2. Strategic Talent Management
The emergence of a new discipline
Executive summary of 2011, to conduct research and in-depth
interviews. The results are intended to
“If we don’t connect business and talent serve as a guide for CEOs and Heads of
strategy, we will be nothing more than a Talent when evaluating their approach to
typical HR unit, focusing on activities and senior talent management.
not on impact and outcomes.” We found that the drive for structured talent management
generally comes from a CEO who has recognised the
Activities or outcomes – what’s your importance of attracting and developing a superior pool
of leadership talent that will enable the business to deliver
focus? The cumulative impact of global
on its strategy. A ‘flat world’ produces a number of tensions
demographic trends, combined with that Heads of Talent are expected to resolve. The drift
on-going economic uncertainty and of business from the West to East creates demand for a
diverse set of leadership capabilities.
aggravated by a critical skills shortage
Some senior executives readily understand that talent
creates a powerful talent triple whammy is a central enabler of strategy and that great talent
facing business. In response, forward- management can be a source of sustainable advantage.
A good number though, still regard talent development as
looking companies are bringing talent,
a hygiene factor. Talent management in these companies
particularly leadership talent, to the can become an exercise in gap-filling and tactical
recruiting.
top of the agenda and are assigning
Our research convinces us that CEOs will continue
responsibility for aligning business and
to appoint a Head of Talent as a way of combatting
talent imperatives to a senior talent this reactive mentality and creating awareness of the
executive. We are beginning to see the importance of talent to corporate success. It is for this
reason that Heads of Talent tend to be viewed as distinct
steady emergence of a new discipline of from the rest of HR, even when they report to the
Strategic Talent Management, led by a company’s top HR executive.
Head of Talent or a similarly titled role. In But despite the advantages of being CEO appointees,
many of the Heads of Talent we spoke to are struggling
order to increase our understanding of with paradoxes and ambiguity as they attempt to create
this relatively new role and its challenges, alignment between business and talent strategy. They
are often tasked with bringing consistency to talent
we approached the leading practitioners
management across decentralised business units, but they
in FTSE 100 companies, in the latter half
2 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
3. 5 years
average length of time Head of Talent
role has existed in the company
3 years
have little or no power over hiring or promotion. They are
balancing the strategic, external talent challenges facing
the company with tactical and internal challenges, often
with only influence to help them.
The global economic crisis and the huge increase in average length of time current
unemployment have not made their role any easier. Head of Talent has been in the role
17%
Counter-intuitively, there is still a marked shortage of
people with the skills required to lead global companies.
The concerns of baby boomer and ‘generation X’
executives are important, but the future of most
companies rests with the next generation. Heads of Talent that report to the CEO
157
In the context of these challenges, there is a need to share
best practice to create the conditions for success. Based
on what we have observed and the insights that we have
been able to glean, we have developed a framework called
the 7Ps which will be helpful in structuring the role of a average size of top talent pool managed
90%
Head of Talent: Pressures, Purpose, Person, Profile, Power,
Process and Pools.
Overall, our research revealed an embryonic but emerging
business discipline with little consistency around
objectives or methodology. We discovered a complex whole career spent in HR
23
set of factors, many of them contradictory, affecting
performance and success. Even with the high stakes
attached to successful talent management and the right
framework to help them succeed, winning Heads of Talent
will still have to be diplomats rather than commanders,
number of different job titles
achieving results through relationships and persuasion.
Encouragingly, we found many Heads of Talent who had
identified in our survey for the role
6 out of 10
adopted this approach.
Heidrick & Struggles’ role as a leadership advisor to global
organisations gives us a privileged perspective on these
emerging trends and we undertook this study to start
average score in answer to:
an on-going conversation with CEOs, senior leaders and
Heads of Talent on how to maximise the business impact “How well do you think your
of leadership talent. organisation manages talent?”
Heidrick & Struggles 3
4. Introduction
There is a growing body of evidence to Together with these executives, we identified a series of
practices, tools and competencies that can help create the
support the idea that companies that conditions for success within this role and for the company
align business and leadership talent as a whole. In addition to the survey findings we have
brought additional insights from Heidrick & Struggles’
imperatives have a greater chance of
leadership consulting experience, as well as from research
sustainable success. It feels intuitively conducted at Harvard Business School.
correct; if you have the right leadership The report is divided into three parts: A summary of our
findings; a review of the context within which these talent
talent in the right place with the right
executives operate and finally a few tips for attaining
skills and behaviours, then the odds of success. We hope that it will be useful both to CEOs when
successfully executing on your business they consider how to execute on their talent agenda and
to the senior talent executives who are responsible
strategy are high. Many of our CEO clients for making the alignment of business and talent
agree and have moved leadership talent strategy a reality.
to the top of their agenda, assigning
responsibility to a senior executive.
At Heidrick & Struggles, our belief is that these Heads
of Talent have an important role to play in improving
corporate leadership, and that an effective Head of Talent
could have substantial impact on a firm’s competitiveness.
We wanted to test this theory by learning more about
these senior talent executives: who they are, what they do,
the agenda they address, the context within which they
operate and what constitutes success in their role. Top
talent executives from 24 FTSE100 companies helped us
in our research. The firms we surveyed use a wide range
of titles for these leaders, but in this report we will refer to
them as Head of Talent.1
1 see Appendix 1, ‘A note on titles’
4 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
5. Part 1
Principal findings
– An embryonic but
emerging discipline
The Head of Talent is still how they will select and develop high-potential managers,
conduct regular talent reviews and report on their
a relatively new role, and progress.
companies use their executives in As a result, we discovered great variety in the ways in
a wide variety of ways which Heads of Talent operate and relate to line managers.
Some are focused primarily on infrastructure for talent
Most of the Heads of Talent we interviewed have been
and leadership development – processes, systems, and
recently appointed, and some were the first Head of Talent
metrics. Others spend more time on specific development
their companies had ever hired. Unlike more established
initiatives: business school programmes, projects that
functional roles (CFO, Chief Marketing Officer, etc.) the
involve high potential managers, and the like. Still others
Head of Talent is a newcomer and is rarely present on the
spend time ‘walking the floor’, trying to keep high-
executive team. We found that on average the length of
potentials engaged and providing front-line intelligence
time a Head of Talent role had existed in the company was
to senior line leaders (fig 1).
five years and that many of the current appointees had
been in the role for about three years. There are few patterns that a CEO can rely on when
appointing a first Head of Talent, few models that a newly
A good number of our interviewees indicated that they
hired Head of Talent can easily adopt. As we will explain
were still working out how they were expected to relate
in Part III, this means that Heads of Talent must take the
to their colleagues. A few companies have well-grooved
initiative in structuring their own roles.
talent management processes, but most are still exploring
figure 1 – How do you spend your time?
Succession planning 24%
Training and development 22%
other 21%
Individual career management 10%
Recruitment 9%
Performance management 7%
Mobility management 4%
Compensation & Benefits 3%
Heidrick & Struggles 5
6. A wide variety of ‘Hot Topics’ Hot topics
that keep Heads of Talent
awake at night Strategic
Interviewees split their ‘Hot Topics’ into two categories Diversity
– strategic and external talent challenges facing the Demographics
company and tactical and internal issues. There are few • Aging population
surprises on either list, but several of the ‘mega’ themes • Generational mix
resonated with our experience and wider research on Globalisation & Emerging Markets
leadership talent. Generally, we see that Heads of Talent • Global and ‘Glocal’ talent model
are battling to create alignment between business and • Relocation of business from West to East
talent strategy: • Identifying, attracting & retaining talent in
emerging markets
Globalisation and Emerging Markets Mobility
A ‘flat world’ produces a number of tensions that Heads • Willingness to move
of Talent are expected to resolve. The drift of business • Skills gaps across geographies
from the West to East creates demand for a diverse set of Critical skills gaps
leadership capabilities that can not only bridge the gap • Global shortage of General Managers
between established western management approaches • Lack of commercial ‘savvy’
and emerging eastern ones, but can also manage the • From product to customer-centric
balance between what can and needs to be done at the competencies
centre and what should be done locally. Many of the Succession
interviewees talked of developing a new ‘glocal’ talent • Internal/External pipeline
model, blending global consistency with local delivery Retention
needs. Many Heads of Talent appear exasperated by
the challenges of identifying, attracting and retaining Operational
leadership talent in emerging markets – “we say we are
Workforce planning
going into (emerging markets) but have no clue how
Business ambivalence
to operate or source talent or how to expand our talent
• “Don’t get the talent management thing”
agenda in these new markets”. Some told us that they had
• Resist forced distribution and performance
learned a hard lesson that what attracts talent in emerging
management
markets is different from what retains it and creates
Career transitions
performance. A few even fear that despite their best
• Sizing roles to smooth career moves
efforts “half the investment will walk out.”
• Internal rotations and transfers
Quality of talent professionals
Succession and Leadership Pipeline
Development plans and internal coaching
Heads of Talent tended to confirm our experience that Talent metrics, data and tracking
succession planning at all levels, but particularly at the top, Change fatigue
is reactive. The following quote, taken from our 2011 Board
Study,2 reflects the situation “A company’s leadership
talent is its single most important asset and has become
a critical governance topic for boards. In general, the time
and effort devoted by the board to the development and
2 European Corporate Governance Report 2011 – Challenging
board performance, Heidrick & Struggles, 2011
6 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
7. succession of its senior leaders is inadequate.” The statistics
Most Head of Talent roles manage
are quite worrying too – only 58% of boards we surveyed
in EMEA had an effective CEO succession planning process a relatively small talent pool
and 46% had a vetted and viable candidate who could The typical Head of Talent does not look after all of the
immediately step in as CEO if necessary. In the face of the talent in the company, but an executive or top talent pool
critical skills shortage we explore later, many companies that is a small proportion of the employee population.
want to mitigate their leadership risk by aligning their Our research and that of other firms (starting in the mid-
talent agenda and pipeline practices to create ‘succession 1990s) showed that these top pools averaged 150 leaders,
ready’ pools, both inside and outside the company. regardless of the size of the company, with most of them
Interestingly, we noted that few Heads of Talent had numbering under 250. Despite over a decade of mergers
responsibility for creating and managing external talent and substantial growth in the size of many companies,
pools. this number has not changed. The average Head of Talent
we interviewed had just over 150 people in their managed
A common theme for the talent pool.
Head of Talent is the creation The people in these relatively small talent pools are the
‘group leaders’ or ‘high potentials’ or ‘critical list’: the name
of consistency across varies across companies, but the intent is to focus on those
decentralised units who have the potential to grow into larger roles.
Many of our interviewees conveyed a history roughly like The 9-box matrix that plots each manager on axes for
the following: As a result of decentralisation and corporate performance and potential seems to be a favourite tool of
downsizing, line managers became responsible for hiring, the talent managers we interviewed. In many companies,
developing and retaining talent in their units. This had the ‘the list’ of high-potential leaders is derived from this
advantage of making the line managers accountable, but matrix. One reason for the popularity of the 9-box matrix,
it often led to inconsistencies. Many respondents told us we think, is that it is relatively easy for talent managers to
that their CEOs now wanted ‘an integrated and consistent use and to explain to their CEOs and business colleagues.
approach’, more often driven by a desire for effective We were surprised to learn that, in the majority of
rather than simply more efficient senior talent processes. companies we looked at, the people ‘on the list’ aren’t
The CEOs could see that some divisional leaders did a told that they are on it; the existence of the list may be
great job in building their teams to the point that they acknowledged, but the list itself isn’t made public. This
could act as ‘net talent exporters’ to other parts of their may be to avoid internal discord; it may also reflect a
organisations; others experienced high turnover and had lack of confidence in the process on the part of talent
to look outside their units for succession. Achieving more managers.
consistency across units thus became part of the mission
In some cases, corporate talent managers have the ability
for many of the Heads of Talent we interviewed.
to redeploy high-potential leaders from one unit to
At the same time, our interviewees did not expect another. But in most companies, hiring and redeployment
the return of ‘big central HR’. The Heads of Talent we depends on line managers, with talent managers playing
interviewed typically ran very small teams. Most had an advisory role.
power that was indirect. There were few big budgets
Our research also suggests that many companies could
– in fact the majority of Heads of Talent didn’t know
improve the way they allocate leadership development
the proportion of the overall HR budget that they were
resources. On average, 70% of funds spent on leadership
allocated. They were expected to increase consistency
development go to formal training; our view is that
across business units, to identify and deliver a more
this ratio should be reversed, with 70% allocated to
integrated corporate talent strategy. But most of the
experiential, job-related development. We were therefore
power in the companies we looked at rests with the line
encouraged to hear many of our interviewees speak
leaders, a theme we return to later.
Heidrick & Struggles 7
8. of project-based work, in which high-potentials are The systems in other companies are more complicated.
encouraged to work together on strategic issues. Others One Head of Talent prepares an annual ‘People Balance
described how they got involved in relocation, mobility, Sheet’, bringing together all people metrics in the
special training programmes and career counselling. company and trying to link talent health to business
Our interviewees spent 22% of their time managing strategy. Building on that approach, such a scorecard
training and development programmes. That strikes us could include:
as about right, given the 70 / 20 / 10 rule of thumb.
• head count (changes over time)
• rate of talent change (external/internal moves
Heads of Talent see ‘relationship divided by headcount, attrition ratio at the top)
building’ as being a key • talent mix analysis (potential against performance)
competency for their success • proportion of new joiners to the entire
We asked Heads of Talent to identify the three key employee group
competencies that underpin success in the role. Some
• tenure in position or company,
of the interviewees focused on technical skills and
measured by year bands
experience of HR processes and approaches but many
identified relationship building, commercial acumen Several companies measure line managers on talent
and internal awareness as top of their list. Our research management activity; the resulting score figures in the
suggests that a majority of our interviewees are strong manager’s bonus.
in the relationship and associated influencing skills and
The majority of the Heads of Talent we interviewed did
have built deep and advisory-type relationships with their
not try to relate their talent measures to the company’s
colleagues. But as we will discuss later, many have yet to
financial output or share price performance. Rather,
fully develop and demonstrate the commercial acumen
they focused on operational measures: completion of
that would bring organisational buy-in and credibility.
assessments, number of talent reviews done by line
Other key competencies that were raised include: self-
managers, participation in leadership development
confidence, resilience, strategic thinking, adaptability,
programmes, and ratio of external hires. As one of
customer orientation.
our interviewees commented: “It’s difficult and often
meaningless to try to calculate ROI on talent initiatives.
Heads of Talent measure Instead, you need to look at what you are doing relative
performance, using primarily to your industry and competition and see whether it’s
making a difference.”
operational metrics
Succession figured prominently in the metrics that several
We asked the Heads of Talent how they measured their Heads of Talent employed. A Head of Talent explained: “I
own performance. Each had come up with some system have a clear picture in regard to external hiring numbers
of metrics, though several were just beginning to develop at the top level, and the impact of that on the business. I
these and discuss them with line management. There want to see around 10 internal appointments – rather than
was a considerable range in the elaborateness of talent hiring externally – by Christmas. It’s better to move people
metrics. One Head of Talent said: “We’re a very lean around, rather than to bring them in from outside. We are
organisation so it’s easy to follow the people in my pool thinking of setting similar targets for 2012.”
and get a good sense of whether they are happy or not.”
Another commented: “The CEO can see the value of our
work in our leadership presentations, and now there’s a
waiting list for our development programmes. The CEO
doesn’t need convincing.”
8 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
9. Most Heads of Talent feel their
companies could do a better job
We asked Heads of Talent to rate their firms’ overall
performance on talent management from 1 to 10. The
average overall rating, and the most common, was 6 out of
10. A few felt they were doing very well, but most thought
that they could improve: “We need to be more joined up,”
said one, referring to line management. Another manager
stressed implementation: “Right now I’d give us a 3.5 or 4 “The CEO can see the
out of 10. But over the next two years, I expect it to go to
an 8. Our plans have huge potential; now it’s about how
value of our work in our
we take the ideas and make them happen.”
leadership presentations,
Asked to evaluate a set of specific talent practices, Heads
of Talent felt Mobility management and Training and and now there’s a waiting
development were areas where there was room for
improvement (fig 2). list for our development
Several Heads of Talent reminded us that they operate programmes. The CEO
through line managers, rather than directly, and that
metrics should reflect this. “I don’t want to take credit for doesn’t need convincing.”
someone else’s work,” said one.
figure 2 – How Heads of Talent rate their company, by area
To be improved Standard Good Excellent
Compensation & Benefits
Individual career management
Mobility management
Performance management
Recruitment
Succession planning
Training and development
Heidrick & Struggles 9
10. Part 2
Contradictions, ambiguity
and credibility
As we reviewed our research data, we Even when they succeed in luring talented managers from
other firms, CEOs cannot be sure that the superstars they
were struck that Heads of Talent operate hire will perform well in their new environment. Research
in an environment of contradictions and by Boris Groysberg of the Harvard Business School
suggests that ‘superstar’ talent is rarely as portable as we
significant ambiguity. A few of these
imagine.3 A company hiring a star performer from outside
contradictions really caught our eye: should, on average, expect him or her to underperform,
significantly, and for several years, unless steps are taken
High unemployment to quickly and effectively integrate the new executive into
the company culture.
and the critical skills gap
So it appears that the ‘War for Talent’ is not over; the
The global economic crisis and the huge increase in battle lines have just changed. Talent management has
unemployment have led some to think that talent is become more than just acquiring new executives and
readily (and cheaply) available. “My CEO sees the recession is increasingly focused on developing, motivating and
as a great opportunity to pick better people, but there is retaining them. Our work shows a steady trend toward
a challenge to keep the talent management momentum recruiting to the top team from within and organic
up and ensure that we match the right people to the right development of leaders. However, we still see that
opportunities.” Our interviews and Heidrick & Struggles’ many companies do not yet have these deep leadership
broader work confirm that high quality leadership talent resources to draw upon or prefer to ‘trade’ in the talent
is not easily found. It is true that there is currently a glut of market to meet their needs.
job-seeking graduates, but experienced CFOs, divisional
Heads of Talent have significant work to do, even in these
general managers and CEOs remain challenging to secure.
tough times.
In difficult economic times, candidates with good jobs are
cautious about changing firms. Companies have to fight
hard and pay well for talented managers. The situation is Serving the CEO agenda
uneven across industries and roles, but many sectors still and the lack of airtime
experience ‘seller’s markets’ for talent.
The drive for improving talent management generally
Heads of Talent told us that they are struggling to find comes from the CEO, who as we identified earlier is
executives with the right level of leadership experience looking to increase effectiveness and impact of senior
and capability. “The world seems to be running out talent on business results. We found that relatively few
of general managers that can run everything – P&L, Heads of Talent (around 17% of our sample) reported
supply chain, talent – it appears people are specialising directly to the CEO, with the vast majority reporting into
too soon.” We also heard that companies are finding it the HRD (fig 3). Contact with the CEO and other senior line
difficult to source talent with ‘commercial savvy’, capability
around brand building, marketing and brand behaviour.
3 see Boris Groysberg, Chasing Stars (Princeton, 2010); Heidrick &
Increasingly, as companies migrate from product to
Struggles and The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Global Talent
customer centric approaches, Heads of Talent are looking Index Report: The Outlook to 2015
in vain for those with client relationship building skills.
10 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
11. figure 3 – Who do you report to within your company (position title)?
HR Director 17
CEO 4
more senior Talent Manager 3
executives also appeared ad hoc and relatively infrequent.
HR or business role
A number of interviewees talked of ‘being around’ when
the CEO or the EXCO were in town or of briefing the CEO We also found ambiguity around the positioning of talent
before the annual talent update to the board. Those with management, with many suggesting that sitting within
direct reporting status or strong professional relationships the HR function impacted credibility and acceptance by
with the CEO felt that visibility gave them an edge in the business. Interviewees told us that engagement was
dealing with some of the difficult senior talent issues they higher where they demonstrated ‘commercial savvy’ and
faced. spoke ‘business’ rather than ‘HR’ language. “The challenges
we face are all internal. There’s a real ambivalence around
talent here, the business is just not interested.” Others
Responsibility without authority felt that positioning talent in the HR function only served
CEOs expect their Head of Talent to create consistency to confuse internal clients: “If talent is everywhere and
between line divisions, but rarely give them direct everyone has it – what’s the difference between Talent
authority over hiring, promotion, deployment or retention. Management and HR?”
They were expected to increase consistency (as well
Finally having often been asked by the CEO to bring
as efficiency and effectiveness across business units)
transparency to senior talent management processes, our
to identify and deliver a more integrated corporate
respondents were surprised that the list of ‘Hi-Pos’ (high
talent strategy. But most of the power in the companies
potentials) was a closely guarded secret, sometimes even
we looked at rests with the line leaders. Our Heads of
secret from those on the list. “Executives in the ‘top talent
Talent confirmed this when we asked them what made
pool’ are critical to the success of the company, but their
a successful Head of Talent. Moreover, they told us the
names are often not known except at the very top.”
winning talent manager operates through influence and
suggestion rather than by exercising power. Interpersonal In the next section, we explore ways in which Heads of
skills were critical we learned, as was the ability to build Talent can learn to navigate this ambiguous environment.
trust. Heads of Talent explained their need for resilience,
tenacity, energy and the ability to deal with setbacks. The
Head of Talent must therefore take a lead without formal
authority.4
4 for more on leadership without authority, see Ronald Heifetz,
Leadership without Easy Answers (Harvard, 1998).
“The challenges we face are all internal. There’s a real ambivalence
around talent here, the business is just not interested.”
Heidrick & Struggles 11
12. Part 3
Creating the
conditions for success
Our interviews suggest that the most capabilities you have today – where you’re good
and not so good. So, we’ll have to fill out those
successful Head of Talent will take the capabilities. In addition, you’ll need a different
lead both in defining ‘what success cost structure because your margins are going
to start to be squeezed. Let’s talk about where
looks like’ for them and the company
you have people and why you’ve got so many of
and in creating alignment between them in high-cost locations.” 5
themselves and their colleagues about By taking the lead in this way, the Head of Talent can
catalyse a productive discussion about talent in the
their role. Winning Heads of Talent will
company, and about the value that the CEO and other
be diplomats rather than commanders, executives expect their Head of Talent to contribute. It
achieving results through relationships is worth revisiting this value proposition periodically,
to ensure that the company and Head of Talent remain
and persuasion. They will forge strong ties aligned on the value that this role is to deliver.
with their colleagues in line management,
and they will work to link talent strategy Achieve alignment
with business strategy. around seven key dimensions
Alignment around the Head of Talent’s expected
Define your own contribution is critical. Our interviews suggest that it is also
important to seek consensus around the ways in which
value proposition the Head of Talent will work with other executives in the
As we noted earlier, there are very few blueprints that company.
companies can rely on when they bring a Head of Talent The following checklist – 7Ps – will be helpful in structuring
into the organisation. The winning Head of Talent will the role of the Head of Talent.
therefore take the lead in proposing the value that he or
she intends to add to the company, and what it will take to Pressures
deliver that value.
How immediate are the company’s talent issues?
Beth Axelrod was the first Head of Talent appointed by Where are talent problems interfering with corporate
WPP; she is now the global head of HR for eBay. In an performance? Where are the ‘pain points’ that existing
interview about her experiences, she explained how such leaders (in HR, in the line, etc.) seem unable to address?
a conversation might begin:
Purpose
“You’re trying to drive ad sales from X to Y. You
need growth to come in these particular areas. Why has the company hired a Head of Talent? What
And for the growth to come in these areas, let’s are the problems that they are asking the manager to
talk about the implications for talent and for
the organization. Then, let’s talk about what
5 “The challenge of hiring and retaining women: An interview
with the head of HR at eBay”, McKinsey Quarterly, September 2008.
12 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
13. solve? Are they primarily about recruitment, retention, companies? There is no ‘right’ answer here; alignment is
succession? The purpose of a Head of Talent will depend what matters.
on many things: the company’s culture and its traditions,
the capabilities already present in HR, and the willingness Pools
and ability of line managers to act as talent managers Finally, which talent pools will the Head of Talent manage?
themselves. Some companies divide their pools; one large industrial
company for example, has one talent manager for roughly
Person the top 100 and another for the next 250. It is essential
What skills should the Head of Talent possess? What that everyone on the top team understands who falls into
experience should he or she have? For example, a leading the Head of Talent’s portfolio, and what interaction he
investment bank has regional talent leads (Europe, Asia, or she will have with them. Few of our interviewees had
and North America) who don’t have wholesale banking responsibility for external pools, a key source of ‘ready
experience. But the CEO recently decided that the global now’ talent.
Head of Talent needed to be deeply rooted in investment
We saw several Heads of Talent use this type of checklist
banking to facilitate easier communication with people
to define the current position of their role and impact
at headquarters.
and set a plan for the future. In the appendix we offer a
template for CEOs and Heads of Talent to use to review
Profile
the current situation and future goals of their senior talent
What internal and external profile should the talent management strategy.
manager maintain? Our interviewees emphasised the
importance of ‘getting around the company’, meeting
their portfolio executives in person. A CEO who wants
Operate as a diplomat, well
such a broad internal profile for the Head of Talent will connected to colleagues
need to support the executive in gaining access to diaries,
With very few exceptions, Heads of Talent operate with
key internal business events and even some client facing
little formal power. They succeed or fail primarily through
meetings.
influence and persuasion. The winning Heads of Talent
The CEO and Head of Talent also need to agree on the seem to get two things right.
right external profile. Some of the Heads of Talent we
First, they get plenty of ‘air time’ with their colleagues –
interviewed have relatively modest external profiles, but
not necessarily the CEO, but certainly the executives who
communicate widely within their companies.
matter. One Head of Talent told us of “an open, continuous
dialogue with the business in terms of people asking what
Power they need and what I and my team can deliver.” Many
What decision making powers does the company want Heads of Talent meet regularly with line executives to
to invest in its Head of Talent? Will they have veto over conduct succession and development reviews. This is a
senior hiring decisions? Over deployment of leaders in role where walking around and talking can be essential to
‘high potential’ pools? Where will the Head of Talent have success.
to operate through persuasion and where through direct
Most Heads of Talent had somewhat less frequent access
decision making?
to their CEOs. In many cases, these meetings took place
less than once a month, and often with a corporate
Process
executive team or executive committee. A formal report to
Where will the Head of Talent get involved in top executive
the board or executive committee was often a motivator
processes and forums? To clarify, it is often a good idea to
for meetings between the Head of Talent and CEO.
pose some challenging scenarios: for instance, suppose
that the company wants to take over a smaller competitor. Second, successful Heads of Talent are diplomatic,
Will the Head of Talent be involved before the deal is managing their relationships like politicians. One
agreed? Or will he or she read about it in the newspapers interviewee said: “I have profile with the business heads.
and then be told to help integrate top talent in both I knew it was important to have high impact early on,
Heidrick & Struggles 13
14. and to build good relationships quickly.” Many of our does this imply for these firms’ growth? How should talent
interviewees were quick to distinguish their roles from risk impact an oil firm’s forward investment programme?
HR, feeling that ‘not talking like HR’ gave them more
It is easy for the Head of Talent, concerned with the
credibility with line managers. All were aware that, in most
executives they are responsible for, to develop an inward
cases, they were not the decision makers around hiring,
focus. We encourage Heads of Talent to look forward
retention or reward.
and outward, as well. The concerns of baby boomer and
‘generation X’ executives are important, but the future of
Connectivity – linking business most companies rests with succeeding generations. These
and talent strategy leaders have different views about work, communication
and collaboration. A smart Head of Talent will get to know
Our interviewees recognised the difficulty, but told us that
them and look carefully at their needs.
a strong Head of Talent will find ways to connect talent
and business strategy. A few interviewees felt that they The board of any company will be concerned both with
were running tightly ‘joined up’ systems. According to one, implementation of its strategy and with risk to future
“Business strategy feeds talent strategy which in turn feeds performance – and therefore, the CEO will also be so
succession.” But the majority reported breaks in the chain concerned. Focusing on these issues will help Heads
linking business strategy and talent strategy, and they saw of Talent keep their work directly relevant to the most
this as a problem. pressing issues of the company. It will also keep the
CEO’s door open.
“If we don’t connect business and talent strategy,” said one
of the managers we interviewed, “we will be nothing more
than a typical HR unit, focusing on activities and not on
impact and outcomes.”
Conclusion
We don’t find this result surprising. In company after A new strategic talent discipline is emerging but there
company, functional leaders – finance, IT, marketing, HR remains confusion about the nature, scope and real
– struggle to connect their planning with the flow and business impact of leadership talent professionals and
direction of the business. The task is easier for the older functions. Our research suggests that this discipline is
functions; ones that CEOs know how to work and how to in an embryonic state, still developing, working hard to
lead. For a relatively new area like talent management, line create credibility and traction in the organisation and with
managers often don’t know how to take the first steps in critical business leaders. However, the Heads of Talent
aligning it with their business strategies. As we suggested we met are taking the lead in communicating their value
above, the Head of Talent needs to take the lead here. and mission to the business and using their influencing
and diplomatic skills to seed change amongst the top
What is the best way to forge a strong connection with
population of their companies. They see their role as long-
company strategy? A good starting point: work backward
term in nature, aligning business and talent imperatives,
from the company strategy to the talent requirements
drivers of behavioural and cultural change from within.
it implies. Many global firms are seeing their areas of
To help improve the focus and impact of these efforts we
strongest growth shifting from North America and
propose a simple and practical checklist style diagnostic
Western Europe to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin
(appendix 3). Our 7Ps (Pressure, Purpose, Person, Profile,
America. What implications does such a shift have for
Power, Process, and Pools) is intended to help CEOs and
executive talent? What does this imply for senior executive
Heads of Talent to map out the gap between their long
mobility? For leadership development in the company?
term aims and current reality. Our hope is that it will help
Another approach we have found helpful is to work create greater clarity around the strategic importance of
forward, looking at talent or leadership risk facing the this key business role and function. “I need to make
company. The oil and gas industry, for example, faces a talent meaningful to my colleagues,” one Head of Talent
severe shortage of senior engineering leadership, because told us. We think that this is good advice for every
of demographic shifts and a decline in enrolment in Head of Talent. n
petroleum engineering courses in the past. What risks
14 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
15. About the survey
A total of 24 people participated in our If you would like to contribute
on-line survey, all of them senior talent to the dialogue, contact us at
management professionals within FTSE leadershipsolutions@heidrick.com
100 companies. To add further depth to
these findings we conducted detailed
interviews, either face to face or via Annabel Parsons
telephone, with 20 of those respondents. Partner
Additionally, we leveraged Heidrick aparsons@heidrick.com
and Struggles’ network of senior talent Victor Prozesky
executives to conduct more ad hoc and Partner
informal discussions around the themes vprozesky@heidrick.com
we uncovered. The talent management
professionals we spoke with represent a Caroline Vanovermeire
strong cross section of leading players and Principal
industry sector listed on the London Stock cvanovermeire@heidrick.com
Exchange. Dave Tullett
The interviews and study were developed Director Centre for Leadership Innovation
and produced by London based Heidrick dtullett@heidrick.com
& Struggles leadership consultants. Rebecca Curran
We would like to thank all of the Heads Associate Principal
of Talent for the time they have spent rcurran@heidrick.com
participating in the research. Sarah de Corday-Long
Associate Principal
sdecordaylong@heidrick.com
Heidrick & Struggles 15
16. Appendix 1
A note on titles
We chose ‘Head of Talent’ Director of Group Resourcing and Development
to refer to the top talent Director of Group Talent Development
management executive in Director of Organisational Capabilities
a company. The executives Director, Group HR and EHS
we interviewed have the General Manager Human Resources and Legal
following titles.
Global Director of Organisational Development and Leadership
Global Head of Talent, Leadership development and Change
Global Learning & Development Director
Global Practice Leader Talent Management
Global Talent Director
Group Head of Talent
Group Head of Talent, Resource Development and Resourcing
Group Head of Talent Management
Group HR Director (2)
Head of Leadership Development
Head of Leadership, Talent and Learning
Head of Resourcing and Development
Head of Talent & Development
Head of Talent Management
Leadership Development Director
Senior Talent Manager
SVP Global Talent and EMEA Human Resources
VP, Talent Management
16 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
17. Appendix 2
Responses to How many years of professional
experience do you have? (n=20)
our survey 0% 0–5 years
0% 5–10 years
What is the gender of the 32% 10–20 years
Head of Talent? (n=24) 68% 20+ years
33% Male
67% Female
Was your previous role within? (n=20)
85% HR
How long have you been with 15% other function
the Company? (n=24)
63% 0–5 years
Were you recruited externally or
26% 5–10 years
internally for this position? (n=20)
11% 10–20 years
50% Externally
50% Internally
How long have you been in
this position? (n=24)
What responsibilities do you encompass
33% 0–2 years
regarding the Top Population?
46% 2–5 years (Select all that apply) (n=24)
21% 5+ years 25% Compensation & Benefits
71% Individual career management (promotions
When did the Head of Talent and rotations)
(or closest equivalent) position first 42% Mobility management
exist in your company? (n=24) 58% Performance management (target setting,
25% 0–2 years assessments)
25% 2–5 years 66% Recruitment (head-hunters, on boarding)
50% 5+ years 91% Succession Planning (people reviews, etc)
83% Training & Development (Corporate University,
Development plans)
How many people do you have in
your Top Population / Talent Pool? (n=24)
153 average Top Population Who do you report to within
your company (position title)? (n=24)
17% CEO
What is your level of study? (n=20)
71% HRD
40% Degree
12% more senior Talent Manager
40% Masters
10% MBA
10% n/a
Heidrick & Struggles 17
18. How would you rate your company’s How many people report to you?
performance on talent management? (n=24) (excluding personal assistant) (n=24)
Compensation & Benefits 8 average
13% To be improved
29% Standard What was your career path
50% Good prior to becoming Head of Talent? (n=24)
8% Excellent 90% HR
Individual career management 10% other
21% To be improved
33% Standard How do you spend your time? (n=24)
33% Good 3% Compensation & Benefits
13% Excellent 10% Individual career management
Mobility management 4% Mobility management
42% To be improved 7% Performance management
33% Standard 9% Recruitment
25% Good 24% Succession planning
0% Excellent 22% Training & Development
Performance management 21% other
17% To be improved
17% Standard In which industry does your
66% Good company operate? (n=24)
0% Excellent 29% Consumer
Recruitment 34% Industrial
13% To be improved 29% Financial Services
33% Standard 8% Pharma
46% Good
8% Excellent % may exceed 100 due to roundings
Succession planning
13% To be improved
25% Standard
50% Good
13% Excellent
Training & Development
33% To be improved
21% Standard
25% Good
21% Excellent
18 Strategic Talent Management: The emergence of a new discipline
19. Appendix 3
Heidrick & Struggles’ Talent Management Diagnostic
What do I need to ensure What have I got today? What will I do to close the
7Ps future success? gap and keep it closed?
Pressure
What are the talent
issues that are impacting
performance? How are /
should these be addressed?
Purpose
What is the main focus of
Head of Talent effort? Is it
aligned with the key talent
issues and the strategy?
Person
What skills and experience
are critical to the role? Do
these exist?
Profile
What is the internal and
external impact of the role/
function? What “brand”
promises exist?
Power
What are the decision rights
held by Head of Talent?
Process
Where is Head of Talent
involved in top executive
processes and forums?
Pools
What is the size and
definition of the talent
pools? Is Head of Talent
responsible for internal and
external pools?
Heidrick & Struggles 19