Successful Talent Strategies: Achieving Superior Business Results Through Market-Focused Staffing

by David Sears

Book Overview

For any staffing and talent development strategy to be effective, it must be flexible and responsive to market factors and other variables within and outside of the company. This text provides a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814407463
• ISBN13: 9780814407462
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Amacom
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

David Sears is a brilliant man.

After reading just the very first chapter, I knew that this author had talent in addressing the business skills of today's world. I was truly inspired by his ethical usage of business plannign and skills. His market-focused staffing theories were brilliant. A top read!

The Magic Connection: Talent and Profits

The lexicon birthed a new word not so long ago: talent. No, actually the word is not new, but the way the word is applied as taken on new meaning. "Talent" now describes the people who work for an organization, with a particular focus on the skills, knowledge, and capabilities they bring. Talent is more than just workers; it's the collective capacity of people to contribute to the achievement of results. The concept of talent, as the definition is evolving, links the application of competence to fulfillment of corporate strategy. While some may argue that the difference between "workers" and "talent" is merely semantic, others will assert that the engagement of human capability-from education, experience, expertise, and leadership-adds considerable value to viewing employees as mere human resources. This concept of "talent" and its appropriate productive use is getting a lot of attention in various books and periodicals. Jim Collins in his book, "Good to Great," talks about having the right people---in the right seats---on the bus. Why? Having the most talented people to perform particular jobs is critical to an organization's success. Most organizations don't have the right mix of people--talent---assigned to the right roles. And, to exacerbate the problem, they're burdened with too many people who, for various reasons, should no longer be employed by the company. The unavoidable consequence is that the organization is seriously inhibited in its drive to achieve its strategic objectives. This potential-limiting condition can be overcome through effective talent management. This practice must be deeply imbedded in the corporate value system, touted by its leaders and enforced by its managers. Note that talent management is not a human resources issue; it's a leadership and management role. Human resource professionals have a part to play, but its not their game.Sears begins his book with a vital section on the relationship between talent strategies and business strategies. They are inextricably linked; success at one strategy is interdependent with success in the other. It is obvious that attracting and engaging the right talent at the right time is essential. In my work as a strategic business futurist concentrating on workforce and workplace trends, I have forecasted that the management of this linkage will influence the very survival of organizations. In our book, "Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People," we sounded a wake-up call for corporate leaders about the severe shortage of skilled labor coming in this decade. A major part of the solution---to avoid extinction---is talent management, and Sears teaches the process in his book. There is a clear and powerful congruence between anticipated challenges and recommended solutions. Sears addresses how to build, deliver, and measure talent strategies in the second section of "Successful Talent Strategies." From his perspective as a consultant with significant experience in the human reso