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SCMP Reporter

what winners have on their shelves

Developing Executive Talent

by Jonathan Smilansky

John Wiley & Sons

ALTHOUGH IT IS fashionable to believe that we all have our unique talents, one specialist claims that only a few lucky members of the executive elite merit the benefits of talent management.

Published in 2006, Developing Executive Talent looks closely at how to help exceptional executives benefit their businesses in the best ways possible.

The brainchild of a psychologist with a PhD and founder of a talent development consultancy with a background in global human resources for a slew of brand-name corporations, this text certainly comes with tip-top credentials.

Jonathan Smilansky has held leading roles at Forte/Meridien Hotels, the Universal Music Group and Hay Management Consultants, among others.

He also has a number of books and articles for professional publications under his belt that likewise focus on talent management and human resources (HR).

His latest book targets three exclusive types of reader.

First  is the chief executive, division or function head who wants to develop the managerial talent in their business.

Second come HR heads,  in addition to individuals who are already responsible for an organisation's talent management.

And finally, the book targets senior executives who have come to realise that no one will manage their careers unless they do so themselves.

'[Although] many organisations have started to put in place talent management processes ... even the best businesses are still far from being perfect,' Dr Smilansky explained.

So, does this tome really help members of the senior executive club further their careers and enjoy best resources their company can offer?

According to Dr Smilansky, the answer is a resounding yes.

Based on his boutique executive search firm's benchmarking studies with large-scale businesses, it also offers insights by business psychologists such as himself.

The book paints a clear picture of what businesses are doing and what they are concerned with in terms of talent management, based on detailed interviews with heads of HR from big companies such as AXA, Barclays Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A key topic is how international businesses can improve the effectiveness of their talent management processes. It also summarises what is known about talent management and its implications for business effectiveness, including abstracts from key books that are detailed in an appendix.

However, it does not pretend to offer easy answers.

'All my work in the talent management area points to the fact that there is no one right answer or approach to achieving [your] desired objectives,' writes Dr Smilansky.

'Different organisational cultures with different levels of commitment, at different stages of development and within different business environments, produce a variety of specific approaches that match their particular circumstances.'

As a result, readers are presented with a practical pick-and-mix of corporate approaches to handling the issues surrounding talent management.

While examples relate to large businesses in Britain and the United States,  experience from Asia is, regrettably, not included in this edition.

The author recommends dipping into those chapters that address readers' immediate needs.

Each chapter has been written to help readers learn what others are doing in the area in question, and review the tools that help them to do things well.

For instance, Chapter 17, entitled: 'How do I manage my own career', analyses what ambitious individual executives can learn from the talent management practices of some leading-edge businesses.

All information is distilled into an end-of-chapter summary, of benefit not only to the diligent reader who ploughs through 14 or 15 unbroken, un-illustrated pages, but also to time-hungry skim-readers who have taken fright at Dr Smilansky's fairly verbose and academic style.

{Five Insights}

this book at a glance

1 'Businesses differ in terms of the importance that they attribute to having the most leadership cadre to drive the business forward and the degree to which they understand that, by having a strong team at each management level when compared to their competitors, the business will be able to propel itself forward and maintain or expand its leadership position,' writes business psychologist and author Jonathan Smilansky.

2 Organisations are far less stable at the top. Frequent change in the business structure and senior management positions means that highly planned succession management processes no longer work. Thus, 'more flexible arrangements [with] individual, highly focused talent polls ... enable internal resourcing processes to continuously upgrade the capability of senior executives in highly influential positions', Dr Smilansky advises.

3 'Organisational silos are the main barriers to effective talent management,' he continues. It's no good spending time and money on asking executives to rate the potential of people working for them if there are strong boundaries between divisions and functions.

4 Make sure that a broad talent pool is used to select the most capable senior executives to lead the business. 'Cultural diversity that relates to gender and ethnic origin can become a true competitive advantage by enabling the business to understand the variety of consumer needs and to generate more creative and innovative approaches,' the author comments.

5 Building support in the executive team for talent management activities is a critical factor and determines the effectiveness of what you are doing. 'In order to build support at the top, it is not enough to lecture people who sit in those positions,' he notes. 'We have to be able to demonstrate the benefits [of] implementing talent management activities.'



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