Cambridge Business Association
The Talent Masters
Book

The Talent Masters

Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers

Bill Conaty and Ram Charan
Crown, 2010
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Overview
  • Background
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Bill Conaty, a veteran HR leader at GE, and Ram Charan, a prolific business author, explain how to turn your company into a “talent master” and what you will gain if you do. They detail how five superb talent master firms – GE, P&G, Novartis, Agilent Technologies and Hindustan Unilever – organize their employee development, and how their initiatives fuel success. Charan and Conaty also provide an in-depth report on Crotonville, GE’s world-class training facility. And, they include a re-examination of the way Jack Welch, GE’s CEO from 1981 to 2001, famously transformed his corporation. getAbstract recommends this overview, a solid reflection of the authors’ extensive experience.

Summary

Success Requires Prioritizing Talent

To judge whether a firm will rise to the top, assess the quality, capabilities and talents of its employees. Despite the importance of managing employees productively, most companies fail to make the most of their human resources – their talent. They lack adequate leadership succession, talent management or development programs. Most companies offer only hit-or-miss training programs, and rely on insufficient, cursory criteria to evaluate executives and employees to determine who should advance and who should leave. Most firms place executives in the wrong jobs, causing problems and wasting money. And most companies don’t develop a CEO succession program.

Companies that earn the status of “talent masters” develop their people, offering them pathways for growth and nurturing their careers. The term “talent master” also applies to experts within these firms who spot and nurture talented employees.

Notable talent master companies include:

  • GE – A world leader in talent management, GE has a successful leadership-development and talent-management program that many firms emulate.
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About the Authors

Business consultant, speaker and writer Ram Charan is the author of The Game Changer and many other books. After a 40-year career at GE, Bill Conaty formed Conaty Consulting, a firm that helps HR organizations become strategic business partners.

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