I am offline till July, 27th 2009

The Top Profiles on Linkedin to Learn From

Often I get asked what are the best practices in creating a compelling Linkedin Profile. My answer is that it depends on the target audience. Are you aiming to get hired or are you aiming to build a large network.

As I am a big believer in the wisdom of the crowds I created a rating site for Linkedin Profiles on Google Moderator.  Vote on any of the Profiles listed plus submit your own suggestions and spread the word  to the crowd. Let’s see who are the role models of the best linkedin profiles.
Rate Linkedin Profiles

Here is already a list that I compiled.

1) Guy Kawasaki Profile is the most visited on Linkedin. Guy recieved advise from Linkedin on his Profile makeover

2) Olivier Taupin. He is the founder of the largest group in Linkedin: Linkedin HR.

3) Ron Bates is the most connected person on Linkedin

4) Steven Burda has recieved the most recommendations on Linkedin.

5) Peter Palme: Consulted well known Headhunters for his profile makeover

6) Jasaon Alba - who wrote the must have book: I’m on LinkedIn Now What ?

Following a list compiled by Deb Dib Executive Coach of exellent Linkedin in Profiles: http://www.job-hunt.org/executive-job-search/linkedin-for-executives.shtml

7) Mark Beckford

8 )Paul Mullen

9) Meg Guiseppi

10) Paul Copcutt

11) Deb Dib

12) David Nesbitt

13) Mark Treshock

Please keep sending interesting profiles to share.
14) Paul Smith: His underlying thoughts when creating his profile where:
“As someone with a strong visual preference I decided to structure information about my job experience into 3 sections for each job:
* “Soundbite” type headline
* Contextual descrition about the job – to set the context for the * points
* Bullet points / achievements – trying to keep the * to the line….. “

I am looking for the profile with the most calls from headhunters in the last 6 to 12 month. Please leave a comment or submit to the rating site.

If you need me as a coach for your profile makeover join me on the Online Time Exchange Network.

Succeeding together in the online Time Exchange Network

Did you ever look for an expert or support but did not have the courage to ask or pay for it ? Did you ever look to practice your skills but did not find an opportunity to do so ? The online Time Exchange Networks offers you the opportunity to collaborate or partner on about anything you would need to succeed professionally or personally.

Your time is your currency that you can always trade.

Just a few examples to illustrate what the network will do for you ? Members can be mentors in their field of expertise: A member takes on a new role for example in HR which includes a new country. She or he contacts another member in the network who is working in HR in this country and recieves one hour of mentoring.  Members can be coaches: A member wants to apply for a nw position in a specific company. This member could identify a coach in the network who helps prepare the CV or the interview. Members could get advice from members on a presentation that they are preparing. Members could get help from members when they compile a business plan for their own business. Members could get input on a blog post or article they are writing. Members could lecture to other members or invite members to brainstorm on a certain subject. The opportunities to support or get help are almost unlimited.

How does it work ?
First of all there is no membership fee.
The minimum currency unit is the quarter. This is 15 minutes of your time. The next unit is the hour. You guessed it right this is 60 minutes of your time.
You start with zero time units on your time balance sheet. The maximum time you can collect is 25 hours and the maximum time you can withdraw is 25 hours. You need to spend or earn a minimum of 1 hour every three month (quarter). Over one year you should strive to have your time balance sheet at around 0 units. If you reach the upper limit of 25 hours or the lower limit of minus 25 hours on your balance sheet you need to either spend one hour or earn one hour in the next three month.

How do I join ?
Just become a member of any of the below networks
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2065394/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1400946734&k=Z5C5QXS6QYY1UEFBSC6UWV
Xing: http://www.xing.com/net/timeexchange

Ning: http://timeexchange.ning.com/main/invitation/new
Yahoo Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/timeexchange
Google Groops: http://groups.google.ch/group/timeexchange

On your website or profile just state that your are a member of the online Time Exchange Network and which of the above groups you have joined. You could also list what you will do for the members in the network with your time. My Example: Example:http://timeexchange.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/peter-palme-online-time-exchange-member/

How do I track my time – where do I keep my time balance sheet ?
You are your own master. You can track your time anywhere online – be in your blog or website or any other open visible place on the internet.
Indicate the time you have earned or spend and for what and whom you have spent it. And a piece of advise also track your key learnings out of every exchange you had. This will accelerate your learning tremendously.
For example you can track your time if you join the time exchange network on ning on your page: http://timeexchange.ning.com/main/invitation/new
My Example:http://timeexchange.ning.com/profiles/blogs/peter-palme-time-balance-sheet

Rules:
Integrity. Whatever you do respect the human rights and the code of conduct on the internet. Do not sell or advertise in the network or during your exchange. Do not ask for money or any additional favours that are beyond time. And do respect any code of conduct you have subsmited to at the company you work for. However we do not take any responsibilty for any wrong doings. It is your personal responsibility to respect the rules.
Please inform the network immediately on any issues on the ning platform: http://timeexchange.ning.com/main/invitation/new

For success stories, background information or advise visit my blog: http://timeexchange.wordpress.com
For short updates: Twitter: https://twitter.com/timeexchangenet

This Time Exchange Network might be an idea for companies or organizations to setup a time exchange network internally.

Further reading:
Why I am in love with collaborative learning
Crowdsourcing in Human Resources
List of developmental assignments 2.0

Examples of Failed Talent Management

This is a collection post on failed Talent Management and Succession Planning and what huge impact it had.  Please share if you have other interesting cases.
petepalme@gmail.com or leave your example in the comments section of this post.

1) John Patterson (NCR) fired Thomas Watson who than founded IBM.
Market Value today: NCR 1.69 billion  USD versus IBM: 139,72 billion USD.

2) John Sculley (Ex-Apple) fired Steve Jobs. A few years later Apple almost went bankrupt .
Market Value of Apple today: 118,19 billion

Top igoogle gadgets Series

igoogle Group

Series 1: What are the best igoogle gadgets for learning to add to your personalized google page ?

It depends first of all on what you want to learn.  There are plenty gadgets for language learning, gadgets on learning how to learn, how to use sign language, how stuff works, ….

For languages there are plenty of gadgets to support your learning.

To learn new vocabulary in different languaes there are a number of gadgets:

English Vocabulary: Learn Words Gadget

Other languages: Russian, Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic, German and many more languages.

If you want to learn the word of the day in 16 languages at the same time in just one gadget here you go geek.

To improve your existing English vocabulary, there are five gadgets that
Sameer Khan listed and describes in more detail in the blog post: “Best igoogle gadgets to improve your  english vocabulary“. These gadets are Word of the Day, Dictionary.com: Word of the Day, Gre Word of the Day, Match Up (word game) and Spelling Bee (word game).

To practice your understanding of English there is a series of English
Test gadgets:

Irregular Verbs 1, Irregular Verbs 2, Irregular Verbs 3
Syllables

Word Groups

Male and Female Word

Hononyms
English Activities
Silent letters 1, Silent letters 2

Fruits and Vegetables

Memory Test for Kids

To practice English Business Listening skills there is Business English pod gadget.

And for all those who ever want to practice the difference between American and British English here it is:
American-British English Test 1

American-British English Test 2

 

 

If you want to learn the sign language:
Learn to Sign

Further there is a gadget on Project Management and how stuff works.

Additionally have a look at the very interesting paper on how iGoogle gadgets can be used to build a collaborative learning environment.

Related Posts:
Top Ten igoogle gadgets: igoogle.com versus Switzerland
My New Work-Life Balance with igoogle

The Benefits of Lifelong Learning and Discovery

The Benefits of Lifelong Learning and Discovery
By Julia Barnard

Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. Louis E. Boone

Liefelong Learning and Discovery

Do you enjoy learning? Is it a pleasure to discover new things, or do you associate the word ‘learning’ with being sat behind a desk at school being fed information you have no control over? Happily, as adults we can choose what we want to learn and the skills we want to develop. Learning should be a lifelong venture that should feature in all stages of your life. Even retirement should be an opportunity to try new things rather than letting it all go because you are no longer doing paid work. Recognising that learning is not just about books can make the process enjoyable for many.

Learning gives you opportunities to discover new skills and acquire knowledge. However, it offers more than that. It is an opportunity to renew your energies, get excited, and curious. As you learn and get absorbed in a new project, you are giving yourself the chance to experience flow which is a sure-fire way to happiness. Learning can help prevent boredom as you have allowed more opportunities to come into your life. Importantly, you will learn things about yourself. As you develop your skills, it may take you to new places and perhaps push you to face your fears. You will learn to not be afraid of change and how to face a challenge.

Love of learning has been identified by Seligman as one of the 24 character strengths. It is a strength that we can all nurture, however for some it is a signature strength and as such is a pleasure to use. Using this strength is also an opportunity to work on and develop other character strengths. For instance learning a new skill requires persistence. It is a chance to be creative and boost a sense of optimism. When you always have new things to try in your life, things you still want to know about, you continue to have something to look forward to.

Learning is also good for your brain. Research indicates that for people who had opportunities to work on their reasoning and memory skills their cognitive decline had slowed down. This reduces the risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

It is worth pointing out that it is not just about the act of learning. What you learn can help you live a better life. For instance, knowing how to be happy, healthy and live well. Knowing why exercise is important rather than accepting it as a broad statement made by health experts. Such knowledge gives you more control over your life and helps you make informed decisions.

Tips to propel you on your learning quest

• Learning can take whatever shape or form works for you. Whether you attend a class, read a book or website or get hands-on is up to you.
• Don’t be afraid to try new things. If you don’t like it, don’t do it again. Simple.
• Your learning should always be interesting and a challenge you can manage. You may need to take your learning to the next level to get the most out of it. Try to reflect regularly on how you are progressing.
• When you are trying something for the first time, it may not work out exactly as you planned. This is okay. You are learning after all. So learn from what went wrong, and go again.
• Learning can be a great opportunity to exercise your persistence and belief that you will succeed. Imagine how it would feel to become an expert in your area? Persistence and patience will help get you there.
• Decide what level you want to take your learning to. Is it to expand on your existing knowledge so you become an expert, or is it an opportunity to branch out somewhere completely different?
• Take a trip to the library. Explore the shelves, especially those you would not ordinarily visit. See what interesting pieces of information you can pick up. You never know, something might pique your interest.
• Read blogs written by people who are dedicated to your topic of interest. They will offer a unique insight into one person’s perspective on the subject.
• Keep learning and remain open-minded. Remember the first thing you read may not be correct or the only way to do things. Remain open to other viewpoints.
• Set yourself a goal of learning something new every day or week.
• Try to enjoy the here and now of learning, rather than just focusing on the end goal.
• Learn more about what brings happiness into your life.
• Grab a puzzle book the next time you are at the newsagents. They give your brain a great workout.
• Keep it varied. That way you are always interested and your brain is occupied.
• Don’t be afraid of change or the opportunity to do something differently to how you would normally.

Copyright Julia Barnard 2009

Julia Barnard is a professional counsellor living in Adelaide, Australia. She provides an online counselling service through her website http://www.makethechange.com.au, which offers counselling at a time and place that suits you. Julia also writes articles and tips for the website aimed at enhancing wellbeing and promoting good mental health.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julia_Barnard
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Benefits-of-Lifelong-Learning-and-Discovery&id=2247038

Top Eight Linkedin Learning Resources

To rely only on the Linkedin Help is not enough. To be successful with Linkedin further learning resources need to be consulted.
But first you need to know what you want to use linkedin for.
Getting hired through linked requires a differnet approach than to building your business relations.

1) The Unofficial LinkedIn User’s Guide for Executives and Professionals.
This is so valuable insight. After reading these articles on Global Human Resources Capital Journal you know how to turn linkedin into a goldmine for yourself.

2) How to makeover your Linkedin Profile
This is a must read article. Very visually explained how to makeover your profile. If you want to shine on Linkedin this is the place to start.

3) The must read book on Linkedin is:
I am on Linkedin, now what ???? 
And the blog

4)  The blog of Guy Kawasaki and you can follow him on twitter

5) The unofficial guide to everything linkedin

6) Search Optimization (SEO): Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
How to be found on LinkedIn – what can you improve in your profile – excellent article.

7 ) Do you need to explain Linkedin to others ?
This video on Youtube will help:

8 ) What does Ron Bates the most connected person on Linkedin have to say about Linkedin.
Interview

Is HR learning from their external Customer Poll ?

In large organizations Sales, Marketing, Support and R&D people constantly learn from their customers while employees in the shared functions are usually less exposed to outside customers.
In the last years especially in Human Resources it was advocated by the leading HR Gurus such as Dave Ulrich for Human Resources professionals to get more exposure to the external customers of their organizations.
In my one question poll I am asking now if you as a HR professional have ever been invited to visit your external customer.
The link to the poll question.
Thank you very much for your kind support.

Crowdsourcing in Human Resources

Crowdsourcing in Human Resources is my main research topic in 2009. Cash is king and so is the cashflow in most of the companies. There is no surprise if budgets are reduced for most of the binsess functions.
So how can one leverage what it is available to still implement most of the programs envisoned and needed ?
But first of all what is crowdsourcing and how does it work and what are the boundaries ?

In Wikipedia crowdsourcing is definded as “a neologism for the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call. “
Real life examples of crowdsourcing are:
1) P&G involved an open network of scientist to find a technology to print picture on Pringles potato Chips.
2) O’Reilly Media iengaged volunteers to report on how their books were displayed on the shelves in bookstores.
There are plenty of real life examples here:
The New Human Resource
Wikinomics
Wikipedia: Crowdsourcing
50+ crowdsourcing projects

Above these are business examples, but how could the Human Resources Function use crowdsourcing ?

A) The first item that comes to my mind is learning:
I have one word for you: youtube.
1) Stress Management presentation is an example. Google academy invites known experts and publishes the event on youtube.
Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and developed a scientific sound Stress Management program.
Click here to watch the video
2) My personal experience: My son loves the so called brick or lego films on youtube. Lego is known to children for its plastic building blocks. We wanted to make our own lego film and turned to Youtube for advise. It was a video created by a nine year old who was of tremendous help to us – unfortunately I did not keep the link.

Remark: The company needs to allow their employees the access to Youtube. This is still not the case for all companies.

In Youtube usually the work has already been done. It is just a matter of finding it. But one could think of inviting the crowd for example the Human Resources Learning & Development crowd to jointly identify useful free learning resources on the interent to a specific topic such as stress management, interview skills, etc….
Existing projects and groups:
WikiEducator is a community project working collaboratively with the Free Culture Movement towards a free version of the education curriculum by 2015.
Connecting Online C009: Sharing personal and professional online learning experiences. This is group of 465 members on the ning plattform.

Richard Baraniuk on opensource learning:

Connexions is:

a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyone may view or contribute:

 

B) Crowdsourcing will be a new dimension to Talent Management.
You have talents that you do not employ but that participate in your business processes.
The Routledge Companion to Strategic Human Resource Management describes this new dimension.

C) Workforce: Talent aquisition
Don Tapscott the best selling author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything lectures on The Future of Staffing is Crowdsourcing

D) Workforce: Talent Assessment and Talent Pool and EmployabilityPotential talents could be identified through crowdsourcing projects for example in Commercial, Marketing, Public Affairs or Research & Development .
In Commercial future talents could be invited to develop a business plan for a new technology, market, etc.
In Public Affairs future talents could work on new campaigns for one of the businesses such as using Web 2.0 channels and tools.
In Research & Development future talents could work on new key challenges and develop new solutions.
There are a lot of opportunities to engage future talents and thus build a talent pool.
There are numerous benefits for the talents as well. The main benefit besides a potential job is experience.
In the early 1990s crisis I was representing the Fraunhofer Institute at an education and career fair in Germany. Number of students approached us with their CVs. Of these students who had their diplomas in hand there were a few who had not found a job even two years after graduation. And in these two years some of them had basically not collected any experience be it as an evening class teacher at a local night school or any other job related experiences. Would you hire a person that has two years of missing experiences in his or her CV ? My point here is that these crowdsourcing project would help to increase the employability of participants especially in a recession. With the internet this has become so easy now and shows that the internet is more than a large computer it is a society within the society and opens us to a whole new world to collect needed experiences.
Related Post: List of Developmental Assignments 2.0

If you have other crowdsourcing examples to share which would benefit the Human Resources Function please do not hesitate to write a comment or join me on the HRcrowdsourcing comunity.

I will continuously update this post with new examples as I go along on my research journey on crowdsourcing in 2009.

How to overcome the High Potential Talent Management Challenge

When I posted the results of my High Potential Talent Management survey to several groups I received some very interesting replies:

Willy  Linssen in Linkedin Group IMD Alumni, Faculty and Staff:

“TM relates to many issues. What i have found works well is:
1. Objective assessment of the situation / organization. Organizational Culture and Effectiveness Assessments from Human Synergistics. They determine clearly what behaviors in the organizational culture are not supporting talents and their business and even more important it clearly pinpoints what systems and processes are the bottleneck.
2. Behavioral Coaching where Talents are coached to overcome challenges and create results at the same time. This is a typical ‘Corporate Athlete’ approach.
if you need more info please send me an e-mail: WL@ heartwaregroup.com “

Emanuele Sevà in Linkedin Group IMD Alumni, Faculty and Staff:

“ share your passion for talent management. For a combination of events, I have developed and have been running a development program for key customer managers – the best talents my B2B service company has hired and grown up.
In my experience, more than 10% fail; essentially, because expectations have been higher than their capabilities and pressure has become too high – despite we work in a nice and soft environment.
In other words: they know we want them to get leadership, but talent does not automatically equal leadership.”

Dianne Jacobs in Linkedin Group HCI (Human Capital Institute):
Visit her blog: www.thetalentadvisors.com.

“A greater focus on talent management execution and governance are significant challenges facing most companies.

Here is my checklist for a company’s Talent Council or Talent Advisory Board:

1.Build both external leadership brand and internal leadership principles
2. Visible commitments from the C-Suite who take key roles as members of the talent development faculty
3. Accountability for creating and executing customised and purposeful learning development plans that builds broad capability
4. Relevant cross-divisional peer level interactions and learning
5. Potential defined and identified based on ability, aspiration, engagement and business critical capabilities
6. Create processes so that talent flows in the right sequence of roles to fulfil future potential
7. Align talent competencies to the strategic priorities
8. Encourage talent sharing
9. Manage the risks of stretch assignments and new role transitions
10. Constructive and timely feedback to talent on development progress
11. Valued initiatives include diverse coaches and champions
12. Learning that is aligned to the client and commercial outcomes
13. Coach leaders to be diversity champions
14. Coach diverse talent to take up their authority and increase promotion prospects
15. Set meaningful metrics for talent development performance. “

Joseph Noone in Linkedin Group Linked:HR (HR Group with 78 000+ members)

“Peter,
1) you’ve got to widen your talent pool to take into account your attrition rate. Some companies try to limit the number of identified talents because it costs to develop them and reward them. However, if you know you will lose 10% every year, include that in your planning and develop more. Some will say you’re paying to develop for other organisations but it’s the price you have to pay and it balances out in the end.

2) Know your talent pool very well because each person has different needs and requires individual attention. One person may want to progress higher up the ladder, another may be dissatisfied with salary or bonus, the rule is to know each person individually and monitor him/her regularly. This means having clear performance criteria so that you know where each person is and where he/she is on the engagement spectrum. People leave quite often because they feel they haven’t been listened to and the secret of talent management is that it is not a collective process but an individualized process.

3) There are many reasons why a talented manager can derail. Here is a list of career derailment drivers:

- manager doesnt develop subordinates
- doesn’t resolve conflict between subordinates
- poor delegator
- gets irritated easily
- has trouble in new situations
- is a hands-on manager to a fault
- lacks attention to essential detail
- things slip through the cracks often
- involved in too much
- seen as very ambitious
- abrasive
- makes others feel stupid or diminished
- volatile under pressure
- doesn’t get the most out of people
- leaves people dangling due to unmet promises
- has stayed with the same mentor too long
- over relies on core talent (e.g. energy, brains, …)
- doesn’t sell well
- has to win at all costs
- has trouble adapting to those with different styles

(Based on J. Lombardo and Eichinger’s research and followed on by Frank Bournois).

If you take the above list and score managers on a scale of 1 to 4, you can identify who are most at risk of derailing! “

Simona Panaite, MBA in Linkedin Group HCI (Human Capital Institute):

“Interesting survey and interesting results. I am so sick of reinventing the wheel….everybody with a basic education knows that people make the difference adn yet how many managers or CEO’s as well as how many big organizations have a sound talent development and planning strategy? An d how many try to keep their talents occupied?
A high potential employee always needs new challenges and chances to continue to develop. In essence they are people taht continue to fight for improvement and these kind of people are not always welcome since they constantly challenge the status quo, which is not easily to manage for a boss without real leadership skills.
I think that Dianne list is sound and consistent, but a company needs top executives that have the courage to apply these principles and willing to build a strategy for people development.
Of course at some point top talents just give up and go in a place where the have enough power to implement their ideas if not given the chance by the mother company. “

Francisco Matos in Linkedin Group GlobalHR:

“We cannot just look at CEO for leadership. At all management level there should be lead by example. However, I think fundamentally, some employees may choose to leave because simply put there is not Comprehensive Definition of Success and Growth using PM, 360, Comprehensive Compensation Plans, Job Rotation open opportunities for all (not just a few), Coaching and Mentoring programs. Lack of opportunity is a blanket statement. I would dog some more to find out what drives that perception, and create Talent Retention Programs working close with a tiger team of Compensation, Benefits, OD, Legal and other key players. An upward escalation of positions may not be for everyone and success or “opportunities to advance could mean an array of different things for those employees surveyed. These data so far here is to high level and will need to bring higher level of granularity and management accountability in hiring and retaining talent. Some of these variables can be related turn over and poor performance triggered by lack of motivation as opportunities for growth are perceived to be limited. We need to consider re-defining Success and Opportunities for growth, upward mobility is not the only one. I am interesting always to keep a pulse on the workforce. It is a asset that respond to the internal and external conditions of the market.. “

Kevin B. Richardson in LinkedinGroup HR World Expert Group:

“I think a lot of companies rush into TD without thinking it through and making sure they can support and sustain a program in regards to upward flow and mobility. They ask themselves, can I afford to do TD, not should I do TD. Some companies just need succession planning and that’s it. Hi-pot programs breed their own problems.

If I identify hi-pots and then spend a lot of time and money (read “attention”) on them and then say, okay, now I don’t have anything for you to do but just hang out for a couple of years until someone moves on… Of course they are goign to go somewhere else where they can use thier horsepower; basic Mazlow HON. It is like driving a Ferrari downtown or using a Thoroughbred to pull a cart.”

Raymond Truitt in Linkedin Group HCI (Human Capital Institute) :

“Peter: You bring a number of factors why most high potential projects fail to deliver and namely, the issue of retention. Sadly, most companies are not willing to put an infrastructure in place to help manage and develop the careers of their hi-pos. If a company is going to go through the trouble to trying to retain their top talent, then it is critical that they come up with strategies that can give hi-pos a number of opportunities inside (and out) the company. The heart of this is to have cross-functional cooperation so that developmental opportunities have some real payback for the business. I’ve seen where cross-pollinating sales with marketing, and sales will with operations can justify the movement of people across the enterprise to satisfy business goals. I think movement can happen anywhere in small measures (leading projects or initiatives) at first so that you are not placating people but building their capacity to contribute to the business. Movement can extend all the way up to leading divisions with major P&L responsibility to the C-suite. In my view, a company that is doing it well, creates a culture for developing talent and augments it with a world class L&D organization, talent management processes such as coaching, assessment centers, and mentoring, and connections to the company’s customer’s base to embed talent as another means to have hi-pos grow and develop. When I have seen hi-pos succeed in companies, it was often because they were critically self-aware, understood how to lead change, were really good at managing performance of others, and had a coaching mind-set, albeit, and most often, an unconscious competence. You can take many roads to get there, but companies that make it a priority, build it into their strategic plan, and treat people as assets have the best chance to win the war for keeping their talent. “

Carl Martin Faannessen in Linkedin Group IMD Alumni, Faculty and Staff:

“Dear Peter,
Thanks for an interesting question. Your numbers clearly show that most companies are abysmal at managing talent. More often than not, you may find that these companies focus on non-critical items such as job-classifications, wage-bands and so on. In other words, they are more focused on the technicalities of the organisation-chart, than on the people who are hidden from view behind the boxes.

If a company is committed to retaining and growing their talent-pool, they must do so with an open hand: Talented people respond positively to freedom of expression and freedom of pursuit. It is the leader’s role to provide a framework that meets these needs in a way that also benefits the company. (Incidentally, this will often lead to an innovative culture or sub-culture in a company or team). This remains true regardless of the economic environment in which a company operates. True leadership never goes out of style. “

Wish you a good start in 2009 and thanks so much for your support in 2008.