THE
TALENT MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK:
Creating Organizational Excellence by
Identifying, Developing & Promoting Your Best People
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Edited
by :
Lance A. Berger
Dorothy R. Berger
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Preface
The
Talent Management Handbook is
designed to assist organizations in creating and maintaining
excellence through proactive talent management. Based on
research, our firm's consulting assignments, and the input
of the preeminent contributors to this book, we conclude
that sustainable organization excellence is achieved through
three strategies for managing human resources. These are:
| 1. |
Identifying,
selecting, and cultivating Superkeepers. Superkeepers
are employees who have demonstrated superior performance,
who have inspired others to achieve superior performance,
and who embody the core competencies of the organization.
They are role models for success and the organization
can neither afford to lose them nor fail to take advantage
of their ability to contribute to organization excellence.
Typically, no more than 3% to 5% of an organization's
workforce are classified as Superkeepers. |
| 2. |
Finding,
developing, and positioning highly qualified backups
for key positions. Key positions are critical to organization
continuity. They cannot be vacant for any length of
time nor can they have less than a highly qualified,
readily available backup. Typically, no more than 8%
to 12% of an organization's positions are classified
as key. |
| 3. |
Allocating
resources (compensation, training coaching, etc.)
to employees based on their actual and/or potential
contribution to organization excellence. An organization
will not accomplish anything if it invests in everything.
Therefore, an organization must invest in employees
based on a clear hierarchy of contribution.
After
Superkeepers, the hierarchy of investment includes
Keepers. These employees exceed performance
expectations, help others to improve their performance,
and exceed expectations in demonstrating organization
core competencies. They represent between 20% and
25% of an organization's workforce. Large investments
should be made in this group. Solid Citizens represent
about 70% of the workforce. They meet expectations
for performance, enhance the work of others, and meet
expectations in demonstrating organization competencies.
Organizations invest in enhancing this group to ensure
that Solid Citizens continue to contribute to organization
success. They must not invest at the same level per
employee as they do for Superkeepers and Keepers.
Last,
there are Misfits. This group contains employees
who do not meet organization expectations for performance,
working with others, and /or organization competencies.
Some remedial investments might be made with this
group, but unless a Misfit rapidly becomes a Solid
Citizen, the "plug" should be pulled on
all investments and the employee should be terminated.
Typically, no more than 5% of an organization's employees
are designated as Misfits. The book is organized into
seven parts. The arrangement of the chapters is designed
to provide the reader with a series of logical steps
to realizing the benefits of the three strategies
stated above.
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Part
I presents a comprehensive approach to talent management.
It shows how the various assessment, planning, and implementation
elements can be integrated into a single talent management
approach that addresses the three human resources strategies.
Each talent management component described in this part
is explored more deeply in other parts of the book. This
part also frames the external talent management forces that
impact on talent management
activity.
Part
II focuses on examining each of the talent management
building blocks. The blocks are assessment tools that are
used to build the talent management plan and create the
basis for associated development actions. The blocks are
organization competencies, performance appraisal, and forecast
of potential. They are essential for the accurate placement
of employees into the various investment categories and,
in particular, the identification of Superkeepers.
Part
III shows how the building blocks identified in the
preceding section areassembled into a talent management
plan. The talent management plan identifies the actions
necessary for an organization to align its current human
resources capabilities with its current and future organization
requirements. This chapter also illustrates different perspectives
on the talent management planning process.
Part
IV focuses on helping organizations ensure employees
from diverse groups are represented in their reservoir of
Superkeepers, Keepers, and Solid Citizens.
Part
V describes the actions an organization can take to
improve its employees' capabilities for meeting the requirements
of the talent management plan. The emphasis in this part
is on coaching and mentoring, since the editors believe
that the overwhelming investment in employee improvement
is made on an ongoing basis through constructive dialogue
and feedback from many organization levels (boss, peers,
functional experts, etc.). We do not emphasize technical
aspects of training and development, since this topic is
well covered in other books and widely available through
the resources of the American Society for Training and Development.
Part
VI presents a set of reward approaches designed to properly
allocate compensation dollars to employees based on their
current and/or projected value contribution to the organization.
The effectively distributed combination of career development,
coaching, and rewards is a powerful way to reinforce the
three key talent management strategies.
Part
VII provides a straightforward overview of the various
types of computer approaches that support talent management.
It is intended to be a starting point for a much deeper
exploration of the technology necessary to support an organization's
human capital needs.
Acknowledgments
The
editors wish to thank our blue-ribbon group of contributors
who have honed their skills as practitioners and theoreticians
over many years of experience on the battlefront and in
the think tanks of talent management. They have generously
provided their time and expertise to provide guidance to
those involved in talent management.
The
Talent Management Handbook is dedicated to our colleague,
Edward Straub of Aon Consulting, who did not survive September
11, 2001, to our cousin, Jack Berger, who did survive, and
to all impacted by this terrible event. Every human being
is ultimately a Superkeeper-an irreplaceable member of his
or her business community, family, and society.
________________________________
Superkeeper is a trademark used exclusively
by Lance A. Berger & Associates, Ltd. "Superkeeper"
in any context cannot be used without the consent of Lance
A. Berger & Associates, Ltd
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