The TALENT MASTERS…

By:

Ranjeeta Bonal

Talent masters put people before numbers for the simple reason

that it is talent that delivers the numbers. Success comes from

those who are able to extract meaning from events and the forces

affecting a business, and are able to look at the world and assess

the risks to take and the risks to avoid

Purpose

How to accurately judge raw human talent?

Understand a person’s unique combination of traits and

develop that talent.

Convert what supposedly are "soft" subjective

judgments about people into objective criteria that are as

specific, verifiable, and concrete as the contents of a

financial statement? 

"The Talent Masters" rests on three principles that characterize the Welch

approach to management:

A focus on talent development. Mr. Welch and the other "talent

masters" in the book—we also hear from folks at companies including

Procter & Gamble and Novartis—claim that they spend more than a

third of their time developing their people.

Cont…

Differentiation. Talent masters create a meritocracy by constantly

evaluating their people—a process which, in Mr. Welch's case, was

derided by critics as "rank and yank.“

Candor. This is the ultimate Welch trademark: ruthless honesty in

evaluating the performance of people and businesses.

How to take a business to next level?

Secrets of the masters. The specifics on how companies regarded

as world-class—GE, P&G, Hindustan Unilever (and others)—base

their stellar performance decade after decade on their systems for

finding and nurturing leadership talent.

Intimate and systemic. Why deep knowledge and intimacy with

your talent and a systemic rhythm of reviews are the foundation for

creating a steady, self-renewing stream of leaders for all levels of an

organization—from first-line supervisors to the CEO.

Conti…

The competency that lasts. Financial results, market share, brand,

and legacy products all have a half-life that seems to grow shorter

by the year. Talent is the only competency that endures.

What to do Monday morning. The Talent Masters tool kit

provides the specific guidelines for assessing and improving your

company’s talent mastery capabilities

Talent Mastery Tool Kit

Principles of Talent Masters

An enlightened leadership team, starting with a CEO who really “gets

it”.

A performance-meritocracy, a willingness to differentiate talent based on

results as well as the values and behaviors behind those results.

Explicit definition and articulation of values, citing strong company

beliefs and expected behaviors.

Candor and trust, leading to better insights into people’s talent and

potential, focusing on development needs to accelerate personal growth.

Talent assessment/ development systems that have as mush rigor and

repeatability as systems used for finance and operations.

Conti…

Human resource leaders as business partners and trustees of the

talent development system with functional expertise equal to the

CFO’s.

Investment in continuous learning and improvement to build and

continuously update the leadership brand in synch with the

changing world.

Learnings

The ever-practical Conaty and Charan identify five

specific organizational “How-Tos”:

Get all senior leaders centrally engaged in talent

recognition and selection

Hire for demonstrated leadership, not just for credentials

Learn as much as possible about values and behavior

before hiring

Conti…

Be humble enough to hire “outsiders” but ensure

cultural assimilation

Be totally honest about who has greatest leadership

potential

They also identify five specific “How-Tos” for the

individual:

Make talent development an obsession

Drill down deep to the specifics of each person’s talents and

potentiality

Give frequent, honest, and specific feedback

Make talent development a core competency with accountability

Provide intellectual challenges and opportunities fir additional

growth

Assessing Leaders

Do formal reviews informally

Use business reviews as people reviews and vice versa.

Don’t judge performance by numbers alone.

Consider what the leaders leave behind.

Sort misfits from failures.

Recognizing and Retaining Leaders

Tell people how they fit in.

Spread financial rewards throughout the year.

Allow for judgement when compensating leaders.

Differentiate