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, and other business
reorganization efforts have left millions of people
worldwide seeking new jobs, in many cases outside
their core skill sets and competencies.

Moreover, in today’s online world, job seekers can ap- • Lower risk of employment-related legal issues.
ply for several jobs in a short period of time, further
diluting the pool of truly qualified candidates. The Key Enabler
As a result, organizations are spending much more time Assessment technology has emerged as a key enabler,
and effort reviewing job applicants just to develop a helping to accelerate the speed at which businesses can
manageable shortlist of candidates to interview. Faced review and acquire talent. By automating and stream-
with limited resources yet higher demand from inter- lining the applicant screening process, assessment
nal customers across the business, HR leaders must technology enables businesses to better filter candi-
become more efficient and accurate in the screening dates and ensure they are a fit — at a fraction of the
and selection process. time and cost associated with manual efforts.
Poor selection processes and bad hires can adversely For their part, talent management solution providers
affect any organization through: have evolved to meet the growing and changing re-
• Dissatisfied employees, leading to both low individ- quirements of HR organizations. In addition to existing
ual and work group productivity. technology vendors expanding their suites of applica-
tions, a new crop of best-in-class talent acquisition
• Higher turnover, including termination of low-per- software players are entering the game. While this
forming employees. makes the technology evaluation and selection process
• Increased cost and effort in attracting, selecting and a bit more challenging, the proliferation of talent ac-
training replacement hires. quisition systems enables organizations to implement
a comprehensive solution to meet their unique needs.
• Delayed productivity.
• Lost productivity, along with stress and anxiety,
among existing employees.
• Decreased customer satisfaction and market share. Faced with limited resources yet
These and other potential consequences can create higher demand from internal
a negative perception of the employer’s brand image
and value proposition among customers, partners,
customers across the business,
investors, employees, job candidates and other key HR leaders must become more
stakeholders. efficient and accurate in the
screening and selection process.
Behold the Opportunity
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. In fact, many
organizations see talent acquisition as a tremendous
opportunity to improve their processes and, ultimately, Many vendors are addressing some of the key dynam-
their business results. ics associated with today’s talent acquisition process,
These companies are taking advantage of the current including:
job market and the availability of candidates to imple- • Paper resume replacement: As more companies
ment best practices and systems that yield a better move to an electronic or online applicant tracking
return on their hiring decisions — not only securing system, solution providers are incorporating job-
talent for their immediate needs, but also creating a matching tools to improve quality of hire. Some
long-term, sustainable workforce. talent acquisition vendors partner with job applica-
Specific benefits tied to more efficient and effective tal- tion or resume-building tools, while others enable
ent acquisition include: applicants to simply upload their resumes. Behind
the scenes, technology works to review and filter
• Accelerated recruitment and selection time. best-match candidates.
• Faster new-hire ramp-up with less interruption to • Social media applications: The use of social me-
existing workflow. dia in talent acquisition is no longer reserved for just
• Reduced cost per hire. the savvy companies. Every organization needs to
consider how popular applications and sites — such
• Increased ability for new hire to meet job require- as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter — can help them
ments and performance targets. connect with prospective job candidates. As a result,
• Better cultural fit and integration with other employees. most talent acquisition solutions incorporate Web 2.0
integration with various social media.
• Higher individual and team productivity.
• Human resource management systems (HRMSs)
• More positive impact on important business
and third-party service integration: Over the past
outcomes, such as sales, profitability, customer satis-
February 2011
several years, organizations have spent significant

faction, health and safety, and employee engagement.

Hertz Drives Standardized Talent Acquisition
Vanessa Flynn
Hertz, one of the world’s largest car rental brands, oper- Hertz established recruitment service level agreements
ates from approximately 8,400 locations in 146 countries. with business divisions; developed a global HR technol-
The company has undergone major transformation on ogy strategy, detailed process map reviews, alignment
a global scale since late 2007, when the Global Talent workshops and metrics; and supported applicant track-
Management Center of Expertise (GTM) was established ing implementation.
under the leadership of Karl Heinz Oehler. The global recruitment future state process includes
At that time, Hertz experienced high levels of volun- four components:
tary employee turnover within the first 90 days of • Plan: Identify talent need; create and submit requisi-
employment, which adversely impacted cost per hire, tion for approval; and schedule intake meeting.
service delivery, business growth and customer satis-
faction. The GTM team partnered with internal Lean • Attract: Identify sourcing channels; post internally,
and Six Sigma resources to identify opportunities to externally or both; tap into high potentials and suc-
cessors; review resumes; and screen candidates.
remove waste or duplication and uncover root causes
of turnover. • Assess and select: Phone screening; a minimum of
two interviews, at least one face-to-face; relevant
Hertz began its talent acquisition strategy by identify-
assessment exercises for shortlisted candidates;
ing key recruitment goals. These included:
schedule second interview; make hiring decision;
• Establish a world-class recruitment model focused make verbal offer; and confirm acceptance.
on sourcing and selecting the best candidates through
• Offer and on-board: Complete background check;
cost-effective methods.
confirm start date; prepare offer letter; send welcome
• Establish a global recruitment process to drive con- packet; invite new hire to on-boarding portal; close
sistency and consider local needs. requisition; and notify unsuccessful candidates.
• Develop, implement and measure recruitment effec- Hertz’s recruitment process is supported by iCIMS
tiveness to enable Hertz to be the preferred employer talent acquisition technology deployed globally. This
in the marketplace. technology offers the flexibility to configure the system
based on local needs and requirements, which is im-
• Create clearly defined and transparent ownership of
portant to meet the needs of future state processes. In
the process to enable a seamless flow through the re-
addition to enabling a more efficient candidate recruit-
cruitment life cycle.
ment and screening process, the technology delivers
• Transition the role of recruiter from transactional re- information, metrics and analytics to help business and
cruitment support to strategic talent adviser, talent HR leaders improve decision making.
scout and sourcing expert. The ability to aggregate this data provides the organiza-
• Achieve significant turnover cost reduction through tion with real-time information to assess recruitment
best-in-class retention practices, providing pro- centers’ performance, identify process bottlenecks and
cesses, tools and policies deployed globally. make decisions on ways to improve service delivery and
process efficiencies. Hertz is reducing its risk by provid-
Hertz partnered with Knowledge Infusion to support
ing accurate information in a timely manner and also
the implementation of this global strategy in 2009.
integrating people, process and technology to create a
In December 2008, Hertz decided to centralize recruit- holistic solution that maximizes return on investment.
ment internally and transform the way services are For years, talent leaders had disparate recruitment and
delivered to the business. Specifically, Hertz’s talent on-boarding processes and systems, which limited their
acquisition strategy was designed to deliver reduced effectiveness as strategic business partners. Now they can
overhead costs by consolidating recruiting activities in deliver world-class recruiting services and efficiencies,
central locations, as well as flexibility to meet chang- create powerful candidate and new-hire experiences, and
ing business needs in unpredictable economic climates. ensure the right talent is in the right place at the right
As part of its HR service delivery, Hertz sought to time.
implement best-practice recruitment and selection
methodologies to increase operational efficiencies and Vanessa Flynn is the talent acquisition strategic lead at Hertz.
enhance new-hire quality and job fit. She can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

time and money implementing HRMSs and other To help organizations get started, below are some
complementary software and services. In order to questions to consider. Generating answers to these
preserve and extend that investment, any new talent questions, including input from HR’s key stakeholders,
acquisition solution should be able to share data and will provide the foundation and desired outcomes for a
integrate with existing technology. sound talent acquisition strategy. Ask questions related
• Contact management capabilities: Today, applicants to the following:
can come from a variety of sources — from external Finding, developing and retaining the right talent:
candidates with no prior relationship with the com-
• Are we understaffed? Overstaffed?
pany to former employees or retirees seeking to rejoin
the workforce. Regardless of their origin, it’s impor- • Do we have the right talent to build the right go-for-
tant to keep track of all applicants. Capturing this data ward capabilities?
not only feeds the talent acquisition system with a • Do we have the required diversity to fuel interna-
pipeline of candidates, but also helps strengthen rela- tional expansion?
tionships with future talent. Most providers recognize
the importance of contact management functionality • Do we have the ability to reward our talent?
and are incorporating it into their solutions. Workforce performance:
• Global support: Companies with operations around • How do we measure productivity and performance?
the globe require talent acquisition systems that not
• Can we align our results with the organization’s
only help centralize and streamline common functions
goals, objectives and outcomes?
globally, but also accommodate different languages,
time zones, currencies, employment policies, govern- • What is the ROI on people?
ment regulations and other location-specific items. The impact of HR and talent management prac-
Combined with other methods and best practices for tices:
talent assessment — including job analysis, initial • What is turnover costing us?
screening tools, skills and competency screening, on-
line testing and assessment, interviewing, background • How much does a vacant key position cost us?
and reference checking, and on-boarding — the afore- • How responsive is HR to managers’ needs? How well
mentioned elements will help deliver a holistic talent are we serving them?
acquisition solution that enables organizations to more
effectively source, select and hire talent. In addition, below are some objectives and recommen-
dations for initiating a talent acquisition project:
Assessing Existing Talent Evaluate staffing processes:
While much of the discussion centers on recruitment • Perform current-state process analysis.
and acquisition of new talent, it’s equally — if not • Determine opportunities for improvement or stan-
more — imperative to assess existing talent within dardization.
the organization. Talented and ambitious people are
more likely to stay with their current employer if they • Leverage technology to help drive change.
receive positive development, motivation and encour- • Craft a vision for future state talent acquisition in
agement to reach their potential. alignment with new technology.
Assessment technology can help manage the needs Evaluate staffing organization:
of individual employees, in alignment with organiza-
tional objectives, while identifying and deploying top • Review current staffing levels and recruitment mod-
performers accordingly. Other benefits of internal tal- els against needs.
ent assessment and review include: • Identify opportunities to better serve the needs of the
• For the individual: Coaching and mentoring based organization.
on discovered needs. It will take a comprehensive strategy and plan, along
• For the work team: Identifying top performers, or with disciplined project management, to ensure the right
“stars,” and capitalizing on their talent. people, processes and technology are in place to drive
successful implementation.
• For the organization: Maximizing return on invest-
ment by putting the right person with the right skills Investing in assessment technology represents a signif-
in the right job at the right time. icant opportunity for HR organizations to increase and
demonstrate their value to the business.
Getting Started
Taking on a large talent management project, such as Brett Addis is a senior consultant at Knowledge Infusion.
Scott Schmidt is the director of advisory services for
February 2011
the development and implementation of a talent acqui- Knowledge Infusion’s KI OnDemand Service. They can be
sition strategy, can be a daunting task. reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

insight by Bettina Chang
Talent Excellence
Tom Capizzi established HR centers of excellence at DJO Global
to help bring the company together around eight core values.
DJO Global, a provider of orthopedic devices with

more than 6,000 employees, located in Vista, Calif.,
was formed from a combination of several companies
TM:
talent?
What processes or programs have you es-
tablished to attract, recruit and retain top
Capizzi:
over the past three years. After this period of growth, As you’re looking internally into
the human resources function at DJO Global un- your organization, you’re looking at
dertook a significant challenge as it worked to bring the success of those core values. Are employees dem-
disparate parts of the company into a cohesive whole. onstrating what they said they would do? Are your
Tom Capizzi, executive vice president of global human directors enforcing people growth? Are they developing
resources at DJO, helped redesign the HR function those folks? Then you’ve got the right talent to move up
around centers of excellence to provide service-fo- in the organization. When you do recruiting that way,
cused functionality to the global team. then engagement and retention are key parts. How do
Capizzi instituted a core value system called The DJO you keep people engaged and focused? In this market,
Way and aligned the integration of its various compa- it’s been easier over the last year or so because the
nies’ product lines, people and cultures around eight market has been so slow. Companies have seen a slow-
values: continuous improvement, customer focus, down in people who want to leave. There obviously
open to new ideas, corporate citizenship, teamwork, aren’t a lot of jobs available out there. But that’s going
enforcing people growth, urgency and accountability, to change. As the market continues to grow, we’re go-
and consistently exceeding expectations. He said these ing to see key people leave the company if we’re not
would give the company a common language so every- focused on retaining them.
one can understand the mission and vision. The key to retention is career development. Employees
think, “Where am I going? Is the company investing in
TM: How does DJO Global develop organiza-

tional culture and employee attitudes to
optimize workforce performance?
me? What does my future look like?” Then there are
support pieces like compensation, benefits and other
areas that are more motivational in nature. But ulti-
Capizzi: We talk a lot about aligning people’s mately, the core for retention is around development.
objectives and the goals of company Employees are considering, “I think I’m a talented in-
together. It leads to optimal workforce performance dividual, but where is this company taking my talent,
because they have a better feel of what they do and and where can my talent take me?”
how they affect the end users. The end user is a patient
who’s using one of our braces or one of our physical
therapy products. What an employee does on a day- TM: How do you handle succession planning at
your organization?
Capizzi:
to-day basis, whether they’re building the product, Now that we have an established
working in customer care, selling to the patients, or if core of our business and can pro-
they’re in finance or HR, any one of those organizations mote from within, we tend to move people around
may not directly touch the customer or patient, but in- quite a lot. We challenge employees to take on new
directly, they do. challenges domestically and internationally. We try to
We created an image of these eight stackable boxes that get folks exposure to a global understanding of DJO,
are our values, and that image is displayed throughout as we are growing on the international side of health
the organization worldwide. We’ve even translated it care, and what we do on the orthopedic side is seeing
into the six or seven different languages that we work huge growth on the international front. Getting more
in, so employees are constantly seeing it and feeling it. employees to understand that is key to DJO’s success.
Our employees are also engaged in a values campaign Many years ago, the international assignment was ex-
right now worldwide. Every six weeks we talk about citing, depending on how long and where. If you can go
one of these values and what it means to them and and not be burdened with a language barrier, it made
how they can take it and equate it to their work. We it a lot easier to bring people across. The tax process
have a system in place where employees can identify has changed as well. In the past, there was tax equal-
and recognize their colleagues for demonstrating these ization and tax protection for expatriate employees.
values. We give out awards, or value bucks, that they
February 2011
can use for prizes and opportunities.

INSIGHT continued on page 47

February 2011

dashboard by Michael Haid
Navigating
Change Together
Effectively managing talent through change will go a long way to ensure
that employees are aligned with the overall business strategy and are
committed to doing their part to achieve business goals.
The uncertain economy forced many companies to cut Employees find it challenging to adjust and adapt
costs in the face of declining revenues. The resulting quickly to change. Organizational change initiatives
impact set in motion cycles of disruptive organizational are typically not supported with follow-through com-
change. Some managers have struggled to handle the munications to reinforce the decision, explain the
pace of change, and engagement, retention, productiv- rationale or provide support to those affected. This
ity and performance are all suffering as a result of poor creates employee stress and adds to the ambiguity
communication, erosion of trust, lack of customer fo- around their role or connection to the future success
cus, ineffective strategic thinking and the inability to of the organization. When employees lack clarity, they
link the workforce with business strategy. founder and stress levels rise. When employees are
bewildered by change and struggle to cope, negativ-
How are employees feeling amid this barrage of con-
ity grows. Productivity suffers as negative discussions
tinual change? A survey of 2,904 workers conducted
and rumor mills take priority over normal business
by Right Management in August 2010 revealed that
activity (Figure 2). Inward focus, mistrust and uncer-
employees are working longer hours (Figure 1), and 79
tainty harm customer service, and lowered morale
percent reported their workloads increased as a result
permeates throughout the organization.
of layoffs at their company. Fewer than half of employ-
ees leave their desk to take a lunch break each day. The worst thing talent managers can do is remain si-
lent and tolerate bad attitudes. Rather than being seen
Increased workloads, decreased confidence in corpo-
as people who can lead others to a better future, lead-
rate direction and growing mistrust of leadership have ers who are viewed as contributing to negativity are
raised employee negativity while lowering productiv- seen as part of the problem, which can undermine au-
ity. Consequently, a significant number of employees thority, optimism and effectiveness.
are likely underperforming because of poor engage-
ment. That’s why employers must focus on managing
change, engaging employees and building skills and Breaking the Cycle
behaviors that both employees and employers need to Talent managers are in a strong position to break the
thrive in today’s dynamic business climate. workplace negativity cycle by educating and inspir-
ing others to embrace a positive attitude. It’s essential
that managers develop key behaviors necessary to lead
Recognizing Signs of Negativity
change effectively, such as communicating openly,
Productivity can suffer in a workplace characterized honestly and frequently while also encouraging au-
by criticism, spiteful gossip and lack of teamwork. thentic discussions with employees. Organizations
Surveys of 1,404 HR professionals conducted by Right that do not manage change well are more likely to
Management in September 2010 showed that more lose talent. Some practices to lead others positively
than 61 percent of organizations suffer from excessive include:
negativity that harms performance and productivity.
Nearly 2 out of 3 senior executives and human re- • Set expectations. Help employees have a clear un-
source professionals indicated that negativity in the derstanding of what’s expected of them at work. This
workplace makes it difficult for workers to focus on involves regular discussions to clarify goals, work-
their jobs. loads and deliverables.
In many cases, negativity is ignored. Most people don’t • Communicate the vision. Provide employees with
like confrontation, so it’s easier to turn a blind eye and a line of sight for how they can contribute to meeting
put up with it or, even worse, begin to contribute to customer needs. This involves alignment with the
the negativity. Instead, managers should address nega- firm’s vision and mission and a clear understanding
tivity by coaching alternate behaviors — ones that are of what each individual employee can do to contrib-
more productive to the situation, such as not complain- ute to the organization’s purpose.
ing without offering suggestions, helping employees to • Develop employees. Offer training and career de-
February 2011
be more self-aware and not tolerating whining. velopment to help both managers and employees feel

Figure 1: Why Isn’t 40 Hours more confident in their ability to do their jobs. This
Enough Anymore? will reduce stress and ultimately increase productiv-
ity and performance.
Do you work more than 40 hours a week?
• Value employees. Demonstrate commitment and
6% loyalty to employees through regular career discus-
6% sions. This also will help to maintain accountability
■ Yes, almost always for appropriate employee behaviors and identify sup-
11% ■ Yes, several port that may be needed for areas of development.
times a month
■ Yes, once or Here are some tips for talent managers to reduce nega-
twice a month tivity and create more positive work environments:
75% ■ Seldom, if ever • Assess. Understand your own reactions to changes
and your authentic beliefs about where these changes
are taking the organization.
Source: Right Management poll of 2,904 workers, August 2010. • Start with yourself. Check your language and be-
haviors; show zero tolerance for negativity; and lead
by example.
Figure 2: Change Adversely • Keep lines of communication open. Keep em-
Affects Worker Attitudes ployees informed about what’s happening in the
Have you seen how change at work can have a organization and be available to listen to concerns.
negative impact on workers’ attitudes? • Don’t validate or encourage negativity. Counsel
the complainer and challenge negative and pessimis-
1%
tic thinking and beliefs.
■ Yes, often •A
sk for solutions. Recognize positive behaviors and
31% ■ Sometimes ask open-ended questions, then listen and help de-
■ No, not much velop solutions.
67% There are significant implications for not helping
employees adapt to change and manage increased re-
sponsibilities and workloads. Consider the impact on:
• Employee health and wellness: Stress levels esca-
late, negatively impacting health and wellness. Signs
Source: Right Management poll of 1,404 human resource to look for include higher absenteeism, increased
professionals and senior executives, September 2010.
turnover and lowered productivity, all telltale indi-
cations that performance is dwindling.
• Job dissatisfaction and performance: Lower em-
Figure 3: Productivity Suffers
in a Negative Workplace ployee engagement threatens overall performance
through deterioration in quality of work output,
Has negativity at your customer service and attention to detail, declining
workplace impacted productivity? customer satisfaction, lost opportunity costs and
problems incurred because of mistakes and ineffi-
3%
ciency (Figure 3).
■ Yes, employees are • Leadership credibility: Lack of trust in leadership’s
struggling to focus ability to make good business decisions impedes
36% ■ Sometimes, but we the ability to lead effectively and execute on strat-
address the issues
61% egy. If leaders aren’t supported with respect and
■ No, employees are commitment from the team, trust will erode and per-
staying positive
formance will falter.
• Workplace culture: Resentment brews from indi-
viduals working longer hours as well as guilt from
Source: Right Management poll of 1,404 human resource those who aren’t and may feel pressured to do so.
February 2011
professionals and senior executives, September 2010.

DASHBOARD continued on page 48

application by Lisa Buckingham
Driving Growth
in a Storm
Lincoln Financial Group’s HR team implemented an executive development
program to grow and sustain talent during economic crisis and beyond.
This last recession pressured many companies to Professors from Wharton worked with the HR team
cut back on investments, reduce staffing levels and to design a custom, weeklong residential program,
restructure operations. Financial services company funded by Lincoln, for the company’s top 60 corpo-
Lincoln Financial Group was no exception. rate leaders. The program formed the basis of the
In the midst of making decisions about expense re- company’s broad-based enterprisewide develop-
ductions, Lincoln CEO Dennis Glass stressed the ment curriculum, which focused on delivering on
importance of investing to prepare leaders for the the CEO’s key goals — that all leaders at Lincoln
eventual recovery and re-engaging the workforce at share a common language and approach to problem
a time when many companies would not be focused solving, collaboration and strategic planning — and
on talent development. To carry out Glass’ vision, the
Lincoln HR team designed a leadership excellence
program that would develop the leaders needed to
drive Lincoln’s growth in the coming years.
Formalizing the Program

The HR team selected the University of Pennsylva-
nia’s Wharton School to be its partner in creating
an executive development program that would pro-
vide executives with the tools required to help them
achieve their professional potential and move the
company forward during one of the most crucial
times in the history of the insurance industry.

integration of three disciplines necessary for the 2008. Lincoln also maintained a low level of regret-
company to flourish: strategic thinking, execution table turnover.
and innovation. The weeklong residency program was delivered in
To ensure the program design met the needs of stake- two cohorts, the first in March 2009 and the second
holders, the development team conducted interviews in April 2010, and formed the basis of a companywide
with Glass and his senior management committee leadership development effort called Leadership Ex-
and focus groups with the 60 members of Lincoln’s cellence and Development (LEAD). This program was
Corporate Leadership Group (CLG) — the program’s designed to foster the same core competencies of
targeted participants. The result was an intensive strategic thinking, execution and innovation across
weeklong residency program at Wharton for the CLG, the employee base, and it integrates a specific focus
on developing both current and emerging leaders for
followed by action learning in cross-functional work-
the post-crisis environment and long-term future of
ing teams to address critical business projects selected
the company.
specifically to help the company delve into topics that
had the potential to influence strategic direction or Lincoln’s HR team collaborated with Wharton to de-
investments. Working group members met routinely sign a LEAD curriculum that would nurture leaders
with Wharton professors to review research findings at every level of the organization, including non-
and scenario planning, culminating in formal presen- managers, early career professionals and emerging
tations and recommendations to Glass and the senior leaders to build and maintain bench strength for
management committee. the future. The team designed the program in three
phases:
LEADing Employees • Foundational leadership development is offered to
early career professionals, including individual con-
The first Wharton residency program was held in
tributors who can lead by example.
March 2009. The timing seemed inauspicious at first
— the markets had reached their lowest point of the • Management leadership development is offered to
financial crisis in March — but it turned out to be a new and experienced managers who can lead others.
good time to focus on enhancing strategic skills such • Executive leadership development is offered to top-
as scenario planning and incremental innovation that level executives who can lead the company as a whole.
would prove important to lead the company through
The HR team developed the curriculum to harmonize
the recovery. with courses and concepts of the Wharton residency
Feedback from the CLG participants and the se- program and incorporated the foundational training
nior management team was positive. From their necessary to prepare individual contributors, as well
perspective, the focused investment in leadership de- as new and emerging managers, for the next phase of
velopment during the downturn resulted in a number their careers. Examples of foundational development
of planned and “bonus” outcomes. In terms of morale, offerings include courses on fundamental business
the program strengthened the leadership team’s co- and financial skills, goal setting and performance
hesion and bolstered their confidence. The program management, critical thinking strategies simulation,
sent a message to leaders and the employee base that time management and presentation skills. Classes
Lincoln was continuing to invest in the future. have a maximum of 30 participants and are offered
through a broad range of delivery methods to ac-
The result was a high level of employee engagement. commodate employee schedules, locations and travel
According to a 2010 companywide survey, engage- restrictions. The program offers live instructor-led
February 2011
ment levels remained steady and in some areas even classroom experiences, online self-directed learning
increased compared to a similar survey conducted in modules, virtual learning experiences, reading lists,

The development program had impact
beyond talent development and
engagement by boosting bottom-line
sales. Customer firms have requested that
Lincoln Financial help them build
out their own internal training programs.
tutorials, immersion and consultative experiences In addition to employee growth and positive feedback,
with industry experts. the LEAD program has had impact beyond the realm
To maintain the program’s effectiveness, Lincoln con- of talent development and employee engagement by
tinues to meet regularly with academic advisers from strengthening customer relations, which ultimately
Wharton and periodically conducts follow-up needs can boost bottom-line sales. A number of customer
assessments. firms have requested that Lincoln Financial help them
connect with Wharton in order to build out their own
Within six months of the conclusion of the first Whar- internal training programs.
ton residency program, participants from Lincoln’s
distribution company, Lincoln Financial Distributors The program also has allowed the company to align
(LFD), requested to use materials from the Wharton its leadership under a framework of consistent de-
program for an upcoming meeting with a strategic velopment that strengthens the talent pipeline and
customer firm. The HR team went one better and ar- boosts leadership at every level of the organization.
ranged for Wharton to lead a small-group working To ensure the program continues to deliver value,
session at the meeting. Since then, the HR team has written evaluations and one-on-one interviews from
partnered with LFD to share industry and manage- participants are collected. HR also holds monthly
ment insight, including the importance of scenario meetings to discuss feedback, gauge program suc-
planning, with key customers. While it is a somewhat cess and focus on opportunities for improvement. As
unusual partnership between talent management and the LEAD program continues to evolve, the HR team
sales, this is a natural extension of Lincoln’s company will conduct quarterly program assessments to fur-
culture, enhancing the company’s reputation as a ther measure success.
learning organization and underscoring its commit- Through the economic crisis, Lincoln Financial weath-
ment to its customers. ered the storm by remaining committed to learning
and development at all levels and even taking steps
Future Growth to provide more development. The company’s lead-
Lincoln’s aim in launching the program was to pre- ers take the position that, as the economy improves,
pare for the future by anticipating talent needs and companies that focused on talent, innovation and
providing a workplace environment where employ- business growth will be poised to emerge as leaders in
ees at every level can develop their career potential. the new era of the insurance industry. The HR team at
Over the past two years, the HR team has worked to Lincoln Financial Group is vigilant that it must foster
instill the leadership development program as a top a learning environment that positions Lincoln’s work-
priority among all of Lincoln’s 7,500 employees. Since force and leadership team for continued success.
formally launching in 2009, Lincoln’s programs have
trained approximately 1,200 employees per year and
Lisa Buckingham is senior vice president and chief human
have provided more than 1,400 individual learning
February 2011
resources officer at Lincoln Financial Group. She can be

experiences across all business lines. reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

INSIGHT continued from page 40
Now companies can’t afford what they used to pro- focused, so there’s an environment where all employees
vide for expatriates. With all the social and economic can go to a center of excellence, like employee services,
issues out there, there’s probably more cushion for and they can provide you with information or data you
an employee to want to go to France, England or Ger- need to be successful in your day-to-day job.
many. Unfortunately, our society is leading us away One center of excellence handles employee benefits,
from people willing to do that because of the nature of disability issues and common policy questions. This
terrorism and other things we’re dealing with. You’re could be anything around their job description and ca-
seeing less people raising
their hands and taking a
two-year developmental
assignment. You’ll see less
long-term assignments “It can’t remain the same for us to
and more short-term as-
signments — we’ll send
continue to be competitive and be
someone on a project for
six months. There’s less
a key player in the global market as
of that permanency and we are today. We have to continue
commitment to uproot
families, sell your house to change.”
— you don’t see much of
that. Especially as we go
to other countries like
– Tom Capizzi, Executive Vice President,
China, Japan or Brazil, Global Human Resources, DJO Global
you’ll see people raising
their hands for shorter as-
signments.
reer planning, so this service organizational model will
TM: What’s next for DJO Global in terms of

talent management and workforce perfor-
mance development?
be a key part of keeping employees engaged. Another
center of excellence is learning and organizational
development, a key area that will continue to grow
Capizzi: As we look at where health care is and help us manage our workforce going forward.
going, DJO has to evaluate some It’s making sure we’re providing the type of learning
areas of growth. Perhaps we’ll be looking at new busi- management systems for employees to be successful.
ness models. The way we sell, distribute and develop Employee relations, training, compensation [and] bene-
products is going to change. It can’t remain the same fits — ultimately the rewards [and] recognition system
for us to continue to be competitive and be a key side of HR is an important aspect of it as well. All the
player in the global market as we are today. We have typical functions of HR, we’ve changed them into cen-
to continue to change. The next steps for our organiza- ters of excellence.
tion around talent management are to make sure we Each center has a head, either a [vice president] or
don’t do that in a vacuum. We don’t create a business director, who is responsible for that piece of manage-
model, say we’re going to do this, then come back and ment of effective HR worldwide. They’ve built and
look at what kind of people we need. Talent manage- developed a strategy around what that means and
ment is a parallel process that goes side by side with how to support that. The centers of excellence work
product and market innovation, change and strategy. closely with each other and are specific to employees’
As we look at new markets, we’re going to focus on needs. Each is a core functionality of HR focused at a
whether we’re developing the right workforce within more global, strategic level that helps drive employee
and where we can find a workforce for the future ex- capability.
ternally, if necessary.
The HR business partner role, which is clearly the
core of where HR needs to focus, is working closely
TM: What is your vision for HR and talent man-
agement moving forward?
with leadership and ultimately getting us engaged at a
higher strategic level, not dealing with day-to-day tal-
Capizzi: We’re redesigning HR around the

centers of excellence. They are our
key because those centers of excellence have HR func-
ent issues from an employee relations standpoint. They
focus on getting our business partners to be more stra-
tegic in their thinking. They focus on understanding
tions that are focused on how to manage the workforce business needs and influencing or being a coach and
and talent and how to grow for the future. I can’t grow counselor to those managers in that regard. The tac-
HR by two to five times, so how do I manage an HR tical side is being handled through the service model.
organization that worldwide can affect the success The centers of excellence are key to HR’s success, and
of DJO, our talent and our business? The centers of HR has to evolve to support that. DJO’s global HR team
February 2011
excellence are designed in key areas. They are service- is moving in that direction.

Focus on managing change, engaging
employees and building skills and
behaviors that both employees and
employers need to thrive in today’s
dynamic business climate.
DASHBOARD continued from page 43
Negative judgment is projected toward the organi- • Be flexible. Create flexible structures to accom-
zation’s leadership team, which isn’t establishing modate different lifestyles and work motivators.
appropriate working boundaries and guidelines with Employees want control over where, when and
employees. how they work, as well as the career choices they
make. Embrace a “one-size-fits-one” approach and
• Focus: Prioritization and focus gets skewed. Leaders
understand the different motivators and needs for
need to coach employees to make their own decisions
individual employees. One employee may benefit
and to effectively prioritize their work so they are
from flexible work hours to accommodate the needs
focusing their time and energy on top-level projects
of parenting school-aged children, while another em-
that positively contribute to performance. ployee may flourish from permission to work out in
the morning and stay later in the day.
Managing Talent in the New Normal
• Reward accomplishments. Don’t focus on reward-
As organizations recover from the global financial cri- ing individuals for the time they put in at work, but
sis, the reality is flatter organizations, constricted hiring, rather for what they achieve and accomplish. If one
cash conservation, heavier workloads and disgruntled individual’s goal is to retain customers through ex-
employees. cellent service, allow that employee the freedom to
The conditions today are here to stay. Managers need achieve this, perhaps by working flexible hours to
to provide guidance and coaching to employees to help meet customer needs as they arise and not sticking to
them be more agile and work in this changing, increas- an 9-to-5 schedule.
ingly pressurized work environment. • Prioritize. Equip employees with decision rules to
Some practical suggestions for talent managers include: be able to identify what’s important so they can fo-
cus their time appropriately. Empower employees so
• Increase collaboration. Work on collaboration they have the ability to decide the priorities and subse-
skills, such as utilizing cross-functional teams, quently have a greater vested interest in what they’re
learning how to manage diversity well or adopting doing. But empowerment turns to abandonment if
software sharing services to increase effectiveness. leaders aren’t providing road maps for people to use in
• Be realistic. Help employees by setting realistic ex- the decision process. For instance, if a company’s val-
pectations so they’re more likely to be successful in ues focus on customer service, teamwork, innovation
completing tasks within reasonable time frames. and work-life balance, a leader must inform people
which values are the top drivers, otherwise employ-
• Promote self-management. More and more, indi- ees may not know how to react when work situations
viduals are expected to be self-directed. For instance, force them to choose one value over another, such as
consider the increased ranks of virtual workers and customer focus and work-life balance.
the autonomous skills required to be successful in
such an environment. Nurture self-management Effectively managing talent through change will go a
skills in employees, such as adaptability, autonomy, long way to ensure that employees are aligned with the
decisiveness, dependability, tolerance for stress and overall business strategy and are committed to doing
their part to achieve business goals. Preparing work-
resourcefulness.
forces to respond confidently and competently reduces
• Communicate frequently and consistently. Com- negative reactions, mitigates the risk of turnover, im-
municate with authenticity and stay in touch with proves morale and boosts productivity.
workers consistently and regularly. Hold brief
weekly calls or meetings to make sure team members
Michael Haid is senior vice president of global solutions
are aware of priorities, updates on the business and
February 2011
at Right Management, a division of Manpower.

their role in making it successful. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

Advertisers’ Index
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Executive Vice President,
Group Publisher Element K 6, 7
510-834-0100 ext. 223 www.elementk.com Talent Management Webinar 35
jrtag@talentmgt.com First Advantage 2nd Cover TalentMgt.com/events
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Pegeen Prichard HR Certification Institute Back Cover TM 2011 Strategies 11, 13, 15
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Career Systems International 32, 35 National Science Foundation 30
OR, TX, UT, WA, WY,
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Kari Carlson Chadick Ellig 16 Optimance Workforce Strategies 23
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Cisco 30, 31
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510-834-0100 ext. 228 University of Pennsylvania
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[full potential] by Marshall Goldsmith
Who Do People Think You Are?

Reputation is one element in es- correct. This is one reason, in my Quick question: Amid all your list
tablishing your mojo, that positive experience, that reputation is such making, organizing and planning
spirit that starts inside and radi- a neglected component in our mojo your next move, when was the last
ates outside. It’s where you add up makeup: We don’t have enough in- time you sat down and thought
who you are — your identity — and formation to do much about it. So about your reputation? The likely
what you’ve done — your achieve- we ignore it. truth is that unless you’re a ce-
ment — and toss the combined sum
I know this is true from my lebrity, politician or other kind
out into the world to see how peo-
one-on-one coaching work with of public figure — people whose
ple respond. reputations are
Your reputation is constantly being as-
people’s recognition sessed, elevated and
diminished in the me-
— or rejection — of Amid all your list making, dia — you’ve never
your identity and
achievement. Some- organizing and planning your codified your reputa-
times you’ll agree tion at work. Never
next move, when was the last written down what
with the world’s
opinion. Sometimes time you sat down and thought you thought it might
you won’t. But many be or what you want
times you may not
about your reputation? it to be. You likely
even be aware of it. have never asked
You cannot create your colleagues for
your reputation by feedback about it.
yourself. The rest of the world, by executives who want to change Never even thought about what
definition, always has something to their behavior. The first thing I do you must do to establish it. At
best, you may harbor a vague no-
say about it. But you can influence is conduct a 360-degree feedback
tion that you have a reputation for
it, and as is usually the case, I have assessment of the executive’s be-
being a nice person or being good
a few thoughts on how you can do havior on the job. In some cases,
at your job or being willing to help
that and how it affects your mojo. this is the first time the executive
out. But that’s about it. You’ve
We often want to believe that we has ever been reviewed by peo- never dug deeper into the specific
have character, but that is differ- ple below rather than above him personality traits, skills, behaviors
ent than reputation. We define our or her. I interview 15 to 20 col- and accomplishments that help
character as who we really are and leagues and direct reports. I tally form a reputation.
our reputation as who other people up the comments and report what
It’s taken me a while to figure out
think we really are. In situations I’ve found. In a few cases, much of
what I uncover is breaking news why so many of us neglect our rep-
where their assessment is different
utations. It’s not that we don’t care.
than our own, we generally define to the executive. He or she will ex-
press complete surprise and then We care a lot. It’s that we confuse
their assessment as wrong. It takes
utter some variation of: “Really, our need to consider ourselves to
courage to realize that, in some
people think I’m (fill in the blank)?” be smart with our need to be con-
cases, other people’s view of us
sidered effective by the world. The
may be just as accurate — or even These are smart, successful, moti-
two are not the same thing, and one
more so — than our own view of vated individuals. They’ve reached
often overwhelms the other.
ourselves. their incredible positions in life by
We often do not know what our being attuned to what other people
reputation is. We’re fairly clear- think of them — and thoughtfully
eyed about what we think of other adjusting their behavior accord-
About
people. But when it comes to what ingly.
the
they think of us, we can live in the And yet my polling results on their
Author
dark. We may have no clue about reputation are often an eye-opener
what other people are saying about for them. If these hyper-successful Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority
us behind our backs, and there- professionals are sometimes in the in helping successful leaders achieve
positive, lasting change in behavior.
fore no opportunity to correct dark about their reputations, it’s He is the author or co-editor of 27 books,
falsehoods, if they are inaccurate, not surprising that the rest of us including Mojo. He can be reached at
editor@talentmgt.com.
February 2011
or to mend our ways, if they are can be clueless.

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February 2011

Hold live online training

Online Training Made Easy TM

The End of the War on Talent

October 2009. In the fourth quar- mikep@talentmgt.com

4 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com

800-624-1765 : www.cpp.com : The Myers-Briggs® experts The people development people.

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Volume 7 Issue 2 February 2011

NORMAN B. JOHN R. TAGGART GWEN CONNELLY PATRICIA PIERCE

20 Courting the Quants

8 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com

Who Do People Think You Are? 49 Editorial Resources

Are you a part of the Talent Management Network?

Follow us: Like us: Join the group:

talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 9

Intimacy and Talent

needs, strengths and weaknesses Undoubtedly, Google’s talent man-

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Making Workforce Planning Work Creating an Explosion of Innovation

To learn more about Strategies 2011 and to register, visit

Doing Competencies Right

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Be Inspired to Achieve Dramatic

Jonathan John E. Richard D.

Creating the Future of Play at Mattel

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These professionals are critical to build and maintain Unlikely 19%

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Volume 7 Issue 2 February 2011