Mark Allen: Aha Moments In Talent Management

Mark Allen is a professor at Pepperdine University and author of The Corporate University Handbook* and The Next Generation of Corporate Universities*. He just released his newest book, Aha Moments in Talent Management*. In this conversation, Mark and Dave discuss practical strategies that you can use to develop talent in your organization.

Key Points

“Having better people is the best source of competitive advantage, so attracting top talent is a top priority. Be willing to do whatever it takes to bring in top talent. Do not let your own policies prevent you from hiring exceptional people.” -Mark Allen

• Ask for the rationale for why rules are in place that are preventing talent acquisition

“The job of manager requires specific skills and abilities. Promotion should be based on the ability to do the next job, not performance in the current job. Good performance should be rewarded appropriately, but promotion should not be a reward for past performance.” -Mark Allen

• Check out Google’s Quest to Build A Better Boss to learn more about Project Oxygen.

“If you’re going to treat training and development as an investment, then you must be able to demonstrate a return on that investment. That means that every program should be designed to deliver a specific business result and should be held accountable for achieving that result.” -Mark Allen

• Mark referenced Donald Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation
• “60-90% of everything that people learn in a training program never gets used on the job.” -Mark Allen
• “Begin with the end in mind.” -Stephen Covey

Ask these two questions when planning your next talent development program:

• How will this improve at least one key business result?
• How will you measure it?

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