Talent Management - October 2008 - (Page 34)

SOLUTIONS FOR TODAY STRATEGIES FOR TOMORROW ating alignment between HR and the executive team so they fully understand the value of the talent management solution. One way to ensure this critical buy-in is to sign on an executive-level sponsor, make his or her role clear and continue to show how a successful outcome for the project will beneﬁt the sponsor and the organization. Having a project champion in a different business unit or geography also can help get senior management to embrace the project. Project champions are well-respected in the organization and provide an additional layer of conﬁdence that the new project is the right thing to do. Perform risk assessment: Smooth, successful technology implementations also begin with a thorough risk-and-impact analysis. This means evaluating all aspects of the project including scope of deployment, span of control of the project lead and percentage of the team assigned full time to the project. This helps project leads understand areas of strength, identify areas that need improvement and things that, if left unattended, could negatively impact the overall outcome. Teams should work with the talent management solution vendor to examine the results of the risk assessment and come up with ways to mitigate any potential negative impacts. Promote communication: Projects thrive on the free ﬂow of information, so it’s imperative to draft a communications plan as early as possible. The plan must not only include how and when to communicate goals and progress, it should also outline a plan to communicate what the new system will mean for end users — not just how they will use it, but how their roles and their day-to-day work lives will be affected. Further, different audiences have different needs concerning project information. For example, a recruiter will need to have more detail and more frequent communication than a hiring manager, depending upon the stage of the project. Build the team: With the preliminary groundwork done, it’s time to build a dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable project team. This can be a challenge because resource scarcity is something many businesses face. Although there may be great opportunities for employees to stretch their skills and work on something new and exciting, special initiatives require executive endorsement so resources are prioritized accordingly. Otherwise, special assignments may be viewed by some as extra work. It’s not enough to simply assign resources either. People have to be knowledgeable about the project and possess the level of experience Video, Podcasts, White Papers and More Enriching the HR and Talent Management Communities Talent Resources is a collection of microsites that offers podcasts, videos, white papers and additional resources from our partners in the enterprise education community. These resources will offer HR executives and other talent management professionals a one-stop go-to guide to learn more about the practices and strategies at work in the most successful talent management organizations across a variety of industries. Visit resources.talentmgt.com Information and resources provided by our partners: http://resources.talentmgt.com http://resources.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - October 2008

Talent Management - October 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The Three Pillars of Executive On-Boarding Role-Based Assessment: Thinking Inside the Box Who's Going to Speak Up for Health Care? Obey the Push to Automate Managing the Star Performer No One Wants to Work With Adopting a Mutual-Funds Model for Talent Management Hewlett-Packard: Simple Talent Management in a Technical World Team Effort Pays in Talent at London Business School The Employee Survey: What’s in It for Me? Why Most Managers Are Stuck Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - October 2008

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