Make Your People Before You Make Your Products: Using Talent Management to Achieve Competitive Advantage in Global Organizations

The purpose of the book is to provide a practice based philosophy of talent management in the context of a world moving in real time; in which organisations are becoming complex, networks and in which people are often the only source of competitive advantage. In this environment it is no longer valid for organisations to direct their talent management resources only to the traditional centres of performance - senior managers and HIPOs. Instead entry level employees might be the ones who hold the key since they are likely to be nearer to the market place in which the organisation is competing. The result of these contextual changes is for organisations to become more inclusive in how they manage talent. Traditional, linear approaches to attracting, developing and retaining talented people therefore will need to be supplemented by ones that are more innovative, dynamic and fluid. Gap analysis and demand fulfilment through classic talent methods such as 9 box models can only offer part of the solution.Talent strategies and practices that take account of the new diversity of talent demand and supply will be required. By placing the subject of talent in this global context- where talent moves from being an audience to a community and where leadership moves from control to empowerment- the book will complement other approaches in the field.