What do the following examples all have in common?
- You’ve decided it’s time to expand your sales organization and hire 3 new individual contributors.
- Your organization is staffed up. Should you consider upgrading your current employees?
- You have an opening for a 2nd line sales manager. Do you promote one of your 1st line mangers into the position or look externally?
If you answered, “They all relate to recruiting and retaining top talent” you are correct. Are you ready/able to compete for top talent? Do you have outstanding processes in place to find, attract, and hire top talent? Are your processes directly aligned with corporate strategies? If you answered “No” to any of these questions, do you realize the impact this will have on your company’s growth and success?
You better have a plan that works.The War For Talent, published in 2001, is based on 5 years of research into the topic of how companies build strong managerial talent and whether or not this top talent drives a company’s performance. The information presented in the book and interviews is just as relevant today as it was over a decade ago. Through their research they confirmed much of what I’ve always known to be true:
- Leaders said that their company’s success depended upon the critical nature of employing and retaining talented people.
- Leaders ways of thinking throughout the organization, not H/R practices, made the difference. In other words, the fundamental belief in the mission critical nature of the talent function within their company.
- Leaders at all levels understand the importance and benefits of improving their talent pool, but many either don’t know how to do this or don’t have the buy in at levels above them.
This takes us back to the beginning. Top talent is not an accident. It’s intentional. It’s not about H/R processes. It is about a company’s leadership believing and acting upon processes that are aligned top to bottom.
