Sonar6 - Performance Management Blog

Nice reminder from Jim Holincheck around the key to successful talent management –
http://blogerp.typepad.com/hcm_research/2007/03/who_owns_talent.html

As with most of these things, it is a fiendishly simple concept and yet one which many companies still spend millions on trying to “enable” through software and consulting.

If your culture doesn’t actively support line managers owning talent management you are wasting your money.

Interesting few days with prospective clients in Australia. The focus on workforce planning and talent management in general is very clear, with several of the initiatives we are involved in having CEO and or Board sponsorship and involvement.

There is also more interest from traditionally “talent averse” sectors of the market such as manufacturing, where cost reduction and revenue growth have been the dominant elements of business / value creation strategies.

Definitely a market we will spend more time in during 07.

Thanks to those of you subscribed to Gartner for the heads up – we were pretty chuffed to be one of the four “Cool Vendors” in their recent Finance and HCM research:

http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?id=502272&ref=g_fromdoc

Apologies to those who don’t subscribe to Gartner – we will have a release out shortly once it has been approved.

It’s also interesting to see that the others listed all have some potential synergy with the talent management field, especially when you take into account the Talent Science approach we have been proposing (Talent_Science.pdf )

A fantastic book in my reading tray at the moment – “How Leaders Build Value” – Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood http://www.amazon.com/How-Leaders-Build-Value-Organization/dp/047176079X.

Having skimmed it a couple of times now, it’s worth the time to read in full.
The authors provide an incredibly simple yet powerful build up of the link between skills / competencies and business outcomes.

In the work we have done to date with sonar6 (www.sonar6.com) it is clear that the key drivers of developing a competency framework have become lost translation.

The more of Ulrich’s work I read the more I understand why he and his colleagues are held up in such high regard around the transformation of HR’s role in organisations.

Organisations as a whole just don’t seem to be getting what they need out of systems and thinking around succession management. The companies credited with growth and sustainability driven from successful succession planning (say that 10 times!) are easily identified and constantly referred to.

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Ok - I’m back - thanks for the prods from various people to get back to posting and talking with the talent management community! It’s been a huge couple of months with travel to the US and UK as well as a business taking off in our home country of New Zealand.

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For years Jack Welch has stood at as a tough and charismatic leader who spent a huge proportion of his time nurturing and growing talent within General Electric.

He’s not at GE anymore but his pod-cast at Business-week is a fantastic way to get some deeper insight into his thinking on a wide range of management practice. One which he is most frequently associated with is the process of differential management.

Placing the entire company into bands (20% as “A” players - showered with recognition, rewards and development, 70% as “B” players - nurtured and developed to identify those with A potential and 10% as “C”players - to be managed up or our of the organisation).

All the episodes in his pod-cast series (co-hosted by his wife and former Harvard Business Review Executive Suzy) are well worth listening to but in respect to talent and performance management there are some standouts which I will highlight in this blog.

Have a listen to Jack’s responses around some reader questions related to applying 20 70 10 and differential management in general - interesting stuff!

http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/podcasts/welchway/welchway_09_25_06.htm

Harvard Business Review has a free bi-weekly pod-cast which is very good.

It’s a great way to get a better guide on the vast amounts of information available with HBR and the associated publications.
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I am halfway through my regular tour of Europe and the
US – talking with clients, selling and trying to understand the nuances of each country and geography as they relate to HR and Talent Management.

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Lesson learned — building a new business and having a baby can seriously affect your ability to maintain normal service — especially with things like blogs!

However between nappies and sleepless nights, we have still been able to acquire some new customers and move forward on some exciting new enhancements to Sonar6.

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