Global Talent Innovation™
A C-Suite Imperative
In today's fluid and flat world, having the right talent in the right place—and at the right time and price—can spell the difference between profit and loss. We live and work in a knowledge economy, in which competitive advantage is determined and driven by human capital. Yet talent management is ineffective at too many organizations and remains mired in 20th-century paradigms that no longer work for many employees.
The current economic down cycle has only accentuated the need for talent innovation, and yet it has prompted many companies to cut back on their investment in people. In addition to implementing large-scale layoffs and other immediate cost reduction efforts, companies are now questioning everything from incentive structures to career development programs as they strive to survive the downturn. Cost cutting is critical, but a recession also provides companies with the opportunity to reevaluate their talent management needs and long-term strategy in an environment rife with newly available, highly skilled potential employees. Now is the time to seize future advantage by revamping talent models and developing more innovative value propositions to attract a global workforce that is increasingly multigenerational and multicultural.
Any company that aspires to be competitive on the global stage must implement a strategic approach to talent management that is built on a deeper understanding of the complexity and diversity of today's global talent marketplace. Only when chief executives embrace this reality can they unlock a huge reserve of latent productivity in their workforces and dramatically improve their organization's ability to innovate and succeed.
Companies are wasting resources—both human and financial—by perpetuating HR programs that are out of step with the way work gets done in the 21st century. They need to update incentive systems, benefits packages, succession planning, and career models to optimize the commitment and performance of today's global talent pool.
- Jobs continue to be structured around a 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday workweek, which does not work for significant portions of the workforce.
- Training is narrowly focused on building skills, not on aligning talent capabilities with the strategic objectives of the business.
- Career development does not reflect the need to redefine advancement opportunities in the context of flatter, more flexible organizations.
- Companies cling to value propositions that no longer resonate with the talent they are trying to recruit and retain.
- Leadership development is not arming the organization with the decisive, experienced, globally minded visionaries that companies sorely need.
- Compensation systems are not adequately tied to performance and do not hold managers accountable for developing their talent.
HR departments often have yet to build the capability and organizational clout to orchestrate the sort of step changes required to innovate their companies’ approaches to talent. In many companies, change can best be achieved if chief executives declare Global Talent Innovation™ a priority and lead the change jointly with HR.
Transforming Your Talent Model
An effective global talentmanagement model drives innovation, growth, and breakthrough performance by balancing and integrating business and individual needs. This careful alignment of employer- and employee interests is what enables top management to optimize its talent expenditures, maximize the productivity and performance of the workforce, and gain competitive advantage. Booz & Company developed Global Talent Innovation jointly with Sylvia Ann Hewlett Associates, the consulting arm of the Center for Work-Life Policy (CWLP), a nonprofit think-tank based in New York City. Our Global Talent Innovation model rests on four basic building blocks:
In our extensive experience working with Fortune 500 companies, we’ve developed an integrated and business-aligned methodology for unleashing Global Talent Innovation. It starts with a baseline analysis of the talent you need versus the talent you have. Then, together, we devise a strategy for closing the gaps, while, at the same time, building an enduring global talent management platform around the four key building blocks: Differentiated Capabilities, Performance Acceleration, Leadership Development, and Talent Culture.
Recognizing that many companies are in crisis mode and are looking to address and alleviate immediate pain points, Booz & Company's Global Talent Innovation approach can be tailored to any time frame and a wide variety of short- and long-term talent challenges and scenarios. Our clients, some of the world's leading institutions, benefit not only from our flexibility but also from our broad experience across sectors and our deep functional expertise. We create value for our clients by moving them beyond better-practice solutions to best-in-class talent innovation.
