Talent Multiplication: DevelopingLeadership Capability

HCI White PaperDecember 11, 2007By Traci A. Stovall

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INTRODUCTION

"Talent is the one thing that is the most critical to anorganization, and it is what makes the organizationwhat it is," states Judy Corner, a consultant withInsala and panelist for the webcast. Many organi-zations agree, stating that people are their mostvaluable asset. Despite this importance of talent, itis not accounted for on the balance sheet.Organizations are thought of simply in terms ofwhat they produce-products, services, and images,rather than the talent that creates those things. Butorganizations should ask themselves where theywould be without that talent.

Robert Thomas, the Executive Director ofAccenture's Institute for High PerformanceBusiness, will demonstrate the importance of talentto an organization by highlighting the following:

- How to manage talent in the new economicworld. The rest of the world is becoming a huge tal-ent showcase and land for discovering and develop-ing talent.- Today's challenges and the specific role HRshould play.- The evolution of talent management as itmoves from being completely unconnected to busi-ness strategy to being tightly connected andaligned.- Talent power - a new paradigm for talentmanagement that demonstrates that talent multi-plication is not just planning for leadership succes-sion.- Becoming a talent-powered organization.

THE TREASURE HUNT FOR TALENT

Many organizations find it challenging to find suchtalent, and as such, Corner calls this quest the"treasure hunt for talent." In the September 2007issue of Outlook, a journal for high-performancebusiness, Thomas co-authored an article where hestates, "The currency of business success today istalent-an organization's people, from its currentand future leaders to its front line employees. In anage of talent, the war for this precious commodity isnot only fierce, but now, truly global."

The ability of an organization to find talent and putit to the best possible use is a continuing challenge.Based on studying hundreds of high-performingorganizations, Thomas asserts that talent cannot bereduced simply to succession planning.Organizations must understand and leverage thecapabilities of people throughout the organization,not just those as the top.

THE NEW ECONOMIC WORLD

Businesses must realize that they are operating in anew economic world. There is sustained growthworldwide, and the global economy is no longerbeing pulled along by a single economy, the UnitedStates. The economy is now impacted by severaleconomic centers so the entire economy still movesand grows even when an individual economy expe-riences a slowdown. There are also new sources ofvalue that represent the true value of an enterprise.These values are of an increasingly intangiblenature, such as loyalty, brand, and reputation. The

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new economy is also a multi-polar world withimportance on economic, political, social, and cul-tural facets. Because of each of these, there is aglobal impact as individual economies grow andchange.

The task of finding and managing talent hasbecome more complex, turbulent, and contradicto-ry than ever before. Each of the following is animportant component in that complex mix:

- Global abundance but local scarcity of tal-ent. Although there is an abundance of the lowestand highest levels of workers, there is a shortage inthe critical middle group. This group contains firstand second level supervisors who are responsiblefor controlling and coordinating the massive activ-ities within the organization, particularly in manu-facturing.- Fewer young workers and more older work-ers. However, despite this change in the demo-graphic structure of the workforce, many indus-tries, such as energy, utilities, chemical, and gov-ernment, are facing the threat of fewer workersmoving into those industries.- Rising demand for new skills with growingdeficits in basic skills. Because of the increasingimportance of technology in the workplace, theexpertise within organizations is shifting fromolder, more experienced workers to youngeremployees, particularly those that grew up in thedigital age.- More diverse, distributed and mobile work-forces. The World Wide Web has provided elec-tronic interconnectivity that allows for work to beshifted around the globe.- Need for more leaders at all levels, particu-larly at local levels. Thomas states that organiza-tions should be "leader full, not leader few."

Each of these characteristics of the new economicworld demands new thinking about talent manage-ment and leader development.

TODAY'S CHALLENGES

Today's challenges demand new thinking about tal-ent management. Talent management must bemuch more strategic and holistic than ever before.For example, UPS has made a concerted effort tolink the way they acquire, develop, and deploy tal-ent with their business strategy. As an organiza-tion, they have moved well beyond a package deliv-ery service, becoming an operation that synchro-nizes commerce worldwide.

To achieve this result, the talent management agen-da must be expanded from a narrow and tacticalfocus on sets of HR activities around the employeelife cycle to a broad and strategic focus on highly-integrated systems of capabilities fundamental tothe business strategy and operations. In such, HRbecomes more than just a "seat at the table" but atrue business partner.

There must also be a dramatic paradigm shift frommanaging talent to support operations to multiply-ing talent to generate talent power to fuel high per-formance.

EVOLUTION OF TALENT MANAGEMENT

Talent management is also evolving from efficiencyand effectiveness to talent power as demonstratedin Figure 1 on the following page.

The blue circle at the bottom left of this chartdepicts how talent was viewed during the HenryFord Era, when the real value of talent was to lower

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costs. At that time, breaking through the $5 a daycost constraint in factories was considered an enor-mous efficiency in decreasing labor costs. The nextcircle represents the next phase of talent manage-ment where the focus shifted to people develop-ment. In such, the economy saw the rise of non-union labor organizations, which added value byincreasing quality. At that time HR activitiesbecame more aligned with the business, but HRwas still viewed as an adjunct function to opera-tions, siloed from the rest of the enterprise. Finally,today in high-value organizations, talent is man-aged for power, adding value to the organization bymultiplying the impact. In such, the focus hasshifted from individual workers to teams and eventeams of teams. HR is also highly integrated withthe rest of the organization.

TALENT POWER

Talent power means multiplying talent for highperformance, which requires a different kind ofmindset. This mindset is one of the five winningmindsets of a high-performance business. Thenotion of talent multiplication says that humancapital has the potential to create extraordinaryvalue and places increasing importance on intangi-ble assets. For example, Bill Gates oftenstates that "90% of the value ofMicrosoft goes home at night." This isa dramatic change from the era wherevalue was placed primarily, if not sole-ly, on tangible assets, such as capitalequipment.

Talent management is consideredstrategic, so much so that when WallStreet analysts describe the differencesin the valuation of companies, many of

the differentiators are intangible, such as the depthof talent, strength of ability to innovate, likelihoodof the firm to outpace new competitors. None ofthese qualities are represented on the traditionalbalance sheet.

In practice, organizations multiply talent by com-bining and recombining skills, knowledge, andorganizational processes. This increases adaptabil-ity, learning, flexibility, innovation, and perform-ance and creates extraordinary value through peo-ple.

The talent-powered organization is set apart bybuilding a distinctive capability in talent multipli-cation. This is achieved by embedding the talentmultiplication mindset and practices into theirstrategies, processes, and operations. Creating tal-ent power then propels the organization to highperformance.

BECOMING A TALENT-POWERED ORGANI-ZATION

Building a talent-powered organization requirescreating and aligning four talent managementcapabilities, as illustrated in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2

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These four capabilities go beyond simply attractingand retaining employees. They are set against thebackdrop of the talent mindset and talent culture ofthe organization, which is influenced by the organi-zation's leadership and strategy and when well-managed, produces extraordinary results.

- Define your talent needs. This is essential-ly translating the business strategy into human cap-ital needs. The focus is long-term. Organizationsshould ask themselves, "What kind of talent do weneed in five to eight years and what are we doingnow to get it?"- Discover your sources of talent. Thisincludes internal and external sourcing. For exam-ple, UPS catalogs and understands the talents ofpeople and seeks to utilize them.- Develop your talent potential.Organizations should combine the right kinds oftalent with appropriate training, leveragingemployees' on and off-the-job experiences for thebenefit of the enterprise.- Deploy your talent in the right place at theright time. It is imperative to understand the skillsets the organization has and needs to determinethe appropriate people allocation in roles.

DEFINING TALENT NEEDS

To effectively define talent needs, organizationsmust articulate current and future strategic goalsand continually assess both current and future tal-ent needs. Organizations should ask themselves, "Ifwe want to be this kind of company, what do weneed to do now to have the talent we need in theplaces we need it?" They must also identify mis-sion-critical jobs and understand key workforceskills and competencies.

Three companies have done some very interestingwork in defining talent within their organizations.First, Harley Davidson's core market is NorthAmerica but believes their core future growth willbe in Europe and Asia, China in particular. Toachieve this goal they are reaching out to build notonly a facility in China, but also the Harley cultureso they can ensure consistency of practice and peo-ple management across a new global business.

Another example is Gruppo BBVA, a Spanishfinancial services giant, who developed a goal andstrategy to reach beyond Spain to become one ofthe world's top ten financial services companies.Their strategy entailed having the right people inthe group to reach their goal to ensure they werenot too "Spain-centric."

Best Buy is a traditional "big box" retailer thatdeveloped a strategy of "customer centricity". Toachieve this goal, they rely heavily on customer fac-ing employees to understand customer needs andcreatively providing products and services to meetthose needs. This requires quick learners and self-motivators who take the initiative to learn aboutproducts and services outside their prescribed areaso they can make critical connections between allBest Buy offerings to solve customer needs.

DISCOVERING TALENT SOURCES

In discovering sources of talent, it is imperative tounderstand what competencies, not just what jobs,are needed to achieve the business objectives.Organizations should access diverse talent poolsboth internally and externally. An example wouldinclude considering global sourcing for radiologyexperts.

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The right talent must be sourced efficiently, effec-tively, and strategically. Organizations should pur-sue novel options for accessing talent, such as dis-covering diverse talent through marketing andrecruiting channels. They should also consider cre-ating customized employee value propositions toevery worker. One way to do this is by demonstrat-ing a sense of corporate responsibility, which is anincreasingly popular way to attract workers.

DEVELOPING TALENT POTENTIAL

To develop the full potential of talent, organizationsshould invest in building people's skills, knowledgeand competencies in ways that enhance both indi-vidual and collective capabilities.

- Integrate development into daily work,rather than just putting people in rote assignmentsand training courses.- Make strategic use of assignments andexperiences to further develop individuals' talents.For example, workers should be encouraged toleverage their skills and capabilities in other ways,such as community and political endeavors.- Align people development with your orga-nization's growth strategy to build the capabilitiesneeded to achieve future strategic goals.

An excellent example of an organization that hasdone this successfully is Avaya, a leading communi-cations systems, applications, and services compa-ny. They moved beyond defining its learning valueas the "amount of training delivered" to developingsolid business cases, identifying the anticipatedreturn on investment and selectively measuring the

investment versus the value delivered. They insti-tutionalized a principle called "business interlock",which is a formal business function with services,interactions, metrics, and application capabilitiesthat link learning outcomes to business objectives.It also links learning content development anddelivery to their new product development process.In such, the company's in-house learning center,Avaya University, has delivered significant cost sav-ings to the company and successfully supported thecorporate business strategy of new product intro-duction.

DEPLOYING TALENT

It is critical to deploy talent in the right place at theright time to align employees' strengths and aspira-tions with the goals of the organization. Workersshould also be given meaningful opportunities inroles and experiences that have strategic impact forthe organization. It is also important to shapeteams in such a way to leverage the diversity ofthinking styles, experiences, and perspectives.Successful organizations will also encourage andenable knowledge sharing and best practices toencourage continuous renewal.

LEADERSHIP SHAPING OPERATINGMINDSETS

Companies that successfully create and align thesefour crucial talent management capabilities find away to connect their talent-powered model to lead-ership values and passion. Two key examples ofthis are Marriott and UPS. Figure 3 below demon-strates how these companies have translated specif-ic leadership values into how they do business.

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At Marriott, for example, leadership reinforces the"people are our asset" philosophy with annualexcellence awards. These values dictate how man-agement "guides the ship" in tangible ways.

UPS promotes a philosophy of constructive dissat-isfaction where success is never final. In such, theyhave been able to transition from being a parcelservice to a global leader in commerce. They also

Figure 3

Figure 4

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put emphasis on aligning their employees workwith their owners' success. Thomas asserts, "Talentis something you manage and grow, not somethingyou simply control."

UPS has also developed a "winning team" impera-tive, as detailed in Figure 4 above. They maintain alarge part of their workforce as part-time employ-ees, such as college students delivering packagesduring school breaks, who become future full-timeemployees. They make very clear to candidates thatthey are hiring them for a career, not just a job.This is in stark contrast from the way the economyis moving where people only stay in jobs for a shorttime before moving on to other opportunities.They strive to develop the person, not just the busi-ness. UPS' philosophy is that every day they couldbe hiring their next CEO.

BECOMING TALENT-POWERED

Becoming a talent-powered organization requires asubtle, but substantial, shift in mindset. Talentshould not be thought of as labor, but rather as astrategic resource. As Thomas states, "Investing intalent is investing in the future of what the compa-ny could be." It also requires a shift in culture fromone in which talent management supports opera-tions to one in which talent management is consid-ered strategic.

Becoming talent-powered also requires strong, vis-ible leadership throughout the organization. C-suite executives, functional leaders, and line man-agers must share a deep conviction about the powerof collective talent. The talent mindset must bedeeply embedded in the organization's strategies,processes, and practices.

An excellent example of this is Procter and Gamble.They look out four generations of leadership, notjust the next replacement. The fourth generationleaders are currently 30 to 35 years old, so theymust seek to understand those employees' defini-tion of success and career goals so they can shifttraining opportunities to grow that next generationof leaders.

CONCLUSION

There are five imperatives for becoming a talent-powered organization, including:

- Put talent at the heart of your strategy.Capability, creativity, and know-how are critical tosuccess.- Make diversity a key strategic asset. Gettingthe skill sets and combinations the organizationneeds is only a result of diversity.- Build organizational capabilities in learningand skills development. Understanding that noteveryone learns and develops skills in the same wayis crucial.- Make leaders and line managers account-able for engaging employees. Remember the adage,"People don't leave employers, they leave man-agers." This is true.- Enlist your entire organization in identify-ing and nurturing talent. Companies need to rec-ognize that people bring many more skills to workfrom other life areas. Organizations should lever-age these other skill sets for the benefit of the enter-prise.

Thomas states, "If people learn through experi-ences, for people to leave experiences on the tableand not use them effectively at work is probably the

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biggest failing of the traditional approach to talentmanagement. Talent management should bring thewhole employee to work, not just the piece forwhich we pay them."

Based on the Human Capital Institute webcast,Talent Multiplication: Developing LeadershipCapability, December 11, 2007.

PRESENTER

Robert ThomasExecutive DirectorAccenture Institute for High PerformanceBusinessRobert J. Thomas is executive director ofAccenture's Institute for High PerformanceBusiness and a senior executive based in Boston,Massachusetts. He specializes in leadership, organ-ization design and transformational change. Inaddition, he is the John R. Galvin Visiting Professorof Leadership at the Fletcher School of Law andDiplomacy at Tufts University and has recentlyserved as senior lecturer in the M.I.T. School ofEngineering. Before joining Accenture, Dr. Thomastaught at the University of Michigan and theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (SloanSchool of Management) for 13 years and worked asa consultant to industry for four years. While atM.I.T., he was a founding faculty member of theLeaders for Manufacturing-an industry/universityconsortium-and pioneered a two-year leadershipdevelopment program for the Institute. During hisyears of university teaching and research, he taughtcourses in management, organization design andhuman resources, and worked with union manage-ment committees in the automotive and agricultur-al industries.

PANELISTS

Judy CornerConsultantInsalaJudy Corner has consulted and provided special-ized human resource consulting services to medi-um to large organizations for 21 years. Her clientsare both national and international in scope.Numbering among some of these major clients areInternational Truck and Engine, ITW Corporation,Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation,Environmental Protection Agency, NebraskaDepartment of Roads, Walt Disney WorldCompany, Citigroup, ASM Lithography, NCR,Pfizer Pharmaceutical, Kansas City Power & Light,Allstate Insurance Company, Ford MotorCompany, Coors Brewing Company, U.S. Sprint,Fremont Investment, and Lever Brothers ofCanada. Specifically in the area of Mentoring, dur-ing the last twenty years, Judy has designed anddelivered Mentoring Workshops, Mentor andMentee Training, a complete Mentoring Processproduct - Hi-Impact Mentoring® - in bothHandbook and on-line versions, various focusedand subject tailored Mentoring products, and pub-lished a range of articles on the subject ofMentoring. In addition, she is a speaker at variousorganizational conferences and functions and hasdelivered the entire Mentoring Process within var-ied industries for many Fortune 1000 organiza-tions. Another major area of expertise surroundsthe concepts of integrated human resource systems.In this manner she consults with an organization'sbusiness and human resource departments toensure that the recruitment, selection, successionplanning, career pathing, performance manage-ment, training, and reward segments are integratedand functioning together. All offerings are based

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upon the behavioral identification and classifica-tion of skills/competencies required to perform thejob.

Lisa ThompsonAla MesaLisa Thompson has over 20 years of experience inbusiness management, counseling, executivecoaching and human capital consulting. Her skillsas a coach along with her corporate backgroundallow her to address both organizational and indi-vidual development needs in a practical and realis-tic manner. Prior to Alta Mesa Group, she was in aleadership role with a major human capital consult-ing organization, running a successful multi-mil-lion dollar regional operation. Earlier in her careershe worked in sales and corporate account manage-ment with a major management consulting andemployee benefits corporation, with clients across awide spectrum of industries. Her executive coach-ing work includes assessing and assisting leadersand high potential executives to improve perform-ance and effectiveness. She specializes in coachingassignments that align the organizations leadershipdevelopment strategy with the business strategyand goals.

MODERATOR

Joy KostaDirector, HCI CommunitiesHuman Capital InstituteAs Director of Talent Development and LeadershipCommunities at The Human Capital Institute, Joybrings twenty-five years of experience in multiplefacets of organizational development, humanresources and business management with anemphasis in customer satisfaction, service quality,process improvement, and applying the Malcolm

Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Asfounder and President of Performance Partners inHealth Care, a company dedicated to building bet-ter patient experiences, she has authored severalcurriculums in leadership and staff development,and co-authored with Harold Bursztajn, MD SeniorClinical Faculty member, Harvard Medical School,Building a Treatment Alliance with Patients andFamilies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This White Paper is made possible by Insala, spon-sors of HCI's Next Generation Leadership Track.

ABOUT INSALA

Insala is a leading global provider of technology forcareer services and talent management initiativesthat support the entire employee lifecycle. Insalaprovides employees and employers with the finest,personalized online solutions and is an innovator inthe development of interactive human capital solu-tions. Insala brings information, technology andeducation to a broad and diverse audience by con-tinually delivering high quality, cost effective solu-tions. In addition to branded products, Insala offersconsulting, web technology solutions and services,as well as career research services to the careermanagement industry and organizations in allindustry verticals. Insala is headquartered inDallas/Ft. Worth, Texas and the UK with offices inJohannesburg, South Africa and Paris, France. Formore information, visit www.insala.com or contactInsala at info@insala.com

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ABOUT THE HUMAN CAPITAL INSTITUTE

The Human Capital Institute is a catalyst for inno-vative new thinking in talent acquisition, develop-ment and deployment. Through research and col-laboration, our programs collect original, creativeideas from a field of top executives and the bright-est thought leaders in strategic HR and talent man-agement. Those ideas are then transformed intomeasurable, real-world strategies that help ourmembers attract and retain the best talent, build adiverse, inclusive workplace, and leverage individ-ual and team performance throughout the enter-prise.

The Human Capital Institute gratefully acknowl-edges the financial and volunteer contributions ofour global sponsors and underwriters. Theyinclude:

- Adecco- ADP Major Accounts Services- AIRS- Allegis- Authoria- Axiom- Axsium- Bernard Hodes Group- Broadlook Technologies- Buck Consultants- Center for Talent Retention- ClearPicture Corporation - Cornerstone on Demand- CustomInsight- DBM- DDI World

- Dice- DNL Global, Inc.- EmployeeContinuum - Enwisen- Fidelity Employer Services- First Advantage- Halogen Software- Hay Group- Hewitt- Hiredesk- IBM - Illuma- Infor (Workbrain)- Infohrm - Insala- JWT Employment Communications- Kelly Services- Kronos- The Ladders- Menttium Corporation- MHS- Monster Canada- Monster.com- MonsterTRAK - Multi-Health Systems- MyBizoffice, Inc- NAS Recruitment Communications- The Newman Group, a FutureStep Company- Oracle- Padgett Performance Group- Peopleclick- Peoplefilter- Plateau- PreVisor- The RightThing- RPO Worldwide

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- Saba- SelectMinds- Sequent- SilkRoad- SkillSurvey, Inc.- StepStone Solutions- SuccessFactors.com- Taleo Corporation- TowersPerrin - - TMP Wordwide- Trovix- Vangent- Veritude- Vemo- Vurv Technology- Workstream- Yahoo! Hot Jobs- Zerorisk HR