TM - April 2008 - (Page 26) recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning Invest in and Build Skills for Tomorrow, Not Today Organizations are identifying tomorrow’s needed skills and taking steps to develop and build those skills today. To them, the business and workforce needs are changing so rapidly, they have no choice but to build today what they need for the future. The Home Depot literally tracks hundreds of data points from promotions to attrition to cost per hire. Every Monday morning, the talent data is reviewed by senior management, including the CEO. One executive said, “The biggest dependent factor we have at The Home Depot is our associates — and the biggest variability is our associates.” IBM carefully monitors and forecasts hot skills in demand by IBM’s businesses. Employees anywhere in the world can view these hot skill areas, create their personal development program to attain needed and marketable skills, and they can take advantage of IBM’s $700 million annual investment in upskilling its workforce. Big Blue also identifies what it views as needed skills for the future and works with local schools to develop classes in those areas. Build Talent Assessments to Identify the Best Capital One always has prided itself on hiring the best people. But some would argue the company takes candidate assessment to a new level. None of the 3,000–4,000 candidates the organization hires each year escape the sometimes grueling assessments. But in the end, the company is able to achieve its goal of recruiting the best talent in the marketplace. Considering that high performers outperform average employees by as much as 150 percent, the extra effort is clearly worth it. It all begins with a Web-based application and test based on biographical and noncognitive factors — something the company calls a managerial situation analysis. If candidates pass the Web-based testing, they schedule a visit online to a testing center near their hometown. If they pass that, candidates then schedule a power day at a Capital One facility where four to five business leaders — not HR staff — conduct structural behavioral interviews and one to two business-case analyses. About 20 percent of the candidates at this stage receive an offer and more than 85 percent accept. From the Web site application to this point, Capital One’s yield is extremely low — only about 4 percent, but it ensures the organization gets the best. Develop Talent Pools to Transcend Job Requisitions and Boundaries Today, companies can no longer afford to operate in requisition-driven, siloed and reactive environments to acquire top talent. Innovative companies are focusing on building and maintaining robust pools of capable, internal and external talent ready to be tapped into from anywhere at anytime. This shift is evidenced in the way recruitment functions are designed. Companies such as Philips Electronics and Wachovia are structuring their recruitment staffs so they are corporate assets, rather than owned by the businesses. At Wachovia, for example, the staff of 300 recruiters is a shared service, but at the same time, they are located in the field. At Philips, recruiters are aligned by functional areas such as marketing, sales or research, rather than by business unit, and they have a bird’s-eye view of functional needs across the organization. Other companies are building talent pools of internal and external workers. One approach is to build communities of passive candidates, individuals who may not be ready to join your organization at the moment, but could be ready in the future. Diversified Brazilian company Semco runs ads even when there are no job Today, companies can no longer afford to operate in requisition-driven, siloed and reactive environments to acquire top talent. openings. The ads ask potential employees to present what they could do for the company. If Semco is impressed, the company creates a new position. Create a Work Environment Not Just to Accommodate, But to Inspire Beyond part time and telecommuting, companies are coming up with truly innovative ways to accommodate employees’ diverse needs and create inspiring work environments. Leading organizations understand the growing diversity of their future workforces and know they need to do more than simply accommodate schedules. Some companies are building work arrangements for a targeted pool of employees. They cater to a segment with the intensity of a targeted marketing campaign and build a mini culture and support network to sustain it. When customers call JetBlue — the innovative, low-fare airline that began in 1999 — to book a flight, the reservation agent will be one of hundreds of housewives working from her Utah home. JetBlue has outsourced its entire reservation system to working moms who take reservations between baby-sitting, household chores and running errands. David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue, calls it “homesourcing.” Capital One pushes the notion of work environment one step further through its Future of Work pilot located on the sixth floor the company’s McLean, Va., headquarters. Traditional enclosed offices give way to 26 April 2008 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
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