TM - August 2008 - (Page 23)

Does Global Assessment Work? The fact that talent managers even ask the question casts doubt on the feasibility of a global approach. But reservations about whether it’s practical or not are rendered moot by one important point: In this economy, it has to be. O ne of the trickiest aspects of talent management is assessment. Whereas executive counterparts in ﬁnance have fairly straightforward, universal and incontrovertible methods of measurement, it’s much harder to gauge successes or shortcomings when it comes to employee assets. This process becomes even more difﬁcult with scale. The larger and more spread out an enterprise, the harder it will be to assess the workforce’s knowledge and proﬁciency in key areas. A dynamic employee population — whether in terms of function or background — can further complicate the matter. Economic globalization — the integration of various businesses and national economies into a new and different worldwide market — has intensiﬁed the challenges that scale and dynamism present for assessment and evaluation of talent. Nowadays, large, midsize and even small companies have many employees who speak an assortment of languages and live in a multiplicity of countries. Furthermore, many employees aren’t all that familiar with the work ethic or corporate ethos of North America, Europe or Japan. This can be problematic. Should talent managers measure the skills and achievements of these personnel in the same way they assess workers in the company’s home country? Evaluation of talent in any form is something of an inexact exercise. Art Not Science , According to Virginia Clark, vice president of learning and talent management for international technology solutions provider SAP Global, the overall purpose should not be to get the most precise measurements possible, but rather to provide a snapshot of the organization and its employee population. “Sometimes we try to make it too much of a science,” Clark said. “ About 10 years ago, I walked away from being upset about whether or not my results were too skewed. Even if I had the most perfect assessment, I would bet the overall trends would be mostly the same. “At the end of the day, it’s an art,” she explained. “Why spend your time doing these assessments? The answer is so we can prepare our organization to meet true business challenges. You really need the continuity of leadership and people. The art comes in when you look at your workforce in comparison to those needs you’ve articulated. If we use assessment as business intelligence to help guide our decisions in a more precise way, it gets people thinking more about getting directional insight.” August 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 23 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - August 2008

TM - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Global Background Screening Does Global Assessment Work? Global Total Renumeration: Creat One Organization Border Insecurity: Immigration Reform and Talent Management The Global Workforce: Communication Across Cultures Around the World in How Many Days? Insight: Exelon: Performance Under Pressure Special Report: Perspectives on Managing People Application: Reinventing Sales Rewards at Motorola Dashboard: Mideast Meets West Dashboard: Mergers and Acquisitions 2008 - Don’t Leave Employees Behind Editorial Resources Advertisers' Index Full Potential

TM - August 2008

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