Talent Management - November 2008 - (Page 14)

[learning connections] by Kevin Wilde M M You Are There “On Purpose” See You at the Talent Review emo to friend on executive team: Soon you’ll attend the annual talent review. In the past you’ve had mixed feelings about spending so much time on such a soft topic. Your calendar is overloaded, and we shouldn’t waste time with a soso meeting. Here are a few ideas to help us make the most of our time together. unit. Be open to others’ input, and be willing to interject your views. • Superﬁcial descriptions of “good talent:” Provide solid facts and real examples of accomplishments and competence. Moreover, use current comments and observations and not outdated labels. • Staying put: Look for talent upgrade opportunities to strengthen the business. questions. Your customer-need question really reframed the recent new product pipeline review. Now we need that kind of quality work in the talent review meeting. Here are some starter questions to bring to the review: • If we were to put that person in the new role, why would he or she succeed? What factors might contribute to failure? • How do you compare candidates’ strengths, shortcomings and ﬁt to move to the next level? • What are our other succession options if this plan proves unrealistic? In the end, it’s all about people and money. You’ve been instrumental in • Performance, potential and readiness as the same thing: tightening up capital spending and cash management discipline with recent operating plan reviews. Now turn those great analytic The real value in talent and strategic skills to reviews is the discussion talent resources. Think of this meeting ritualistic review of data. as one leg in the threelegged stool on business management. The ﬁrst leg is strategic, threeto ﬁve-year, long-range A high-performance contribuplanning on business prospects tor is great, but may not be the and how to strategically improve best option for a more senior competitiveness. The second leg is role. High-performance, highannual operating planning during potential talent may need more which we set targets to support time in the role to solidify comthe long-range plan. The third leg petence or a broadening experiis talent review planning during ence before taking the big job. which we translate business plans Be clear on these differences to into organization and people camake good decisions. pabilities. Each process supports • Thinking traditionally about the other. talent development options: Think about our recent operations Look for creative ways to acreview meeting. The real value was celerate the development of our the discussion and collaboration, best bets. Champion an unusual not the ritualistic review of data. option to move that promising Talent reviews are about open dissales leader over to operations to cussions with multiple points of broaden her knowledge, as well view and debate. Talent reviews as test leadership skills in a difare NOT about: ferent setting. • Systems or forms: Look for insight and implications for action. Ask All the Questions • Ignoring talent beyond your Right team: As a manager, your ac- I’ve seen you inspire great thinking countabilities go beyond your and dialogue by asking the right and collaboration, not the About the Author Kevin Wilde is vice president and chief learning ofﬁcer at General Mills. He can be reached at editor@ talentmgt.com. • What would we need to do to better support someone in a new role? • Are we dismissing talented people because their styles may be outside our comfort level? • What two or three important things can we do to strengthen the talent pipeline? • How should we shift resources or break new ground realigning the organization to key strategic focus areas? The talent review meeting is critical. Active leadership can tie talent assets to short- and long-term business plans. Create a forum for discussion about talent and organization capabilities to sharpen thinking and decision quality. 14 November 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

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

Talent Management - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Recruitment & Retention Assessment & Evaluation Compensation & Benefits Performance Management Learning & Development Succession Planning Insight Dashboard Application Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - November 2008

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