CEO’s influence on talent management
| Published date | 01 November 2006 |
| Pages | 3-3 |
| Date | 01 November 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390680000927 |
| Author | Lucy McGee |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
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Volume 6 Issue 1 November/December 2006
STRATEGIC COMMENTARY
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Thought leaders share their views on the HR profession and
its direction for the future
DEPARTMENTS AT A GLANCE
STRATEGIC COMMENTARY
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e-HR
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HOW TO…
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PRACTITIONER PROFILE
Q&A
HR AT WORK
REWARDS
,
RESEARCH AND RESULTS
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,
,
W
hat gets a CEO’s attention?
Most people would answer
profits and productivity. But in
the minds of today’s CEOs, the
organization’s future leadership supply is
a key determinant of both. With
competition for the best people
intensifying with each year’s graduate
intake, finding and keeping the right
people to lead a business isn’t just an HR
issue – it’s a strategic challenge for the
organization to continue to grow and
prosper.
Executives lead the talent crusade
CEOs seem to be reacting to the talent
shortage by prioritizing leadership
development. This view was reinforced
through recent global research conducted
by DDI1and the Economist Intelligence
Unit on the executive’s role in talent
management. This study uncovered that
CEOs are now spending as much as 30
percent of their time on talent
management – and looking to HR for
support and advice.
Therefore, is it not time for HR to
move on from trying to prove the
business value of building leadership
capability and capacity, to finding
creative, high-impact ways of involving
the CEO in realizing this goal?
While DDI’s research suggests CEOs
relish their role as chief talent officer,
many operate in a surprisingly ad hoc
fashion. A company’s business leaders
should reach consensus on a few
fundamental points before moving ahead
and HR must instigate discussions around:
• What characterizes successful future
leaders across all levels of the business?
• What personal accountabilities will
individuals accept for improving talent?
• Are we prepared to differentiate focus
and investment in our employees based
on their leadership potential?
Shaping strong future leaders
It then falls to HR to insist a strategy is
created with the CEO (making outcomes
easier to measure than a series of isolated
initiatives), synchronize the timing and
focus of the people plans with business
planning and ensure that the CEO retains
personal ownership of the execution. The
outcome of a successful talent
management strategy is developed
leaders, ready for bigger jobs, sooner.
A CEO’s commitment is just the
starting point when creating a “learning
culture” that prepares people to handle
each major transition and career move.
The CEO alone can require that all leaders
are responsible for unearthing early
potential; actively support and track their
people’s development; are held
accountable through the performance-
management system for measurable
objectives in growing leadership talent;
and have incentives to support talent
processes. But it’s up to HR to facilitate
and formalize each of these components.
Setting clear standards
DDI’s study reveals that, given the
opportunity, many CEOs are natural
teachers and mentors. They relish talent
scouting, getting out in the field and
looking for standout performers, but HR
must provide clear criteria if a perception
of fairness is to be maintained.
Likewise, CEO participation in off-site
events and learning sessions with future
executives – sharing knowledge of the
business and stories of pivotal points in
their own career – energizes and helps
retain top talent. But HR’s role in
“keeping them honest” is critical. HR
must ensure that they hone their own
coaching skills, prioritizing time to coach
their immediate team. HR can mobilize
them as mentors for a handful of “stars”
from further down the organization.
Defining development goals
A CEO is uniquely placed to see what’s
occurring in the business that might
represent a development opportunity,
but HR needs to help determine the
desired outcomes to measure, as well as
the organizational support the individual
might need for success.
As one CEO in the report put it: “HR is
my consigliere.” Their respective skills
and perspectives are beautifully
complimentary. Isn’t this just the
opportunity HR has been waiting for?
Reference:
1. http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/eiu_ddi_talentmanagement_fullreport.pdf
CEOs’ influence on
talent management
Lucy McGee, director at consultancy DDI UK, discusses how HR can best
engage and deploy the CEO in the execution of talent strategies.
Lucy McGee
is a director at DDI, UK. Her
clients have included GKN,
GE, Interbrew,UK Sport,
Toyota and the Civil Aviation Authority.She is also
a certified executive assessor and coach and has
been involved in a variety of marketing and
consulting roles for companies including Logica,
BT and Dun & Bradstreet.
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