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Learning Connections

Published November 2008

See You at the Talent Review

Kevin Wilde

Memo to friend on executive team: Soon you'll attend the annual talent review. In the past you've had mixed feelings about spending so much time on such a soft topic. Your calendar is overloaded, and we shouldn't waste time with a so-so meeting. Here are a few ideas to help us make the most of our time together.

You Are There "On Purpose"
In the end, it's all about people and money. You've been instrumental in tightening up capital spending and cash management discipline with recent operating plan reviews. Now turn those great analytic and strategic skills to talent resources.

Think of this meeting as one leg in the three-legged stool on business management. The first leg is strategic, three- to five-year, long-range planning on business prospects and how to strategically improve competitiveness. The second leg is annual operating planning during which we set targets to support the long-range plan. The third leg is talent review planning during which we translate business plans into organization and people capabilities. Each process supports the other.

Think about our recent operations review meeting. The real value was the discussion and collaboration, not the ritualistic review of data. Talent reviews are about open discussions with multiple points of view and debate. Talent reviews are NOT about:

• Systems or forms: Look for insight and implications for action.
• Ignoring talent beyond your team: As a manager, your accountabilities go beyond your unit. Be open to others' input, and be willing to interject your views.
• Superficial descriptions of "good talent:" Provide solid facts and real examples of accomplishments and competence. Moreover, use current comments and observations and not outdated labels.
• Staying put: Look for talent upgrade opportunities to strengthen the business.
• Performance, potential and readiness as the same thing: A high-performance contributor is great, but may not be the best option for a more senior role. High-performance, high-potential talent may need more time in the role to solidify competence or a broadening experience before taking the big job. Be clear on these differences to make good decisions.
• Thinking traditionally about talent development options: Look for creative ways to accelerate the development of our best bets. Champion an unusual option to move that promising sales leader over to operations to broaden her knowledge, as well as test leadership skills in a different setting.

Ask All the Right Questions
I've seen you inspire great thinking and dialogue by asking the right questions. Your customer-need question really reframed the recent new product pipeline review. Now we need that kind of quality work in the talent review meeting. Here are some starter questions to bring to the review:

• If we were to put that person in the new role, why would he or she succeed? What factors might contribute to failure?
• How do you compare candidates' strengths, shortcomings and fit to move to the next level?
• What are our other succession options if this plan proves unrealistic?
• What would we need to do to better support someone in a new role?
• Are we dismissing talented people because their styles may be outside our comfort level?
• What two or three important things can we do to strengthen the talent pipeline?
• How should we shift resources or break new ground realigning the organization to key strategic focus areas?

The talent review meeting is critical. Active leadership can tie talent assets to short- and long-term business plans. Create a forum for discussion about talent and organization capabilities to sharpen thinking and decision quality.