The Talent-powered Organization: Strategies for Gobalization, Talent Management and High Performance

Citation

(2009), "The Talent-powered Organization: Strategies for Gobalization, Talent Management and High Performance", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2009.04417aae.001

The Talent-powered Organization: Strategies for Gobalization, Talent Management and High Performance

Article Type: Suggested reading From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 17, Issue 1

Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas, Elizabeth Craig,Kogan Page, 2008

Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas and Elizabeth Craig present their combined experience of working at executive level for Accenture’s Global Human Performance Practice and Accenture’s Institute for High Performance in the US. Their text covers research, theory and the practical aspects of the talent-powered organization.

The authors observe that, although talent management is rapidly moving to the top of senior management’s strategic agenda, few organizations are really managing talent strategically. The text seeks to explain “how to create talent power for lasting high performance” and to show organizations “how to generate enthusiasm and creativity and how to align these to strategic goals”.

The book’s seven chapters cover talent imperatives for a new economic world, a strategic approach to talent, the discovery of talent, moving from talent development to talent deployment, engagement of and with employees, embedding and sustaining talent power, and the next steps to take and the new imperatives to follow.

Essentially, the book presents ideas and frameworks for talent multiplication through aligning talent to business strategy, integrating all possible options and sources to discover talent, then developing and deploying talent potential efficiently. Demographic trends, competitive pressure and advantage and the nature of globalized markets and their effects are set within the context of the competition for talent.

The authors suggest five talent imperatives allied to success in organizations: put talent at the heart of business strategy, which transforms talent management from a support activity to a competitive essential; make diversity a key strategic asset in the attraction and retention of diverse workforces; build organizational capabilities in learning, skills development and capturing knowledge; make leaders and line managers accountable for engaging employees, measuring engagement, and understanding the drivers; and enlist the entire organization in identifying and nurturing talent.

International case studies and examples are used to illustrate and reinforce the messages and observations contained in the book and give a flavour of the issues, approaches and solutions. References are up to date and highlight the main contributors on the topic and possible source material for further reading.

While the text is American in origin, it considers and uses global examples of the challenges to organizations. Readers with an HR background will not be surprised with yet another text that suggests that the function needs modernising and reorganizing, and that learning faster and better has an important contribution to make. The authors identify ways and means of doing so.

While the book is of obvious interest to those involved in senior-level strategic decision-making, it is also a valuable source of information for HR specialists and students interested in the strategic management of talent.

The book achieves a good balance between theory and practice.

Reviewed by Alan Catell, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.

A longer version of this review was originally published in Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 40 No. 3, 2008.