Driving Performance Through Talent Management

Effective talent management can help organizations outperform the competition—even when resources are tight. But many executives are lacking the skills and tools to attract, develop, and reward strong performers. This comprehensive program empowers general managers and senior human resources (HR) executives to align talent with business strategy and implement critical practices proven to drive organizational performance and long-term success.

What You Can Expect

As you examine the human capital challenges facing companies around the globe with an exceptional group of peers, you will uncover the essential ingredients of effective talent management in today's business environment. Exploring a range of best practices, you will enhance your ability to build systems and cultures that nurture talent and, in turn, improve business performance.

Your Course of Study

Through case studies, classroom discussions, and assessment tools, you will examine employee communication, leadership development, succession planning, employee engagement, and star management. Exploring innovative approaches to talent development, you will gain the knowledge—and inspiration—to help your company build competitive advantage through strategic talent management.

Who Is Right for the Program

This program is designed for general managers, human resource (HR) executives, and other senior executives of large established companies who are responsible for the firm's human capital and talent development strategies. When a company sends a team of general managers and their HR counterparts, they will return with shared insights and frameworks for aligning the organization's talent with its strategic needs.

What You Can Expect

Improving Your Company's Performance

Even the most innovative and insightful business strategy will not succeed without the right people in place. To surge ahead of the competition, your company must take a strategic approach to attracting, developing, and rewarding talent and strong performance. Drawing on recent faculty research and assessment tools, this program helps general managers and senior human resources executives identify their talent management strengths and weaknesses and manage their company's most valuable asset—its workforce. Your company will improve its ability to:

Align incentives, rewards, and talent with its core business strategy
Identify and address key gaps in talent management performance
Allocate talent management resources intelligently, favoring programs that contribute materially to organizational performance
Recognize new talent and develop the organization's leadership capacity over time
Create a positive work environment that maximizes the value of everyone's contribution
Institute a robust hiring process that anticipates future leadership needs, identifies the competencies needed, and nurtures a sufficient candidate pool
Implement a well-articulated and widely accepted diversity strategy
Integrate newcomers into the organization in ways that maximize their ability to perform and succeed
Manage the complexities of reorganizations, mergers, and downsizing as part of the strategic hiring process

Taking Your Skills to the Next Level

This program gives you valuable time to step back, assess your organization's current approach to talent, and create a personalized action plan targeting specific changes you need to make. Exploring the latest thinking and research, you will develop a deeper understanding of the link between individual and corporate performance, master the talent management systems needed to drive success, and develop your ability to lead organizational change. You will emerge better prepared to:

Assess the maturity and effectiveness of your organization's talent management system in comparison with other companies
Create a culture that recognizes the value of talented people
Implement talent management practices consistently across the organization
Attract and develop talent throughout a multinational company and ensure positive working relationships
Implement best practices to transform hiring into a continuous process that includes anticipating and analyzing future needs
Direct strategic and tactical talent realignments to ensure that your talent aligns with your business strategy
Motivate employees to achieve their goals by implementing more effective performance evaluation and incentive strategies
Develop reward and motivation plans that are fully integrated with your talent management strategy

"This well-organized and thoughtful program presented talent management in a holistic manner that focused on the bottom line. It allowed me to better understand the link between managing key talent and the impact on the business culture, leadership, and, ultimately, sustainability in the market."
Stuart Martin [Eurasia Africa Director, Group HR Strategy and Transformation], The Coca-Cola Company, Turkey

Your Course of Study

This program has one goal in mind—to equip you with strategies for creating a talent management system that improves enterprise performance. New HBS research on talent development, along with fresh insights into best practices and innovations, will help you enhance every aspect of talent recruitment and retention.

The comprehensive curriculum includes faculty presentations, case studies, and panel discussions designed to help you empower star performers to achieve ambitious business goals. You will return to your company ready to implement a plan that improves your talent management system and your effectiveness as a leader.

Creating a Focus: Personalized Learning Exercises

Through preprogram surveys, you will identify the strengths and weaknesses of your talent management system, measure your company's performance against other global companies, and create a focus for your acquisition of knowledge throughout the week.

The first survey examines the practices that set the stage for strong long-term business performance and illuminates the gaps between the organization's talent management challenges and its ability to respond to these issues. Faculty members use the data from this survey to address some key areas of concern for program participants.

Using the survey data, you will focus on how your organization executes more than 35 talent management practices and how its strategic approach impacts business performance. You also will enlist 10 executives within your company to complete the same comprehensive survey. Faculty members will compile the results and present you with a custom report, which will help you to identify the performance issues that require attention from your senior management team and to develop an action plan for improving your talent management practices.

Talent Management Best Practices

Through case studies, classroom discussions, and assessment tools, you will examine strategies that can help you transform your approach to talent management. Topics include:

Managing Global Teams

Creating a culture that builds talent throughout a global organization
Establishing talent development processes that align with company strategy and reflect best practices
Formulating innovative communication strategies to ensure positive working relationships among members of small work groups or large global teams
Developing a global perspective in promising leaders

Motivating and Rewarding Performance

Aligning incentives and rewards with your core business strategy
Recognizing new talent through better incentive strategies
Understanding and motivating your star performers
Applying new approaches to performance evaluation, compensation, and noncompensation rewards

Embracing and Managing a Diverse Workforce

Creating a positive work environment that maximizes the value of everyone's contribution
Implementing a well-articulated and widely accepted diversity strategy, including innovative approaches to recruiting and retaining minorities
Aligning management practices to support and benefit from diversity in your workforce

Hiring in Good and Bad Times

Implementing a robust, ongoing hiring process that helps your company anticipate future leadership needs, identify the competencies required, and nurture a sufficient candidate pool
Integrating newcomers into your organization in ways that maximize their ability to perform and succeed

Developing Leaders, Structuring Organizations, and Driving Change

Leveraging your organization's human capital by ensuring that the most strategic positions are occupied by strong performers
Creating a pool of talent that will best serve your company's future leadership needs
Creating programs to develop and retain high-potential individuals
Managing the complexities of reorganizations, mergers, and downsizing as part of your strategic hiring process

"Whether an individual has expertise in managing the talent war, retaining employees, developing organizational capacity, evaluating performance, building on diversity, complying with the global code of conducts, or aligning rather than integrating corporate goals with individuals, this course will provide valuable direction not only for the participant, but also for the company represented."
Sara Qazi [Policies Procedures Job Evaluation Analyst], Emirates Steel Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Who Is Right for the Program

Driving Performance Through Talent Management is designed for general managers, human resource executives, and others at large established companies who contribute significantly to the organization's strategy for talent acquisition, management, and development. Individuals who are about to take on one of these roles also are welcomed to attend. Typical participant titles include, but are not limited to:

Chief executive officer or chief operating officer
General manager (deputy, assistant, or divisional)
Senior vice president or vice president (divisional, regional, or corporate)
Director (executive, managing, or divisional)
Head (business unit or division)
Chief human resources executive
Vice president, human resources
Talent and performance management executives

This program is well suited to individuals or teams. A team of executives might include one or more general managers and their counterparts in HR, or any other group of senior executives who work together to address talent development challenges. When a number of executives from one company attend, they return with shared insights and frameworks that enable them to begin working together immediately to better align the organization's talent with its strategic needs.

Past Participants Represented:

Industries		Nationalities
6%	Chem/Pharm/Bio	8%	Africa
2%	Communications	15%	Asia/Pacific
7%	Consumer Products	19%	Europe
13%	Financial	10%	Latin America
3%	High Technology	12%	Middle East
8%	Manufacturing	36%	North America
16%	Nonprofit Services
17%	Other Services
17%	Professional Services
2%	Raw Materials/Energy
4%	Real Estate/Construction
4%	Retail Services
3%	Utilities/Telecom

"Our organization has gone through a major transition. Formerly a department within a telecom firm, we are now an independent provider of IT services to multiple industries—a change that places new demands on our people and creates significant talent management challenges. Coming to HBS gave me the tools and perspective to face these issues with confidence and to align our recruiting and retention strategies with the firm's new direction."
Syeda Yasmin Rahman [Chief People Officer, People & Organization], GPIT, Bangladesh

Meet the Program Faculty

Like all Harvard Business School Executive Education programs, Driving Performance Through Talent Management is developed and taught by a core faculty of HBS professors. Our faculty members are widely recognized as skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors.

Through publishing, consulting, and teaching, they leverage their business expertise and field-based research to create new knowledge and enduring concepts that shape the practice of management. The result is a teaching team that exposes participants to multiple perspectives, challenging their thinking and encouraging new practices that result in superior business leadership. For more detailed biographies, click on each faculty name.

Core Faculty

Roy Y.J. Chua, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Senior Adviser of Egon Zehnder International and author of Great People Decisions: Why They Matter So Much, Why They Are So Hard, and How You Can Master Them.

Boris Groysberg, Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit; faculty chair of "Driving Performance Through Talent Management"; and faculty cochair of "Leadership in Financial Organizations."

Ranjay Gulati, Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration. Head of the Organizational Behavior Unit; faculty chair of the "Advanced Management Program"; and faculty cochair of "Leading Growth Through Customer Centricity—India."

Joshua D. Margolis, James Dinan and Elizabeth Miller Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit.

Tsedal Neeley, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit.

Mikołaj Jan Piskorski, Associate Professor of Business Administration and Richard Hodgson Fellow. Member of the Strategy Unit; and faculty cochair of "Driving Digital and Social Strategy."

Scott A. Snook, MBA Class of 1958 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit.

Michael L. Tushman, Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit; faculty chair of "PLD Module 5" and "Program for Leadership Development"; and faculty cochair of "Leading Change and Organizational Renewal."

Admissions

Because a diverse participant mix is an important part of every HBS Executive Education program, we look for candidates who reflect a broad range of industries, functions, countries, and backgrounds to enrich the learning experience.

Fees, Payments, and Cancellations

The program fee covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals.

No payment is necessary until you have been accepted into an HBS Executive Education program. After admission notification, we will send you an invoice via email; payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. If admission is within 30 days prior to the start of the program, payment is due upon receipt of the invoice. Payment is required prior to the program start date. We accept payment by company check, bank wire transfer, or credit card (American Express, MasterCard, Visa). Details are included on the program invoice.

If you need to cancel or defer participation, you must submit your request in writing more than 30 days before the start of the program to receive a full refund. Due to program demand and the volume of preprogram preparation, cancellations or deferrals received 14 to 30 days prior to the start of the program are subject to a fee of one-half of the program fee. Requests received within 14 days are subject to full payment.

Requirements

Although there are no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility. We look for professionals who have demonstrated business talent and leadership potential.

HBS Executive Education programs enrich both participants and their sponsoring organizations, and require full commitment from each party. While participants devote time and intellect to the learning experience, sponsoring organizations agree to relieve individuals of their work responsibilities during the program.

Language Proficiency

We deliberately design our programs to encourage individual growth and to foster productive interaction among participants. For that reason, proficiency in written and spoken English is essential. If English is your second language, or if you have less than one year's experience working in an English-speaking environment, HBS requires a brief statement documenting proficiency in English-language skills, both conversational and written. This may include a list of the English-language certification programs that you have completed; the degrees you have earned at English-speaking colleges and universities; or the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. The Admissions Committee also may request a telephone interview.

Team Attendance

This program is appropriate for individuals as well as teams of executives from the same organization. When colleagues attend a program together, the organization benefits from their shared knowledge and common vision. This, in turn, enables participants to enhance their ability to pursue business goals as a team, effect critical transformations, and transfer knowledge. HBS client service specialists are available to advise on optimal team composition. The application for each team member must be received before the team's materials are reviewed by the Admissions Committee.

Application Process

Program participants must be nominated and sponsored by their current employer. HBS must receive your application and all required documents in order to prepare the application for review by the Admissions Committee.

To apply, you may use our online form or download a registration form. You also may request a brochure by mail.

If you submit your application online, we will promptly acknowledge receipt of your submission via email. In the unlikely event that an email acknowledgment is not received, please contact the Admissions Committee by email: exed_admissions@hbs.edu, phone: +1-617-495-6226, or fax: +1-617-496-1731.

If you choose to submit a printed application, be sure to type or print legibly and sign your application. Send the application to the address or fax number listed on the form. Mailed or faxed applications are processed and acknowledged promptly upon receipt via email.

Complete Your Application

Please answer all questions thoroughly—the Admissions Committee will consider only completed applications. After reviewing your application and making the necessary edits or corrections, print or copy the application for your records.

The application for each team member must be received before the team's materials are reviewed by the Admissions Committee.

Meet the Deadlines

We request applications at least four weeks in advance of the program start date. Early application does not guarantee admission. Programs often fill to capacity, so early application is recommended.

Notification of Acceptance

We acknowledge receipt of all applications and maintain all application information in strict confidentiality.

To optimize the learning experience and maximize the exchange of ideas, the Admissions Committee selects a class that balances each participant's experience, the scope of his or her current responsibilities, and the type of organization.

The Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications four months before the start date, and qualified candidates are admitted on a rolling, space-available basis. Once the review process has begun, applicants are notified within three weeks via email regarding Admissions Committee decisions. If your application is received within three weeks of the program's start date, the Admissions Committee will notify you of their decision as soon as possible.

Need help?

For further assistance, contact our client service specialists at: 1-800-427-5577 (outside the U.S., dial +1-617-495-6555).