Abhijit Bhaduri on Talent Management

Abhijit Bhaduri the HR head of Frito Lay India, author and blogger who I have interviewed earlier talks on the principles of Talent Management here.

The most profound insight in the article was this:

The leadership team’s vision of the Talent Management Strategy is the starting point. Having said that, the CEO and the HR leader need to blend the business strategy and the part that the talent pool will play in the realization of that strategy. Finally the employees need to be the brand ambassadors for the Talent Management strategy to be successful.

In most successful organizations that are admired as places to work, the leadership is pivotal in making that a reality. It is not possible for a HR leader to be effective without the support of the CEO and other leaders. The role models for all employees is the leadership. Not just in what they say, but most importantly by what they do.

If the CEO and other leaders are perceived as supporting the talent management strategy they become role models for the rest of the employees. That's because such behavior is discretionary behaviour and not hard wired into the job descriptions of people. To help people to exhibit such organizational citizenship behavior the leaders have to set the agenda.