Talent Management Defined - According to ASTD and Study Participants

Check out this article by ASTD researcher Andrew Paradise on the ASTD website called, Talent Management Defined - which summarizes findings from a survey of professionals. Here's the bottom line:

Developing consensus on a valid definition of talent management was a priority for ASTD because past research has revealed that common, agreed-upon definitions are scarce. After considerable review by a panel of experts, the following definition was adopted: a holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.

Pretty good definition, I think. What do you think? It's a bit of OD-speak, but that is to be expected since it is not a term created by operational folks. I have a simple model I have been using to help organizations assess and align their TM system and this definition fits right in.

Check out the whole article.

Comments

[Dan Erwin]

As you say, Lisa, that definition is a lot of OD speak. Sounds more like a lot of academics wanting to get all the words in. Whatever happened to organizational definitions beween 8 and 12 words long? This one has 36 or 37 words, depending on what you count. I can readily imagine that operations might hold its nose on this one. Ha

[lisa edwards]

Hi Lisa,
I like it. To make it executive-speak, they could further refine it to: "Ensuring the right person in the right job at the right time producing the right results" which is just about what they conclude with at the very end. And when talking to OD/HR folks, "The holistic approach,... etc." definition also includes the 'how' to approach talent management.

[lisa haneberg]

Good points Lisa and Dan. Yes, I do thing we talk about things differently depending on the audience, but I also like the notion of keeping things simple. Talent management is one of those things that everyone is talking about - well everyone in HR, OD and training, anyway. So it is natural to explore what it really means. Not like there is one answer, of course.

[Study Management]

The maturity of talent management practices across different industries and shows definitive correlation to key business indicators. The research finds that companies with highly effective talent management strategies gain these and other benefits: