Marc Effron - One Page Talent Management, with a New Introduction: Eliminating Complexity, Adding Value

Weve both learned more in our post-OPTM consulting and corporate experiences that has provided additional insight since the publication of the book. One opportunity became apparent to Marc shortly after starting his consulting firm, the Talent Strategy Group. He found that very few executive teams had ever discussed or agreed on the best way to manage talent to achieve their business strategy. This led to a fractured approach to building talent, with managers using their personal preferences to guide their decisions.

Marc created a process to assess and implement what he now calls talent philosophythe executives point of view on how the company should consistently manage performance, behaviors, accountability, transparency, and differentiation to optimize company results. This concept is so foundational to the success of talent management that Marc now starts every consulting engagement with talent philosophy before any discussions of strategy or process design. Without the strong foundation of that philosophy, talent practices may be precariously perched on the beliefs of HR leaders, or inherently in conflict with each other due to lack of alignment among the leadership team.

While determining how to best manage talent might seem like an HR accountability, executives need to own the approach they will apply to the talent that will fuel their business outcomes. Once the executives have aligned their preferences for managing talent, HR will find it far easier to move the talent agenda forward with speed and impact. This doesnt mean that HR removes itself from the process, but rather that the process starts by engaging the key decision-makers in the organization.

Another key post-OPTM insight was about how pivotal and differentiating HR capabilities are to talent management success. We knew from our corporate HR experience that better-quality HR leaders are more effective at talent management. Weve now seen how those capabilities vary sharply across companies. The eight years since OPTMs publication paralleled the HR functions evolution to a more strategic and consultative resource. That shift elevated the role of the HR business partner (HRBP) in building talent quality and depth. However, many HRBPs werent experts in talent management fundamentals like setting goals or conducting talent reviews.

This capability gap means that even talent practices designed with science-based simplicity could underdeliver because HRBPs couldnt provide flawless execution. In response, Marc partnered with Jim Shanley to cofound the Talent Management Institute (TMI) at the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School, to teach HR and line managers how to be great talent builders. The demand for these capabilities turned out to be overwhelming; they have taught more than three thousand HR and business leaders through their public and private client TMI workshops.