Book Review : Best Practices in Talent Management
I read this wonderful book on Talent Management. Sharing my insights on LinkedIn for the benefits of the larger group here :
Avon Products, Inc. or simply known as Avon, is a direct sales company in beauty, household and personal care categories. Avon sells products in over 100 countries
The first chapter of this book (Best Practices in Talent Management) talks about the Business Challenges & also the Talent Challenges faced by the Avon Products, Inc. in 2006 & then it's Journey to Talent Turnaround success in 2009.
I really liked the way the Talent challenges are presented in this book. How the Talent Management group identified the overriding initial weaknesses as 1. Opaque (TM was a black box), 2. Egalitarian (Treating everyone in the same way), 3. Complex, 4. Episodic, 5. Emotional & 6. Meaningless.
- Opaque to Transparent : by introducing 360 degree assessment process, Transparent Career development plan called "The Deal". The Deal made clear that how every employee had to deliver results, display proper leadership behaviors, know the business & take ownership of personal development.
"Talent Investment matrix" is the best in this chapter. The 9x9 succession planning is mapped with clear timeline & goals related to compensation targets ( Base + Bonus), Development investments, Hi - Po programs ,Global move & special projects.
2.The journey from Complex to simple is also an interesting one . It emphasized on how the company is Adding additional Value by simplification of processes . Grow Avon, Lead Avon , Know Avon & Develop through experiences are well defined. Simpler processes have allowed the acceleration of development of the leaders.
3. From Egalitarian to Differentiated : Post understanding the Talent inventory, they made a significant shift in differentiating the investment in Talent. The Talent Review & Performance Review process emphasized on differentiation philosophy on levels of Avon talent. The highest potential leaders saw a commensurate investment on them.
4. From Episodic to Disciplined : They introduced a Committed CEO, who is a supporter of all effective talent processes. And streamlined all Talent Management structures/processes globally and introduced consistent processes happening around the world.
5. From Emotional to Factual : The TM worked to inject more fact based decision making into Talent Discussion. Both Qualitative & Quantitative. Qualitative facts added were from Talent Reviews , Rich observations of senior managers on individual's performance in leadership & functional courses. The Talent discussions also revolve around the Quantitative Facts like 360 ad the Engagement surveys.
6. From Meaningless to Consequential : For both short term & long term success, more Accountability & Ownership was built into the processes.
The book describes in detail all the best practices in talent Management in Avon but I was looking forward to some of the measuring tactics of significant improvements in the process. The higher business results & achievement of expense savings goals are all lagging indicators but would have loved to read more about the leading indicators like Talent mobility , Talent Turnover, Talent Distribution , Time & Cost to Hire etc.
Overall I recommend this book to all HR leaders & TM / L&OD professionals.