CONCLUSION

The talent management principles and practices covered in this chapter are all focused on meeting the six work and workplace changes that were presented in chapter 1 and are intended to respond to one or more of these changes. Table 2.1 presents an analysis of how important and effective a response each of the six talent management principles is to the six major changes.

All of these talent management principles are important responses to multiple changes in the world of work. All of the workplace changes, with the exception of diversity, argue strongly for talent management to be strategy driven, skills based, and performance focused. The need for agility is strongly driven by the increased prevalence of technology; this change in the business environment makes it imperative that an organization build and adopt agile talent management practices. A second very important driver of the need for talent agility is change, which is often technology driven as well.

Table 2.1 Talent management principles and changes

Copyright © Edward E. Lawler III and Center for Effective Organizations at USC.

Notes: 1 = little or no importance; 2 = moderate importance; 3 = very high importance.

Segmentation as a talent management practice is strongly driven by the two changes that lead to more diverse organizations: globalization and diversity. Technology and talent are also important reasons to focus on segmentation because they increase the need for talent to be dealt with in a targeted and individualized way.

Finally, an evidence-based approach to talent management is needed to deal with the importance of talent and the many complex issues that technology presents. Given the advances in technology and the resulting importance of talent, it is simply not prudent to allow decisions about the individuals who manage technology and drive strategy to be subject to decisions that are not based on the best evidence and data available.

As far as the changes are concerned, technology is pervasive in the way it affects organizations. As a result, having technology be anything other than a major driver of an organization’s talent management principles runs the risk of creating organizations that lack the talent they need to develop and produce competitive products. The same reality is the reason that the importance of talent makes evidence-based, skills-based, and performance-focused management so important. The rate of change and the importance of talent also contribute to the high importance of having skills-based talent management systems.

Overall, the six talent management principles are useful and important guides in deciding which talent management practices will be effective in the new world of work. Thus, as we review how organizations should manage their talent, we will analyze whether particular talent programs and practices follow these talent management principles and focus on those that do because they are the practices that will create an effective strategic talent management system.