The Truth about Talent: A guide to building a dynamic workforce, realizing potential and helping leaders succeed

The Truth about Talent: A guide to building a dynamic workforce, realizing potential and helping leaders succeed

Released July 2010
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470748824

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Book description

In this new book, Jacqueline Davies and Jeremy Kourdi argue that organizations are failing to realize the simple truth about talent: they are misunderstanding their people, making flawed choices and allowing the true potential of their workforce to go unused and unfulfilled. Understanding the truth about talent in all its forms is a vital step in developing an organization and ensuring long-term, sustainable success.

A core part of their thesis is that organizations should recognize that people at different stages of their career and with different experiences and aspirations need to developed and engaged in different ways. The book provides a practical guide explaining how to segment the workforce, why, what to expect when you do, and how to ensure that this approach succeeds.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Introduction
    1. Recognizing the talent 'doom loop'
    2. About our research
      1. Seven key insights
    3. How this book is organized
  3. 1. We Are All Talent Now
    1. 1.1. What we mean by talent
    2. 1.2. Talent ecology and the truth about talent
    3. 1.3. The truth about talent
      1. 1.3.1.
        1. 1.3.1.1. We are all talent now
        2. 1.3.1.2. Talent is abundant and diverse
        3. 1.3.1.3. The talented are those who generate value, not merely those who can get to the top
        4. 1.3.1.4. Potential is discretionary
        5. 1.3.1.5. Growing and engaging talent is at the core of leadership
        6. 1.3.1.6. HR must reinvent itself to deliver practices for a 'workforce of one'
        7. 1.3.1.7. Talented people are attracted to talented places
  4. 2. A New Way of Thinking About Talent
    1. 2.1. How organizations think about talent
      1. 2.1.1. What we mean by talent
    2. 2.2. How talent management is changing
      1. 2.2.1. A fragmented, fluctuating supply of labour
      2. 2.2.2. From the credit crunch to the capability crunch
      3. 2.2.3. Connected consumption
    3. 2.3. Where we are today: the problem with current views of 'talent' in organizations
      1. 2.3.1. The belief that the future can be managed: from succession to scenario planning
      2. 2.3.2. The belief that we can spot our future leaders today (and manage their careers)
      3. 2.3.3. The march of the 'high potentials'
      4. 2.3.4. Potential for what?
      5. 2.3.5. Being insightful
      6. 2.3.6. Moving beyond the usual suspects ...
    4. 2.4. The rise of discretionary potential
      1. 2.4.1. A more tangible view of talent
      2. 2.4.2. How do you make a difference?
    5. 2.5. Leadership reflections
  5. 3. Talent Diversity: You Need to Believe It to See It
    1. 3.1. The link between talent and diversity
      1. 3.1.1. Meritocracy and diversity – sources of talent
    2. 3.2. Boiled frogs and Chilean potatoes ... why diversity is vital
      1. 3.2.1. Diversity – the best way to future-proof your business and avoid homogeneity
    3. 3.3. A new war for talent
      1. 3.3.1. Practical actions that will begin making a difference
    4. 3.4. Leadership reflections
  6. 4. Strategy – Beginning With the End in Mind
    1. 4.1. Strategy – the first priority
    2. 4.2. Future thinking and scenarios
      1. 4.2.1. Why future thinking and scenarios are valuable
      2. 4.2.2. Learning from the past, preparing for the future
      3. 4.2.3. Checklist: using scenario thinking
    3. 4.3. Developing strategy
      1. 4.3.1. The essence of successful strategies
      2. 4.3.2. Checklist: developing your strategy
    4. 4.4. Implementing strategy
    5. 4.5. Communicating strategy
    6. 4.6. HR strategy at work
    7. 4.7. Strategic tools for HR
    8. 4.8. Leadership reflections
  7. 5. Hire and Wire: Developing Your Organization's Talent Ecology
    1. 5.1. Finding and nurturing talent
    2. 5.2. Managing your talent ecology
      1. 5.2.1. The impact of the external market
      2. 5.2.2. The pivotal link with strategy
      3. 5.2.3. Talent – a valuable Trojan horse
      4. 5.2.4. Talent loves talented company
    3. 5.3. The forgotten role of structure
      1. 5.3.1. From structure chart to social capital
    4. 5.4. The importance of networks
    5. 5.5. The nature of talented teams
      1. 5.5.1. Adopting new habits
    6. 5.6. How culture can make or break a talent strategy
      1. 5.6.1. Digging big holes
      2. 5.6.2. The revenge of the bell curve
      3. 5.6.3. Cultures that attract talent
    7. 5.7. Developing the talent ecology
      1. 5.7.1. Aiming for a 'fly wheel' effect
    8. 5.8. Leadership reflections
  8. 6. Getting Personal: The Workforce of One
    1. 6.1. Bringing your talents to work
      1. 6.1.1. Life just got personal – the trend to mass customization
    2. 6.2. The rise of the employer brand
      1. 6.2.1. The value of segmentation
      2. 6.2.2. Understanding memetics
    3. 6.3. Segmenting talent
      1. 6.3.1. Techniques for rating performance
      2. 6.3.2. Using employee data
    4. 6.4. Getting beneath the Employee Value Proposition
    5. 6.5. Leadership reflections
  9. 7. Engaging With Talent
    1. 7.1. Employee engagement: what it is and why it matters
      1. 7.1.1. The benefits of engagement
      2. 7.1.2. What affects employee engagement?
      3. 7.1.3. Rewards
      4. 7.1.4. The Opportunity
      5. 7.1.5. The Organization
      6. 7.1.6. The Employer
      7. 7.1.7. The Work
      8. 7.1.8. The People
    2. 7.2. Three-factor theory
      1. 7.2.1.
        1. 7.2.1.1. Equity
        2. 7.2.1.2. Achievement
        3. 7.2.1.3. Camaraderie
      2. 7.2.2. Engagement and the three factors
      3. 7.2.3. Checklist: connecting employee enthusiasm with business success
      4. 7.2.4. Assess whether HR is complicit, perhaps unwittingly, in destroying enthusiasm
        1. 7.2.4.1. Survey employees regularly, using a consistent set of questions across the organization
        2. 7.2.4.2. Find the areas for intervention – good and bad practice
        3. 7.2.4.3. Develop teamwork
        4. 7.2.4.4. Manage and resolve conflicts between individuals
        5. 7.2.4.5. When poor performance cannot be resolved
        6. 7.2.4.6. Face up to poor performance and focus on partnership building
        7. 7.2.4.7. Let shareholders and analysts know the facts
      5. 7.2.5. The rule of 150: Gore Associates
    3. 7.3. Sears and the service-profit chain
    4. 7.4. Creating a climate for engagement
      1. 7.4.1. Understanding what doesn't work
      2. 7.4.2. Getting people engaged
    5. 7.5. Leadership reflections
  10. 8. The Meaning of Work
    1. 8.1. The meaning of work
      1. 8.1.1. The importance of meaningful work
      2. 8.1.2. People – more than 'human resources'
      3. 8.1.3. Making work more meaningful
    2. 8.2. Leadership reflections
  11. 9. Leading for Talent
    1. 9.1. The challenges of 21st century leadership
      1. 9.1.1. Globalization, interconnectedness and interdependence
      2. 9.1.2. Increasing complexity
      3. 9.1.3. The challenge of sustainable growth
      4. 9.1.4. The need for innovation
      5. 9.1.5. Changing attitudes, rising expectations
      6. 9.1.6. Organizations are changing
      7. 9.1.7. Knowledge matters
    2. 9.2. A new approach to leadership
      1. 9.2.1. The business case
      2. 9.2.2. People are the answer (specifically, their head, heart and guts)
    3. 9.3. Understanding your leadership style
      1. 9.3.1. Understanding different leadership styles
      2. 9.3.2. Taking leadership seriously
    4. 9.4. Leadership reflections
  12. 10. Techniques for Realizing Talent in Your Whole Workforce
    1. 10.1. Leading with your heart
      1. 10.1.1. Balance the needs of individuals and the business
      2. 10.1.2. Know yourself and connect emotionally to others
      3. 10.1.3. Stay self-aware
      4. 10.1.4. Develop empathy
      5. 10.1.5. Remain in control
      6. 10.1.6. Use different styles of working
      7. 10.1.7. Develop emotional intelligence (EQ)
      8. 10.1.8. Inspire trust
      9. 10.1.9. Use visioning to increase collaboration and understanding
      10. 10.1.10. Develop creativity and innovation
      11. 10.1.11. Build a diverse team and empathic approach
    2. 10.2. Using intellect, intelligence and insight
      1. 10.2.1. Rethinking
      2. 10.2.2. Reframing
      3. 10.2.3. Focusing on results and getting things done
      4. 10.2.4. Developing and articulating a point of view
    3. 10.3. Courageous leadership
      1. 10.3.1. Taking risks with incomplete data
      2. 10.3.2. Balancing risk and reward
      3. 10.3.3. Acting with unyielding integrity
      4. 10.3.4. Communicating
      5. 10.3.5. Empowering people
      6. 10.3.6. Coaching and developing talent
  13. CONCLUSION
    1. See talent in context
      1. See talent in context
      2. Treat everyone as talent
      3. Focus on value creation
      4. Make work personal
      5. Build everyone's capability
      6. Take leadership seriously
      7. Tend your talent ecology
  14. A. Researching the Truth About Talent
  15. Research Acknowledgements

Product information

  • Title: The Truth about Talent: A guide to building a dynamic workforce, realizing potential and helping leaders succeed
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: July 2010
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470748824