The Four Strategic HR Challenges for the Upcoming Decade

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Boston Consulting Group, in conjunction with an association of people management associations worldwide, completed a comprehensive on-line + live interviews study on how they are approaching strategic human capital development for the next decade. It's called "Creating People Advantage 2010" and worth downloading if you are concerned with the strategic element of human resources in your organization. Among a wide-ranging group of topics, their results address how human resources challenges have been changing in the last few years. As a manager, you should find this interesting. The four (of 21 potential challenges) that were ranked at the top are: Managing Talent Improving … [Read more...]

TW 2010 Global Workforce Study-Comment #1

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It's that time of year again when TowersWatson (formerly TowersPerrin) publishes its always informative Global Workforce Study. The 2010 report, conducted between November/09 and January/10, covered 20,000 full time employees of large and midsize organizations in 22 markets around the globe. Over the next several blog posts I want to highlight and comment on some of their main findings. As always, my focus will be on what the learnings are for managers and leaders. Three main themes emerged: The global recession has permanently altered the so-called "contract" between employees and their employers. There is a gap between what employees want and what employers are able to provide … [Read more...]

It Pays to Attend to Your Organization's Talent

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The Hackett Group completed last year a 3-year Talent Management Performance study that showed how Global 1000 level companies that invest in and develop more comprehensive talent management capabilities yield benefits in three areas. They call it the "triple payoff": Enhanced bottom line results Improved operational processes Better talent management processes Here are just a couple of highlights from their research. These Talent Management Maturity Leaders (TMML's), compared to their peer companies, experienced: Earnings (EBIDTA) 18% higher Net Profit Margins 54% higher Greater retention of staff, in particular those coveted high performing employees Higher levels of business … [Read more...]

Book Review – The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail

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By Jean-François Manzoni & Jean-Louis Barsoux Harvard Business School Press, 2002 ISBN #0-87584-949-0 Does this cycle sound familiar to you? An employee misses a deadline or messes up in some way. You begin to have doubts about him (or her). Meaning well, you start closely managing him. The employee thinks you don't trust him, loses self-confidence and harbors resentment. The employee's performance slips and he minimizes contact with you. You see this as validating your initial concerns. Hence, you increase your vigilance, to the point of micro-managing him. And so the cycle continues to spiral downward... This is what the authors call the "set-up-to-fail … [Read more...]