Companies have always spoken about people being their top asset, yet few actually believed in such rhetoric. Now talent management has been identified as one of the top business drivers. The fight to get the best of talent and train them to perform at even higher levels has taken on a different dimension. The CHRO or Chief Human Resources Officer was seen as a partner to the business, but is now someone who is literally running it. For any successful business, buying the right assets is the first stage. But once that is done, such value has to be matched by personnel who can make best use of the same. Massive changes are taking place on the talent front due to use of technology, so companies will need to scale up at similar pace.

Source:http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/using-talent-management-to-create-value

The London School of Economics is one of the most reputed ones for the discipline of MBA. Brilliant people who have made their mark in different walks of life, have passed through its haloed halls. Fund manager George Soros is one such name. As per business research by Bloomberg, he is the twenty sixty richest man on earth then. Then there is Mick Jaeger, ex member of the Rolling Stones and a legendary musician. Actor Sir David Attenborough, Jay Bregman who is the CEO of Verifly and former US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano are the next three names on the list. Cherie Blair, who is the wife of ex British PM Tony, has also graduated from the LSE. She runs her own foundation which acts as a network for female entrepreneurs from developing countries.  Chief Economist of the World Bank- Kaushik Basu – is next on the list. The next three names are those of – ex PM of Greece George Papandreu, world’s oldest billionaire David Rockefeller and Economics Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell. Another notable alumnus from the LSE is human rights activist from the Amnesty International – Salil Shetty. Pulitzer Prize winner and ex editor of the Economist Anne Applebaum is also from LSE. Another such notable economist is Daron Acemoglu. The last two names on the list are those of – sociologist W.E.B. du Bois and the most famous of the lot ex US President John F Kennedy.

Source:http://www.businessinsider.in/These-18-insanely-successful-people-all-went-to-the-London-School-of-Economics/slideshow/49564818.cms

Reorganizations may be for positive business reasons or for downturns, but people always assume the latter. And that is why it is essential to handle them very sensitively because human emotions are at stake. It is very important that the corporate communication in clear and transparent. In this way, the employees can plan for the changes. Sometimes, quick fire reorganization process can lead to greater anxiety although a long drawn process can also not be afforded as then rumours start spreading. It is also pertinent that the top management has a ready-made answer to questions on why the process is taking place at all. Reorgs are also a test of the talent management abilities as human beings generally have a massive resistance or inertia to change. People habituated with a certain structure, need to overnight transform their priorities. The top management can get much closer to the truth if they themselves participate in some of the staff level discussions.

Source:https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/11/re-orgs-are-emotional?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date&spMailingID=15810714&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=901002697&spReportId=OTAxMDAyNjk3S0

Performance management has now become an integral part of human resources and organizations worldwide are exploring metrics to evaluate this. The general trend especially in IT and management consulting firms has been to focus more towards the developmental aspects rather than the traditional coercive ranking methods followed. Thus PwC, which is one of the leading players in this space, explored for the entire consulting industry ways to modify the performance management techniques. Also innovations are to be identified so that personnel can be shaped to be able to implement such disruptions. The working age group has now increased thanks to longer life spans and a resulting delayed retirement age, thus such changes ought to be incorporated at this point.

Source:http://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications/2016/performance-management-in-india-a-change-beckons.pdf rssid=all_updates&gko=6ff8c&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StrategyBusiness-AllUpdatesFullPics+%28strategy%2Bbusiness+-+All+Updates+%28Image%2FSyndication%29%29″>http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Why-Your-Employees-Are-Always-Putting-Out-Fires?rssid=all_updates&gko=6ff8c&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StrategyBusiness-AllUpdatesFullPics+%28strategy%2Bbusiness+-+All+Updates+%28Image%2FSyndication%29%29

Team reorgs are tricky events at best. Majority of the employees worry about the safety of their jobs and water-cooler conversations abound. Two common mistakes are committed by the management team. The first one may be termed as wait and see approach where all decisions are delayed till the last moment when it all comes out from the top leader. Rumours keep spreading around, leading to anxiety and ultimately the leaders need to submit to come out with answers before stipulated time. The other common error is the ivory-tower idealism approach. Here the top management may have genuine good intentions but the way it is broadcast to the people, cynicism instead spreads. The talent management or reorg team may deliver webcasts or take tours of the premises, but the employees still feel neglected. The best way to go past both these conundrums is to ensure corporate communication is effective at all times. People must be constantly spoken to until the point is driven home. Also the leaders must themselves be clear as to what the employees are looking to hear, and deliver the communication accordingly. There has to be engagement regarding the process among employees themselves and a formal forum for this needs to be facilitated by the executive level. A proper design must be in place to make sure this reorganization takes place without undue stress within the organization taking place. The other stakeholders also need to be taken in to confidence. This includes the worker unions, customers, suppliers, regulators and independent board members.

Source:http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/reorganization-without-tears

Employees in a lot of organizations seem to be busy all the time, unnecessarily harried. Orders seem to be pending, customer relationships to be mended, presentations redone or numbers explained. On closer scrutiny, it appears that this is because of previous mistakes which force the present team to engage in constant troubleshooting. Business research conducted by the Juran Institute has estimated that up to nearly a fifth of manufacturing companies’ revenues are lost to rework, while the figure shoots up to about a third of the revenues for those involved in services. W. Edwards Deming who gave fourteen points for management is considered as the father of quality. Some of his philosophies are still pertinent to rectify this cultural gap. First of all, organization wide a common purpose must be adopted towards which all the employees may work towards. The dependence on supervisions must be reduced in such a way that employees are self-motivated to excel at their jobs. A system of leadership must be put in place where the team leaders look towards achieving the corporate strategy rather than quick fixes for individual departments. Finally the culture of fear must be eliminated as its presence encourages unethical practices.

Source:http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Why-Your-Employees-Are-Always-Putting-Out-Fires?rssid=all_updates&gko=6ff8c&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StrategyBusiness-AllUpdatesFullPics+%28strategy%2Bbusiness+-+All+Updates+%28Image%2FSyndication%29%29

With the economy improving, career mobility is also increasing across the US. Millennials already make up nearly half the workforce and this generation has an average span of less than two years at any particular job. To add to this, factors such as the rise of the gig economy and entrepreneurship, talent is receding. That is why, more than recruitment, it is talent management and retention that is of utmost importance. A study anchored by LinkedIn titled as “Global Recruiting Trends”, cites that nearly three-fifths of companies are putting greater funds into enhancing the employer brand. Yet less than a third of those polled confirm that their organization perceives employee retention as top priority. This is also partly precipitated by the unwritten rivalries between HR and recruitment evident at several firms. A lot of employees consider switching jobs as the only way to vertically rise up in their jobs. This can be rectified by improved management training provided at the job itself. In 2017, retention of talent has got to take up utmost importance for organizations.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/larsschmidt/2016/12/16/why-retention-will-be-the-biggest-talent-challenge-of-2017/#7bd098e17f50