‘Talking Talent’ with the CEO: THE Ultimate Litmus Test

…the Talent Management Roadmap

By: Charlie H. Bishop, Jr., Ph.D. The Profitability Formula, LLC

Introduction: 

So far in these posts, we’ve covered many of the issues as to why Talent Management, while viewed as extremely important, is not perceived by Boards and C-Level teams as performing well.

I would now like to suggest a framework/roadmap that I have found helpful in

my career.  First, let me first show you the model…then we will walk through its origins and its various components:  

Where did the framework come from?

This framework evolved over time –an iterative approach, if you will…discovered by many mistakes along the way and yes, getting it right at times. It is a framework and a series of tactics developed while leading the issue of succession planning and talent management of the Chief Human Resources Office and supporting the CEO and C-Level teams in companies such as FedEx, Baxter, International, the formation of Bank of America and ADT Corporation.

Colleagues and voices you should listen to: I’ve also been fortunate to have worked as a colleague with some very talented individuals, such as Jim Shanley and Patrick Dailey and others. My colleagues at CoralBridge and my experiences in consulting have also advanced my thinking. David Ulrich and Ram Charan have always been a strong voices and leading thinkers, and more recently, Marc Efron, Jeff Higgins and Josh Bersin are well worth staying up with and paying attention to.

Three particularly strong CEO’s–Fred Smith at Federal Express—possibly, America’s most respected CEO, Rick Adam, now of the President/COO of Stanson Health, and Dr. Will Ferniany, the CEO of the University of Alabama’s Health System …each of these individuals consistently pushed to ‘have the ‘people thing’ …’make sense to the toughest line manager’’ That…was truly a tough litmus test, but also great example of how one can grow working for a great leader!

Lessons learned along the way…the underpinnings of the model: these considerations are in the line with the numbers in the model; numbers 1-7.

1 st: You have to have a direct tie-into executive management; thus, step 1 of the model. Creation of an Executive Board—the title is not that important. The title is less important than having some senior level individuals who care about the issue of talent–possibly some of your greatest critics, surely you should include the CFO. They will provide the guidance to HR that is dearly needed.

2nd: Human Capital Planning: Offer to provide ‘people information’ for the strategy  formulation session; work with Finance to come up with some helpful metrics on the workforce; if you can make a contribution there that will open up some other doors; ultimately, it advantages you to be a part of this important, ‘normal’ activity.

3rd: Talent Audit: This is the biggest issue as to why the talent management process is not seen as delivering for the business. We know that managers do a poor job with assessing their people and we still tolerate that BAD DATA as the foundation for the system. We will be covering a talent audit that works–no paper to fill out, no staged meetings where everyone walks away feeling that it was a waste of time! If this step is not cleaned up–you will fail.

4th: Talent Reviews: We start out with bad data and then put everyone through another staged meeting that is, in too many cases…relatively worthless and a ‘conspiracy of politeness’ where nothing is accomplished and there is little follow on. Boards are getting more involved in the talent area; thus, the issue is more important and less likely to be treated as ‘ho-hum’.

5th: Leadership Pipeline Dashboard: Beyond obtaining solid, believable information in step 4-there needs to be some way of answering questions about the talent base–you have to have a decision support system. In an earlier post I suggested that one has to be “bilingual”; to be able to speak about individuals but also about organizational issues. At the C-Level, approximately 75% of the questions will be focused on organization capability issues. Questions, such as:

• Can that unit step up and perform well as we implement this new initiative;
• Are we maintaining the talent coming up in the engineering program with Purdue; etc.

In the next posts we will cover some of the questions that you should be prepared to have answers for.

6th: Building out the Talent Management System: Your Executive Leadership Board will be invaluable in keeping you close to the strategic direction of the organization; thus, you can ‘build out’ the system based upon the business needs and key priorities. They will be your navigators and guides so that you are in concert with the business. I found that in developing an overall plan with them at budget time I was not arguing for our needs; they were leading the drive to fund critical initiatives. At the same time, leading the charge to shut down poor performing HR programs; and

7th: Measurement of activities and results: The data on talent depends upon the process, and if the process isn’t good (which I have strongly suggested in Step 2–the talent audit) then the data is faulty. There seems to be a rush to measure everything right now, without getting the process right. Thus, there is a need to measure things, but…make sure you are clear about what you are doing and you have good data before you rush off pellmell in a fever pitch to measure.

Coming up: The theme of these series of posts is ‘Talking Talent with the CEO’–the Ultimate

Litmus Test. Next we will tell you the questions that you can anticipate in Strategy Deliberations and then in Implementing Strategy.  Getting a handle on those questions is essential–they are the basis of what you should build and one of the major reasons that you will be an insider and ‘able to talk talent with the CEO).’

We will also focus on each of these components (1-7) and provide more detail on each.

Again, if anyone has any questions or ‘push-backs’…I would like to hear from you. 

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Charlie has held senior level roles in recognized Fortune 100 firms undergoing significant change, including FedEx where he was cited as “the architect of the organization’s human performance system”, Baxter International where he served as the Director of the Baxter Management Institute, and ADT where he was Senior Vice President of Human Resources and played a key role in the company’s major turnaround effort.

He is active in professional associations, and consults with leaders and organizations across multiple industries to help them navigate change and get to the future first. Charlie has particular expertise with succession planning systems and post merger talent assessment having supported Bank of America’s executive team through multiple acquisitions and integrations. He is the author of the book “Making Change Happen One Person at a Time” which was cited by the University of Michigan as one of the ten best books on change in the past forty years.

Charlie has a BS and MS in Psychology from West Virginia University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Georgia:

Direct (312) 267 2924  |  Cell (847) 404 7015