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For CEO’s: Talent Management Mistakes to Avoid in 2018

Top 10 Talent Management Mistakes to Avoid in 2018

Top 10 Talent Management Mistakes to Avoid in 2018

The Miles Group (TMG) is a company that develops talent strategies for organizations, teams, and individuals focusing on high-performance and world-class leadership.

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“Going into 2018, the stakes for CEOs have jumped dramatically in how they manage people,” says Stephen Miles of The Miles Group. “Boards and investors are pressuring CEOs not only to set the right tone at the top, but also to make sure talent throughout the organization is completely aligned both in performance goals and in cultural fit. But many companies, if they are not already in the middle of one, are on the brink of a talent failure – and they might not see the mistakes that got them there.”

TMG has identified the top 10 Talent Management mistakes CEO’s cannot afford to make in 2018 in their article, available here. We’ve read the post, and for your convenience, have pulled the top five most important mistakes to avoid.

Ignoring the Competition

“As growth slows in both the U.S. and abroad, companies can’t wait for the economy to lift all ships,” says Miles. “They must grab market share from competitors in order to grow. Given that there has been such a focus on cost-cutting over the past decade, to the near exclusion of other priorities, there is only a small subset of executives who are willing to really get scrappy and do what it takes to take share.”

Thinking Less About Talent Diversity

“The highest performing teams are often diverse, but the lowest performing teams are often diverse, too,” says Griffin. “Leaders may not have the tools to lead diverse teams, and team members may not be able to express themselves in a way that allows for both a cultural fit and their unique differences. Diversity must be broadened beyond identity diversity – gender and ethnic differences – to include cognitive diversity, which expresses itself through different personality types or leadership styles or the way people think about solving problems. Companies need this full-spectrum diversity to drive growth.”

Not Thinking About How Important Effective Leadership Development Is

“It used to be that if you had an executive coach, something was wrong; today, something is wrong if you don’t have a coach,” says Taylor Griffin, chief operating officer of TMG. “Effective leadership development is an ‘Ironman’ activity – it takes continuous commitment and constant improvement. Treating it as an intermittent activity won’t give people the results needed; companies must identify the truly coachable talent who want to do the hard work of development.”

Trying to Fix What’s Broken Instead of Investing in Existing Top Talent

“CEOs often ask us why, if their company does talent management so well, they are always one short when it comes to finding the right person for an open role,” says Courtney Hamilton, managing director. “Simply having a talent management process in place can instill a false sense of security about one’s bench – it’s necessary but not sufficient. Companies often waste time trying to fix what’s broken when they should be investing in their highest performers and grooming them for future roles.”

Focusing on Change Management

“When times are good, companies typically get undisciplined about improvement and ‘put on a few extra pounds’ – success covers up a lot of sins,” says Bedwell. “Then, when hard times hit, executives embark on ‘change initiatives’ at which they are unpracticed – and start changing things that are actually working, compounding the problem. Instead of this cycle of gaining a few pounds and then frantically working them off, companies have to maintain ongoing organizational fitness. Building this fitness into your corporate DNA gets you away from project-based change and makes it part of your corporate culture.”

We encourage you to read the full article here.


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